2025 ACC college football projections, preview

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To be the man, you have to beat the man. It's the mantra of Charlotte-based wrestling great Ric Flair, and it pretty reliably describes the annual title race in the Charlotte-based ACC. For 14 straight years, the ACC crown has gone to either Dabo Swinney's Clemson Tigers or to someone who managed to beat them in the regular season.

Over the past 10 of those 14 years, Clemson has won eight titles. Even as the Tigers' status as a national championship contender diminished -- they've finished from 13th to 20th in the AP poll for four consecutive years after six straight top-four finishes -- they've split the past four conference titles. Last year they became the first bid…