BC Picked to Finish Third in Atlantic Division

Boston College football hasn’t finished higher than fourth in the ACC Atlantic Division since 2009—also the Eagles’ last eight-win season. But on Monday morning, the ACC Preseason Poll indicated that BC could snap that streak in 2021.

For the first time since 2010, the Eagles were slotted as the Atlantic’s third-best team in the conference’s preseason poll.

BC didn’t receive a first-place vote, however, it did pile up 638 points among the 147 voters. The only two Atlantic teams above the Eagles are North Carolina State (one first-place vote) and, of course, Clemson, which was selected to win its seventh straight ACC title.

North Carolina, the Coastal Division favorite, stacked 16 conference championship votes. Miami (28 first-place votes) and Virginia Tech (three first-place votes) followed in the Coastal’s half of the poll. This is the second time in program history that the Tar Heels have been tapped for the Coastal Division title, which they haven’t claimed since 2015.

Every Coastal team won the division between 2013 and 2019. The league did away with divisions last year because of the pandemic. BC was picked to finish 13th but finished sixth in the conference, exceeding expectations in the first year of the Jeff Hafley era.

The Eagles are searching for their first plus-.500 ACC season in 12 years.

Here’s the complete 2021 preseason poll:

Overall Champion

Clemson - 125

UNC - 16

Miami - 3

Virginia - 1

Georgia Tech - 1

N.C. State - 1

Atlantic Division

(first-place votes in parenthesis)

Clemson - 1,028 (146)

N.C. State - 804 (1)

BC - 638

Florida State - 510

Wake Forest - 472

Louisville - 462

Syracuse - 202

Coastal Division

(first-place votes in parenthesis)

UNC - 979 (109)

Miami - 881 (28)

Virginia Tech - 582 (3)

Pittsburgh - 576 (1)

Virginia - 540 (2)

Georgia Tech - 340 (4)

Duke - 218