Miami picked to win Coastal

If the media ends up being right, the Hurricanes’ upcoming season will play out a lot like last year’s did.

Miami was picked to finish atop the ACC’s Coastal Division for the second consecutive season with 122 of the 148 possible first-place votes, well ahead of second-place Virginia Tech’s 16 votes. Credentialed media cast votes at last week’s ACC media days in Charlotte, N.C.

On the other side of the conference, Clemson was selected to win the Atlantic Division. The Tigers picked up 144 first-place votes, with Florida State getting one.

But the media doesn’t have much confidence in the Hurricanes’ chances to beat the Tigers in the league’s championship game on Dec. 1.

Clemson, which has been crowned the conference champion in each of the past three seasons, was picked to win the ACC with 139 of the possible 148 votes. Miami received five votes.

Miami and Clemson met in the ACC Championship Game last season, and the Tigers earned a convincing 38-3 win. Clemson returns seven starters on offense and eight starters on defense.

Here are this year’s voting results:

ACC Championship Votes 1. Clemson 139 2. Miami 5 3. NC State 2 T4. Florida State 1 T4. Virginia Tech 1 Coastal Division

(First place votes in parenthesis)

1. Miami (122)

2. Virginia Tech (16) 3. Georgia Tech (8) 4. Duke (1) 5. Pitt 6. North Carolina (1) 7. Virginia

Atlantic Division

(First place votes in parenthesis) 1. Clemson (144) 2. Florida State (1) 3. N.C. State (2) 4. Boston College 5. Louisville 6. Wake Forest (1) 7. Syracuse 998 838 654 607 420 370 257 1,030 789 712 545 422 414 232