When it comes to the ACC, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy believes Miami is the only team that could win it all this season, but that the conference is still deep.

On his Always College Football show, McElroy broke the ACC down into tiers for the upcoming season, and he put Miami by itself in Tier 1 as the league’s only national championship contender. The Hurricanes went 13-3 overall last season (6-2 ACC) and made a run to the College Football Playoff national championship game where they fell to Indiana.

As for Clemson, McElroy put the Tigers in Tier 2 as a CFP contender. Of course, Dabo Swinney’s team is looking to bounce back from a very underwhelming 2025 campaign, the second-worst season in Swinney’s full 17 seasons as head coach.

“The team that everybody wants to bury, and I’m not doing it,” McElroy said of Clemson. “I understand that Clemson went 7-6. I know it’s the fewest wins this program has had since 2010, and it was a genuinely rough year. They started 3-5, and Dabo Swinney himself said, ‘I feel like I’m in 2010 all over again.’ Then the draft came, and nine Tigers got selected. That’s tied for the most in the ACC, including two first-round picks along the line of scrimmage, so defensive and offensive line.

“Here’s the part that makes 2025 sting so much for Dabo specifically — his whole model is a bet, right? That if you recruit and you develop, instead of going out and prioritizing the portal — the talent runs in cycles, and eventually, you get to a point where you have a veteran-loaded roster, and you cash that roster in for a title run. And 2025 was supposed to be that cash-in year. They had 17 returning starters, the most veteran roster in America. Preseason top five, and yet it was the worst season in 15 years. So this bounce-back isn’t just about wins — it’s about whether or not Dabo’s blueprint can still hold up in this era. But here’s where I have to be careful, because it’s a lazy take just sitting there right now talking about Dabo and whether he does it the right way. The guy has won a couple of titles. He knows what he’s doing. I’m not going to do it.”

McElroy emphasized that the entire ceiling for the Tigers this season comes down to quarterback play, and their playoff hopes depend on it.

“The entire season might hinge on just one question — it’s the quarterback,” he said. “Cade Klubnik had 40 career starts, and he’s gone. And Dabo, being Dabo, he didn’t necessarily want to go and get a portal quarterback. He said, look, Christopher Vizzina has been sitting here, and he’s been ready. He’s been waiting for this opportunity. This is a fourth-year player with one career start. But here’s the thing about that one start — it came against SMU, and Vizzina threw for 317 and three touchdowns. If that guy shows up, this could very easily become a playoff team.

“And there’s help coming for him, because Dabo brought back Chad Morris to run the offense. He was the coordinator that ended Clemson’s ACC title drought back in 2011. He wants a physical, two-back, downhill running game. That offense kind of lost that the last couple years.”

On the other side of the ball, McElroy is bullish about Clemson’s defense, especially the front seven led by the star tandem of linebacker Sammy Brown and edge rusher Will Heldt, both of whom were voted to the 2026 preseason All-ACC team, along with cornerback Ashton Hampton (and wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. on offense).

“If you watched them last year, there is some more interesting things to break down and digest, because they still have one of the top front sevens in the league along the defensive front,” McElroy said. “Will Heldt is a legitimate star off the edge. He had 15.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks a year ago. Sammy Brown is a first-team All-ACC linebacker who anchors one of the best rooms in the conference. The defense is going to be nasty.”

Regarding Clemson’s 2026 schedule, McElroy says it gives the Tigers “some room to grow” – though he sees two “likely losses” in the Sept. 5 opener at LSU and the Oct. 3 home matchup against Miami.

“Four of their first six are at home,” McElroy said. “Now, two likely losses — on the road at LSU, a home date with Miami. You have some toss-ups at Cal, at Duke, at Florida State, Georgia Tech and North Carolina, and then the rivalry game with South Carolina. You also get Virginia Tech as well.”

Clemson is grouped in McElroy’s Tier 2 with SMU and Louisville.

“I have Clemson in Tier 2 because of the talent and the coaching, I think are still Tier 2,” he said. “They have actually embraced the portal this year with a lot of new additions. I love their wide receiver room. But the quarterback, that’s the whole ballgame when evaluating what Clemson’s ceiling might be.”

McElroy’s Tier 3 (spoilers) is comprised of Virginia, Virginia Tech, NC State, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Florida State.

Duke, Syracuse, Cal, Wake Forest and North Carolina are in Tier 4 (bowl bound), while Boston College and Stanford are in Tier 5 (work to do).