ACC college football preview – Breaking down the conference’s best players, games and more

The ACC did not exactly have a banner campaign in 2021, missing the College Football Playoff for the first time while failing to finish with a team ranked in the top 10 after Clemson posted its most losses since 2014.

All eyes will be on the Tigers once again to see whether they regroup to carry the flag for the conference. But beyond Clemson, this should be a much stronger conference top to bottom than in years past. Ten of 14 teams return their starting quarterbacks — although Wake Forest, the defending Atlantic Division champion, was dealt a tough blow when it announced Sam Hartman will be out indefinitely with a non-football-related medical issue. In the Coastal Division, optimism is high at Miami under first-year coach Mario Cristobal, who returned home to the Hurricanes to revitalize a program that has never won an ACC championship.

No matter what happens, this will be a year for the record books — as the final season of the conference having divisions.

Storylines to watch

1. Does Clemson return to form?

Despite missing the playoff last season, Clemson still won 10 games for the 11th straight year — only the third program in history to accomplish such a feat. While that is an incredible achievement, the bar has been raised in Clemson after six straight playoff appearances. But more than that, the bar for offensive performance has been raised, and what happened in 2021 simply failed to meet expectations. Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was not consistent enough, and neither were the receivers or the offensive line. Uiagalelei returns as the starting QB — and the largest focus both on the Tigers and in the conference should be on him and whether he can fulfill his potential. If he doesn’t, what should be one of the best defenses in…