The ACC announced Syracuse tight end Oronde Gadsden II was selected to the Preseason All-ACC Team on Wednesday, SU's lone selection on the teams.

Clemson led all programs with seven players on the 27-member team. UNC quarterback Drake Maye was voted the ACC Preseason Player of the Year.

On Monday, the ACC released the results of the media poll, which selected Syracuse 10th in the conference. Clemson was selected to win the league.

The team was voted on by members of the media who were credentialed at last week's ACC Kickoff event in Charlotte.

What’s new?

Another year and another low preseason prediction by the media covering ACC football regarding the Orange.

With the removal of divisions and SU being picked 10th among the 14 conference teams for the upcoming season, it marks only the third time in 11 ACC seasons that the Cuse has been projected not to finish in last place or second to last place in the standings, with all but one of those 11 polls contained in the previous two division format.

The result of this year's voting, in which some 70% of the 176 media members that took part reside in the Carolinas or Virginia, always seems to have a southern slanting preference.

Then again, Syracuse has not handled its part to justify preseason praise having only made three bowl games in the first decade of ACC play.

As you might imagine, the 10th place prediction did not go over well within the program Tuesday morning when coaches and players received the news, and it certainly seemed to light a fire as Dino Babers and a couple of players met the media vowing to take care of business to prove the naysayers wrong.

That process began Wednesday with preseason practice number one, and plenty of optimism.

The team’s roster has more talented depth, younger players and transfer portal newcomers are starting to fill in the depth chart gap, the coaching staff with two new coordinators is, according to Babers, the best he’s assembled, and the early schedule is favorable to another fast start heading into the mammoth initial league game against Clemson in the Dome on September 30.

If all falls into place that 10th place prediction looks low, and it will result in a winning season and consecutive bowl game trips for the first time in a decade.

That’s progress.

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