NC State is No. 7 in SB Nation’s 2019 ACC football power rankings

Barring some sort of undiscovered calamity, Clemson has everybody else in the ACC playing for second place in 2019. But NC State is one of the teams in the league’s second tier, in Bill Connelly’s estimation.

Miami, Florida State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech are also in that second tier and in that order ahead of the Wolfpack. The Hurricanes and the Seminoles boast better overall talent than everybody else here, but after what we saw from them last year, who the heck knows. You can make credible cases for or against just about any order of finish here but they’re minor details given that Clemson is roughly 10 miles ahead.

The next tier down is led by Pitt and Wake Forest, though I would not be surprised if Wake Forest played better than that appraisal. It’s fine if the Deacs don’t want to be any good this year, however. I’d have no issues with that.