No conference does clunky standings quite like the ACC. The league is transitioning to a nine-game conference schedule, but due to preexisting nonconference contracts, five schools (Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and UNC) are still playing eight games this season.

The ACC also changed its tiebreaker policy after 7-5 Duke emerged from a five-way tie for second to reach the conference championship game, winning the league for the first time since 1989 but missing the Playoff. This year, you could see a tie between a 6-2 team and a 7-2 team broken by a computer rating (and the ACC champion is guaranteed a bid).

If my hunch is correct, at least one team will glide cleanly to Charlotte.

Here are my predicted standings, plus 10 other predictions for the ACC and Notre Dame in 2026. (Also read my SEC and Big 12 predictions.)

ACC championship: Miami over Louisville
Playoff teams: Miami, Notre Dame (independent)

1. Miami will run away from the field. Yeah, yeah, they’ve never won the ACC since joining in 2004. But the Canes and their highly priced roster are living in a completely different neighborhood than everyone else. Duke transfer QB Darian Mensah is a legit Heisman Trophy contender, and running back Mark Fletcher and receiver Malachi Toney could be All-Americans.

2. But the Irish will get revenge in South Bend. Notre Dame deserves all the preseason acclaim it’s getting. QB CJ Carr and his receivers will be dynamic, and its defense should be as good/better than the 2024 edition. I have the Irish losing once — at BYU — but they’ll be out for blood in the Miami rematch on Nov. 7 after the Canes kept them out of the Playoff last year.

3. SMU or Louisville goes to Charlotte. In their two seasons since moving up from the American, the Mustangs have gone 14-2 in ACC play. Star QB Kevin Jennings is back. They’re my co-No. 2 with Louisville, where explosive RB Isaac Brown leads a deep backfield. The Cards happen to host SMU in Week 3, so I’ll give them the edge to get to the ACC title game.

4. Virginia won’t be a one-off. I initially assumed the Cavaliers would crash back to earth after so many close wins last year (three in overtime) en route to an 11-3 final record. But UVA may be the oldest team in the country and returns the nation’s most experienced O-line. And Missouri transfer QB Beau Pribula may be an upgrade from Chandler Morris.

5. Dabo Swinney endures another mediocre year. Once a program reaches the heights Clemson did from 2015-2020, people just kind of assume they’re “still talented.” Well, the Tigers had nine draft picks last season and went 7-6. They’ve gone 4-4 in conference play two of the past three seasons. Expect more of the same.

6. James Franklin shows early returns. Last year was a lost 3-9 season after Brent Pry got fired after three games. Franklin retained a lot of key pieces — including Pry as DC — while bringing in Penn State imports like QB Ethan Grunkemeyer. The Hokies will rebound and finish on the right side of .500.

7. Mike Norvell does not finish the season. Florida State’s embattled coach — 3-13 in the ACC since 2024 — was too expensive to fire last year. Now it may be too costly to keep him. The fanbase is checked out and roster money dried up. And FSU is visiting Alabama, Louisville and Miami over the first seven games.

8. The Bay Area schools diverge. Stanford cost coach Justin Wilcox his job when it stomped Cal last season. New Bears leader Tosh Lupoi has a promising team led by stud QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. Things look bleaker for Cardinal coach Tavita Pritchard, whose best option is ex-Michigan starter Davis Warren.

9. Bill O’Brien says, “What am I doing here?” The third-year Boston College boss is in a no-win situation. His employer is a non-factor in NIL. The Eagles went 2-10 in 2025, lost some of their best players and signed the 60th-ranked portal class, per 247Sports. After another 2-10-type season, O’Brien moves on.

10.Bill Belichick says, “What am I doing here?” Unlike O’Brien, Bill’s dilemma is entirely of his own making. The Tar Heels’ portal class was also outside the top 50. And the schedule — TCU, at Clemson, Notre Dame, Miami, Louisville, at Virginia — is harder than it was for last year’s 4-8 team. If it turns out this year’s record is the same or worse, prepare for a “mutually agreed to part ways” press release in December. Followed by a nice, long vacation with the missus.

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Good morning! Score 22 runs today. Coming up: 

• ⚽ Premier League preview
• 🫩 Lakers feel the burn
• 🌎 NFL wants int’l team

Lock In: As EPL returns, another key soccer week

Pardon if this sounds like hyperbole, but Friday marks one of the biggest days in recent memory for soccer in America. The bridge from a North American World Cup to the best men’s club soccer league in the world will fully appear as Arsenal and Coventry kick off the English Premier League season. How much fandom will follow? 

Millions of Americans already have a Prem team. Millions more, though, got into the World Cup and — judging by even just our own metrics here at The Athletic — want more soccer. There’s plenty of places to find it, sure, but the EPL is the top destination for elite men’s soccer outside of international competition. 

The best part? It’s a new era for the league, which means if you’re new here, it’s a good time to join. Let’s do some quick hitters with extra resources for further rabbit-hole purposes: 

Wait, what’s new? The managers, that’s what. Nine of the 20 teams have new leaders. There’s no Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Jurgen Klopp is long gone from Liverpool. There’s also a new manager at Chelsea, with new-ish faces at Tottenham and Manchester United, too, having joined late in last year’s campaign. It’s the biggest of our top 20 storylines of the season. 

The reigning champion: Arsenal, who broke a 22-year drought last season with a masterful campaign. Not many teams or managers win back-to-back EPL titles — only Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and Guardiola at Man City have ever done so — but judging by recent looks, this year’s Arsenal team might have the juice again. It’s a long season, though.

Julian Finney / Getty Images

What am I looking for early? If you’ve picked a team, try to fit the EPL schedule into your weekend routine. If you haven’t chosen a club, cherry-pick some great games on the early schedule to see what sticks. I did so with Tottenham for the first game of the 2021-22 campaign, in which Spurs won a rousing 1-0 match over mighty Man City. I was hooked. Also, just take a spin through our kit rankings if you like to choose via merch. 

• Also something to watch for in the next two weeks: Big names could still be on the move, as the transfer window remains open until Sept. 1. See the latest on our DealSheet. 

Despair candidates: Liverpool and Manchester City. At Liverpool, new manager Andoni Iraola inherited a talented team, but having a squad jell takes time, which Premier League clubs and fans notoriously do not allow. Same goes for Enzo Maresca at City, where following a legend in Guardiola is never easy, even if Erling Haaland is on your team. If either of these teams falter early, particularly with how pundits view mighty Arsenal, expect plenty of schadenfreude. 

We have a full set of predictions for the season here and will have more Pulse EPL coverage this weekend. Let’s watch some soccer.

News to Know

Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images

In L.A., more fallout
The five Buss siblings not named Jeanie are “united” in their desire to sell the remaining family shares in the Lakers, the group said in a statement yesterday, despite the objection of Jeanie, who remains governor of the franchise for the time being. Jeanie contends that her siblings don’t have the authority to sell the family’s stake. I thought Dan Woike’s column about the effect of all this on the actual employees of the franchise was really astute. 

Meanwhile, the man who sold the franchise after 14 months in charge, Mark Walter, is on a selling spree as he faces federal scrutiny. His stake in Premier League club Chelsea is possibly moving to majority owner Clearlake Capital and, as our Melody Gutierrez explained, is part of a broader strategy to liquidate billions in assets at a “dramatic” pace.

International NFL teams? Goodell says yes
In an interview yesterday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said there is “no doubt” the league will have international franchises one day, adding that he hopes it happens before any international city hosts a Super Bowl. The NFL began its international push in 2005 and will host a record nine games on foreign soil this season. Read more here.

ESPN co-founder dies
Bill Rasmussen, credited with making 24-hour sports news coverage a thing, died yesterday at 93, according to an ESPN statement. Rasmussen co-founded the sports media giant in 1979, though he was ousted in 1980 before returning nearly two decades later. Nevertheless, there would be no ESPN without Rasmussen. 

Andrew Marchand has a great appreciation of Rasmussen’s contributions to this entire industry. It’s worth a read this morning.

More news:

• Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell opened up about his “tough” past few months after his mother’s death, allegedly at the hands of his brother. Read Calais’ comments.
  
• More tough times for LIV Golf, where purses have been cut and lawsuits have been filed. Plus, as Brody Miller reports, players don’t seem super swayed by the league’s new investor.
  
• Diamondbacks shortstop Ketel Marte was still MIA yesterday, and team officials said they hope he’s OK. Troubling.
  
• Ratings were down for MLB’s Field of Dreams game on Netflix last week. Bummer.
  
• Everyone’s still waiting to see if Serena Williams will make her first U.S. Open appearance in four years. There’s a wild-card spot waiting for her.
  
• Golden State will host the 2027 WNBA All-Star Game.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Things You Need to See: A swaggy robbery

Fernando Tatis Jr. might’ve been the best player in baseball last night. In a 5-2 win over the Mets, the Padres right fielder hit two homers and drove in three runs. He also did this:

Fernando Tatis Jr.’s reaction after robbing a grand slam was COLD 🥶 https://t.co/mSZ4PQV1uf pic.twitter.com/6au76yhClm

— MLB (@MLB) August 18, 2026

That was going to be a Francisco Lindor grand slam, which by my simple math would’ve made this game quite different. Thus, the reaction is warranted.

Watch Guide

📺 LLBWS: Four games
1 p.m.-7 p.m. ET on ESPN
The kids are back this week in Williamsport, Pa., with the opening games of the Little League Baseball World Series occupying the Worldwide Leader’s airwaves all afternoon into the evening. A nice change of pace. 

📺 MLS: Dynamo at Whitecaps
10:30 p.m. ET on Apple TV
The best MLS game of the day is in the late window, as these two are tops in the Western Conference. There’s a whole bevy of games today, though, if you’d like to choose an earlier matchup. 

📺 WNBA: Lynx at Valkyries
10 p.m. ET on USA Network
These are the two best teams in the WNBA standings. Enough said.

Pulse Picks

Want a key to your NHL team’s future? Look no further than our Pipeline Rankings. 

Hayden Large’s football career probably should’ve ended in high school. Now, he might make the Bears roster. Incredible story. 

I was always taught to focus hard during youth baseball games. Pete Crow-Armstrong, the NL MVP favorite, lets his mind wander during MLB games. And it works. 

The name is special, but his play was uneven last year. So what makes Texas quarterback Arch Manning the potential No. 1 draft pick? Dane Brugler broke down film. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The goalkeeper in Scotland, wearing a mask, who pulled a rabona. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: The Transfer DealSheet.

Former Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank will be a pundit on the BBC’s Match of the Day highlights show this season, the broadcaster has announced.

Frank, sacked by Spurs last season, was part of the BBC’s World Cup coverage over the summer. He will be joined by retired players Ashley Young, Robbie Keane and Toby Alderweireld who are also set to feature regularly as part of a shake-up of their punditry line-up.

Former Manchester United, Aston Villa and Inter Milan player Young, who retired at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, was an occasional pundit on Sky Sports last season, while manager Keane is out of work having recently left Hungarian club Ferencvaros.

Reports have suggested longstanding BBC pundits Martin Keown, Dion Dublin and Stephen Warnock, among others, will make way for the new announcements but the British broadcaster told The Athletic the trio, plus Nedum Onuoha, Shay Given and Theo Walcott, are yet to sign contracts. They will still be part of their shows this season including on Match of the Day.

As part of its coverage for 2026-27 the BBC is also launching four new shows on its YouTube channel; The Truth About Football, Golden Goal, Football Hub and FANS², the latter of which pits diehard supporters against each other with the aim being to agree on a contentious football topic. A ‘BBC Sport Fan Collective’ will feature opinions from fans representing each of the 20 Premier League clubs.

The BBC doesn’t have live rights to Premier League matches, other than on radio, but screens highlights on Match of the Day and its website. This season they will show two matches from every round of the FA Cup, one Bundesliga game every week and highlights from the Champions League, La Liga and Serie A.

It’s a big change – will it work?

New pundits, still fairly new hosts — after Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan replaced Gary Lineker last year — and more contributions from fans … the BBC is making a huge attempt to modernise its output.

While a few mainstays are still around like Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, with Wayne Rooney and Joe Hart, this latest announcement sees a continuation of a freshening up of its coverage.

Frank was one of the better pundits on UK TV in the summer but ITV’s line-up of Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Emma Hayes and Ange Postecoglou outshone the BBC.

With the likes of Frank and Keane on the show Match of the Day will feel unrecognisable from a couple of years ago, but for the BBC that’s the point. Yes, people like familiarity, but the show and a lot of the corporation’s coverage had gone a bit stale.

The ‘Fan Collective’ is a similar notion to the ‘Fanalysis’ venture launched by comedian Michael McIntyre across Sky Sports last season.

It’s also interesting to note that three of the four new pundits — Frank, Keane and Alderweireld — are all formerly of Spurs. While ex-players from Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are littered across Sky, the BBC, TNT Sports; former Spurs players or managers are harder to come by.

Postecoglou even spoke of there being a Spurs ‘pile on’ with not enough voices defending the club.