The pageantry of college football is around the corner for North Carolina sportsbooks, with the newly expanded Atlantic Coast Conference welcoming three new campuses far from the East Coast basins that the collective’s built its name around for more than 70 years.
Starting this fall, those newcomers (California-Berkeley, SMU and Stanford) will join the 15 existing members in taking the fields and courts of the ACC, giving the conference a fresh look in 2024.
Based on the digital tea leaves from oddsmakers at Bet365 North Carolina, it looks like Clemson (+260), Florida State (+260), Miami (+400), Louisville and NC State (+550 each) are the frontrunners on the gridiron this season.
We’re also getting closer to tailgating season for college football fans across the country. BetCarolina.com wanted to know where the best tailgating experiences are out of the ACC. Using StadiumJourney.com and Sports-Reference.com, we factored in food and beverage, atmosphere, fans, return on investment, and overall records in our scoring system to find the top 10 campuses for college football tailgating in the ACC.
Top 10 ACC Tailgating Experiences
Rank | Team | Total Score |
1 | Clemson Tigers | 273 |
2 | Florida State Seminoles | 272 |
3 | Virginia Tech Hokies | 262 |
4 | Miami Hurricanes | 254 |
5 | Louisville Cardinals | 223 |
6 | Pittsburgh Panthers | 213 |
7 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 202 |
8 | NC State Wolfpack | 193 |
9 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 173 |
10 | Cal-Berkley | 142 |
Which ACC School Has The Best Tailgating Scene?
Of the four North Carolina schools in the 18-team ACC, the Wolfpack do tailgating the best based on our metrics, with a total score of 193 points to beat out UNC’s total of 173 for the eighth spot in the conference.
Leaguewide, the leaders in tailgating excellence were Clemson (273 points), FSU (272 points), Virginia Tech (262 points) and Miami (254 points), while Louisville rounded out the ACC top five with a score of 223 points.
Throw in Pittsburgh at 213 points and Georgia Tech at 202 points and you have the full list of ACC members that ranked ahead of the Wolfpack and Tar Heels, with newcomer Cal-Berkeley rounding out the list with a score of 142 points.
While NC State (1979) and UNC (1980) have gone more than 40 years without an ACC football title, their North Carolina brethren from Winston-Salem hold the title of the last North Carolina ACC school to win a conference title, with the Demon Deacons doing so in 2006, while Duke was the last school before them to do so (as a split champion with UVA in 1989).
All four will do their darnedest to snap that skid in 2024, with their Saturday faithful showing up early and often to revel in the good vibes that college football provides all fall long.
Stay close to BetCarolina for all the best NC sportsbook promos ahead of the college football season.
USA Today photo by Ken Ruinard.
