Florida State, Miami predicted as ACC division winners

This year's selection as the favorite in the ACC is the fourth time that the Miami Football program has been picked to win the Coastal Division. Virginia Tech was the eventual champion.

Jimbo Fisher's FSU team received 121 first-place votes to win the Atlantic Division, while Dabo Swinney and Clemson got 37. They also led the way with 1, 065 points. Defending division champion Virginia Tech followed with 40 first-place votes and 932 points.

Miami's no stranger to having been picked to win the division, having been the choice now in three of the last five seasons. Georgia Tech placed third with nine first-place votes and 708 points.

Want your voice heard? Florida State and Miami have never met in the ACC Championship Game. Of the 167 ballots submitted, 118 of them marked the Seminoles as the preseason favorites to win the conference.

Defending Heisman Trophy victor Lamar Jackson was the preseason pick as conference player of the year, receiving 113 votes for the award, well ahead of Florida State sophomore quarterback Deondre Francois, who received 23 votes.

BC defensive end Harold Landry got eight votes for ACC Preseason Player of the Year, fourth among eligible players.

Miami was selected the likely Coastal Division victor by 103 voters and amassed 1,065 total points. Jackson won the Heisman Trophy and 2016 ACC Player of the Year with his record-setting season last fall. They finished 9-4 in Mark Richt's first season as the Head Coach at his alma mater. The Hurricanes front seven has been lauded as one of the nation's best.

Clemson opens its season September 2 against Kent State.

Virginia Tech and Miami play in Miami Gardens, Florida, on November 4, a game that could well decide who represents the league in the ACC title game in Charlotte this December.