Updated September 2, 2026
The ACC has had national championship contenders among its members for much of the recent history of college football. Even if this league doesn't receive quite the same recognition as the Big Ten and SEC, there is enough talent here to make the ACC title race interesting year in and year out. Here, we look at the futures markets for the ACC championship and break down where the value lies.
The Miami Hurricanes made it all the way to the College Football Playoff national championship game last season, losing to the Indiana Hoosiers on that big stage. But they did not qualify for the ACC Championship Game, which was contested by Duke and Virginia. Still, the Canes are the market favorites to win the ACC this season according to the Polymarket prediction market pricing above.
Darian Mensah is lined up at quarterback for the Hurricanes this year. He has had success at Tulane and Duke in his last two seasons, elevating those programs relative to their expectations. If he can do the same with Miami, they could be looking at a national championship season.
SMU finished in a five-way tie for second place in the ACC last season, but lost out on making the ACC title game to Duke via a convoluted set of tiebreakers, just like Miami. This year, the Mustangs are being given a strong shot at advancing to the ACC title game again, as they look to continue their success since joining the league from the AAC.
If SMU wants to be a playoff contender this season, it has to be better on the road. The Mustangs went 3-3 away from home last season, which is not good enough for any team that wants to be viewed as a serious contender.
Louisville did not finish in the five-way logjam for second place in the ACC last season, going 4-4 in conference play. But there is some hype building around the Cardinals going into the 2026 season that has put them near the top of the list of ACC title contenders themselves.
As we saw last season, there is a strong possibility that chaos will reign supreme in the ACC again this year. So many of these teams have so little separating them that one slip-up by Miami could open the door to a half-dozen teams to slide in and grab the conference championship for themselves.
Teams like Stanford, Cal, Boston College, Syracuse, and Bill Belichick's North Carolina can probably be counted out early in the season. But outside of that, this league could go in any number of directions in any given season.
For now, we'll stick with Miami to win the ACC title. The Hurricanes have a dynamic quarterback that has won everywhere he's gone during his collegiate career so far. And while this conference can be highly unpredictable, this could be a year where Miami is good enough to overcome that.
