2026 college football predictions: James Franklin, Virginia Tech will stun the ACC
The bookies believe it’s Miami vs.the Field in the ACC this season.Despite losing quarterback Carson Beck and several others to the NFL Draft, the Hurricanes are the only odds-on favorite to win their conference at DraftKings Sportsbook this season.
Whether that says more about Miami or the quality of the ACC is up for debate.There were meant to be several contenders for the conference title and a spot in the College Football Playoff in 2025, but one by one they fell off the boil.Clemson was a disappointment across the board.
SMU was inconsistent.Louisville was up and down.In the end, it was Duke beating Virginia in the championship, but the Blue Devils were so uninspiring with their 7-5 record that they didn’t get an invite to the College Football Playoff.
Instead, two Group of 5 teams (Tulane, JMU) took a spot, and so did Miami, which finished third in the conference.Miami would make the committee look good by making it all the way to the National Championship Game, but overall the ACC was a mess in 2025.There’s a good chance it will be again in 2026.Despite the roster turnover, it’s reasonable that Miami is the clear frontrunner in the ACC.
The Hurricanes replaced Beck with Darian Mensah, a legitimate Heisman candidate coming off a 3,973-yard, 34-touchdown campaign for Duke.The Hurricanes also grabbed Mensah’s No.
1 receiver from Duke, Cooper Barkate, for good measure.In the context of the national championship, the questions about Miami are legit.They lost so much talent that it’s a bit crazy to just expect them to bounce right back to their form from last winter.
But in the context of the ACC race, the red flags aren’t too concerning because the other contending teams are much more flawed.They’re also being offered at much better prices.Two of them really stand out.So much about James Franklin’s hire at Virginia Tech makes sense.This is a once-proud program that needs some life and respect restored and Franklin can do that in spades.He ...