Miami is the overwhelming preseason favorite to win the ACC after receiving 165 of 188 first-place votes in the conference’s 2026 media poll. The Hurricanes finished far ahead of SMU, Louisville and Clemson, putting the league’s clearest target on a program still chasing its first ACC championship-game appearance.
Miami collected 2,961 points in the poll, while SMU placed second with 2,596, according to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s official release. Clemson received seven first-place votes, SMU six, Louisville four, Florida State three, Georgia Tech two and Stanford one. The gap matters more than the exact order behind Miami because it shows how little uncertainty voters had about the favorite.
The selection creates a rare historical comparison. Miami had been picked to win the league only once since joining the ACC in 2004, and the 2006 Hurricanes finished 7-6 after entering that season with the same label, according to Adam Lichtenstein of the Orlando Sentinel. Preseason votes guarantee nothing, especially for a program that has never played in the ACC title game.
This Miami team owns a stronger recent proof point than the 2006 group. The Hurricanes won 13 games and reached the national championship game last season. Mario Cristobal replaced Carson Beck with Darian Mensah, kept record-setting receiver Malachi Toney and Mark Fletcher Jr. at the center of the offense and rebuilt the defensive front after losing Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor to the NFL.
The schedule also explains the confidence. Miami faces only one other top-five team from the poll, an Oct. 3 trip to Clemson, according to USA TODAY’s Palm Beach Post coverage. The Hurricanes avoid SMU, Louisville and Georgia Tech in the regular season. A nine-game league schedule can still punish a bad week, yet Miami does not have to run a round robin against every projected contender.
Expectations now remove the program’s favorite shelter. Miami cannot present an ACC championship as a pleasant surprise while nearly 88% of the voters picked the Hurricanes to win it. A playoff berth would remain meaningful, but another season without reaching Charlotte would leave an obvious hole in Cristobal’s rebuild.
The defense will decide whether the favorite label survives November. Miami lost elite production up front and must replace it without weakening a secondary that will face more passing situations if opponents fall behind. Wilson, Lightfoot and Blount do not need to imitate Bain and Mesidor, but the new front must keep quarterbacks uncomfortable enough for Hetherman’s coverage plan to work.
Miami opens Sept. 4 at Stanford and gets early road tests at Wake Forest and Clemson before hosting Florida State on Oct. 17, according to the published team schedule. Those first four conference games will reveal whether the Hurricanes can handle being chased without playing tight.
The poll is not a trophy. It is an accurate measurement of the roster, the schedule and the standard Miami created with last season’s playoff run. The Hurricanes have spent years asking to be treated like the ACC’s most talented team. Voters finally did it, and Miami now has to deliver the conference season that label demands.
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