ACC Football 2018: No surprise atop preseason power rankings
I’ve personally seen the dog days of Syracuse football under Greg Robinson. I know how bad Syracuse football can be. Last season the Orange finished 4-8 but did pull an upset over Clemson after Kelly Bryant got hurt. They do return Eric Dungey who is a good dual-threat quarterback and outside of facing Clemson on the road, I think their conference schedule can be manageable enough to get them to a bowl game.
The Panthers finished last season 5-7 but could be a middle of the pack ACC team. They break in a new quarterback in Kenny Pickett but do return leading rusher Darrin Hall who scored nine touchdowns last year.
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Their road slate of games in the conference includes Syracuse, Duke, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. So they could surprise a few teams.
The Wolfpack should take a step back defensively after losing Bradley Chubb and the other three starters on the defensive line. They have a very tough conference schedule as they travel to Clemson and Syracuse in back to back games, then end the season at Louisville and North Carolina. A lot of media outlets have them as a dark horse ACC title contender but I don’t think they are there yet.