It was a landmark year in the ACC as the league entered into its first season of the 17-team era, welcoming in SMU, Cal and Stanford to create a new footprint that expands from the Atlantic Coast to ... all of the coasts. And the newcomers made some noise, too, with SMU being the only team to go 8-0 in conference play and both Cal and Stanford creating memorable moments during their first run through a new league.
Yet, for all the changes, the season finished with the most familiar site in ACC football: Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers hoisting the trophy in Charlotte at the conclusion of the ACC Championship Game. It's true, while the college football world at large seems to change every three months, it is the Tigers who remain constant, steadfast in their approach and continuously competitive with the best teams in the conference.
We still have a bowl schedule ahead that will determine plenty in terms of how fans feel about the 2024 season, as well as two ACC teams taking on the field in the new 12-team College Football Playoff, but now feels like a great time to make some assessments on how things went during the year.
Here's how we grade each ACC team in 2024 based on their expectations, successes and failures.
Boston College
On the whole, I think you have to consider Year 1 of the Bill O'Brien era to be a success. Not only did he guide the Eagles to seven regular-season wins, but he did so while managing some quarterback instability and some pretty dreadful defensive performances in the middle of the conference season. Things looked bleak when back-to-back losses to Virginia and Virginia Tech were followed by a blown lead defeat against Louisville, but O'Brien steadied the ship and they finished strong with home wins against Syracuse, North Carolina and Pitt -- all bowl teams -- in November. Grade: B-
Cal
As we mentioned in the introduction, Cal probably gets more credit for the moments created than the body of work as a whole because there's a lot of "what if's" packed into its 6-6 finish. After a 3-0 start, the Bears had a four-game losing streak where the combined margin of defeat was nine points. That stretch included blowing a double-digit lead in an instant classic against Miami and some serious offensive struggles in low-scoring rock fights against Florida State and Pitt. It's not a surprise Justin Wilcox is making a change at offensive coordinator, because when you suffer five one-score losses in a season, there's a feeling that just a little more offensive success could have turned a six-win season into something special. Grade: C
Clemson
It's really tempting to get caught up in the whirlwind of Clemson's walk-off title game win last weekend, punching a ticket to the program's seventh College Football Playoff, but I think a season-long grade needs to take all the data into consideration. The Tigers might not have needed the ACC championship to make the College Football Playoff if they had defeated Louisville as a double-digit home favorite in early November, and the offense did sputter a bit in the back half of the ACC schedule (though injuries did play a role). Still, what a response from Cade Klubnik and the conference's standard-bearers to seize the opportunity when Syracuse's upset of Miami pushed them into the title game. This was a B+ kind of year prior winning the crown, but stepping up in the big moment moves them into the A-range. Grade: A-
Duke
The Blue Devils lost an excellent coach in Mike Elko, handfuls of quality players to the transfer portal and the pros yet still landed on their feet with one of the program's most successful seasons in the modern era. Manny Diaz guiding Duke to a nine-win season far exceeded expectations and nearly doubled up the team's preseason win total from the oddsmakers. The Blue Devils went 3-0 against in-state ACC opponents, 4-0 in nonconference play and were a blocked field goal away from handing SMU what would have been their only conference loss of the season. Grade: A
Florida State
There might not be a team in all of college football that failed to meet preseason expectations to the level of Florida State. The Seminoles were a preseason top-10 team projected to compete for double-digit wins and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Instead, it was double-digit losses (10) and one of the worst seasons in program history. Mike Norvell has opted to clean house and will get a fresh start with new coordinators and a new quarterback in 2025, but the pressure is on to win and prove that this season -- not the 13-win campaign in 2023 -- was the anomaly in his tenure. Grade: F
Georgia Tech
There is a lot of belief in the future of Georgia Tech football under Brent Key, and 2024 only added to that confidence with the way the Yellow Jackets performed against the best teams on their schedule. Georgia Tech was one of just seven teams in the ACC to finish with a winning record in conference play, and they had to get there playing four of the other six teams (2-2). Wins against Miami and Duke highlight the year, but so too did the gutsy performance from Haynes King and the Yellow Jackets on Black Friday as they took eventual SEC champion Georgia into eight overtimes. If not for some quarterback injuries and a dud of a loss at Virginia Tech, this was an "A," but still an undisputed success of a season. Grade: B
Louisville
Maybe this was a regression season after last year's 10-win campaign in Year 1 with Jeff Brohm where some of the fortunate bounces went the other way and a team that was probably good enough to contend for the ACC title again came up a few games short. The Cardinals beat Clemson in Death Valley and were in one-score games against Notre Dame, SMU and Miami. But the inability to close out those contests and a massively disappointing loss at Stanford in November ultimately leave Louisville fans wondering what could have been rather than celebrating what was, which is an eight-win campaign that met preseason expectations from the oddsmakers. Grade: B-
Miami
The Hurricanes delivered on the preseason hype, riding Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward and one of the country's most explosive offenses to the program's first 10-win season since 2017. After two seasons of middling results, Mario Cristobal had Miami competing for championships deep into season, just like he promised at his introductory press conference. But no Miami fan ffeels great in the moment after blowing a 21-0 lead in the last game season cost the Hurricanes a chance to play for the ACC title and contend for a College Football Playoff spot. Recency bias is absolutely playing a factor here, because if not for two losses in the final three games, this was an "A" season. Grade: B
North Carolina
For the first time since 2019, North Carolina football went the entire season without ever being ranked the AP Top 25, and the 6-6 record left the Tar Heels 1.5 games short of their preseason win total, according to the oddsmakers. Giving up 70 points to James Madison and a four-game losing streak were the lowlights of a year that brought the Mack Brown 2.0 era to a close, sparking the eventual hire of Bill Belichick to lead the program into a new era. They reached bowl eligibility and put together some stretches of good football, so the season was not a failure, but this was a "C's get degrees" kind of season in Chapel Hill. Grade: C-
NC State
Some of NC State's issues were uncontrollable, like prized portal quarterback Grayson McCall having to retire from football in the wake of multiple head injuries sustained throughout his career and during the season. But there were also some really frustrating defeats on the way a 6-6 record that fell 2.5 games short of the preseason win total, according to the oddsmakers. There was a blown lead against Wake Forest, an early 17-point hole against Syracuse and a woeful offensive showing against Duke -- all home losses -- that had fans grumbling towards the end of the season. Beating North Carolina for a fourth straight year (Dave Doeren is 8-4 against the Tar Heels) salvaged the season and secured bowl eligibility, but this is a group looking for a bounce back in 2025. Grade: C-
Pitt
Like a lot of teams in the ACC, Pitt had a disjointed season with some highs that suggested they were in for a special year but also some lows that make the entire of body of work complicated to judge. The Panthers started the season with a 7-0 record that included two nonconference wins against Big 12 teams, and with all the offseason offensive changes leading to improved production, Pitt seemed poised for yet another run at an ACC title. But injuries at the quarterback position combined with some offensive regression led the Panthers to lose their final five games of the regular season. At 7-5, the finish does exceed preseason expectations, but the losing streak to close things out leads to a slight knock on the grade. Grade: B-
SMU
ACC Coach of the Year Rhett Lashlee did a tremendous job readying his team and program for the jump from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC. The Mustangs flew over their preseason win total and lived up to all of the preseason dark horse talk by turning in the league's best conference record. A win against Louisville kickstarted a run of three straight road victories where SMU showed its championship caliber. The team finished the season with four straight double-digit wins that left no doubt about their ability to contend for the conference title. Grade: A
Stanford
Expectations were low heading into Stanford's first season of ACC play, but the Cardinal fell still fell short with a 3-9 record on the season. What's so befuddling about how Stanford moved through the year was how it was able to log wins against nine-win Syracuse and eight-win Louisville yet failed to record another FBS win on the season. The margins were thin in some cases -- four one-score losses on the year -- so perhaps there is some positive regression in 2025, but there's a lot to improve on as Troy Taylor prepares for Year 3 leading the program. Grade: D
Syracuse
Another great contender for Coach of the Year honors in the ACC, Fran Brown had a remarkable Year 1 as a head coach. This is just the third Syracuse team to reach nine wins in the regular season since 2000, and they did it with victories against Miami and UNLV, two teams that, like the Orange, finished in the top 25 of the final CFP Rankings. If not for a baffling loss to Stanford at home and a five-interception showing against Pitt, Syracuse could have been in the mix not just to be ranked by the selection committee but make the 12-team field. Still, it was a fantastic season that's worth a high grade given the preseason expectations. Grade: B+
Virginia
If we're going to get technical here, Virginia mostly met the preseason expectations in 2024. The Wahoos finished in a four-way tie for 10th in the ACC standings with a 3-5 conference record and at 5-7 eclipsed the 4.5-win total set by the oddsmakers heading into the year. Tony Elliott took some rough losses along the way but delivered some great moments as well like the 24-19 win at Pitt (who was ranked inside the top 20 at the time) that snapped a three-game losing streak in the middle of the year. Grade: C
Virginia Tech
While SMU delivered on preseason ACC dark horse buzz, Virginia Tech fell way short of the conference title contention some considered given the talent returning from a team that finished strong in 2023. Brent Pry retained a ton of difference-makers yet the team never took that next step that was expected, especially against the best teams on its schedule. The 6-6 finish fell more than a game short of the preseason win total, and while five of those defeats were one-score losses, there's still some disappointment with the blame points inward rather than out when considering what could have been in 2024. Grade: C-
Wake Forest
The expectations from the oddsmakers were for Wake Forest to fall short of a bowl game and those expectations were met with a 4-8 showing in 2024. Unfortunately, while the oddsmakers' expectation was met, the program's standard was not, and this marks two straight 4-8 campaigns for Dave Clawson after leading Wake Forest to seven straight bowl games from 2016-22 with an 11-win season and ACC runner-up finish in 2021. Even in the three FBS wins, things didn't come easy for the Demon Deacons, as victories against NC State, UConn and Stanford all came by four points or less. Grade: D+
