If Notre Dame Was Fully Fledged ACC Member, Would Irish Be Preseason Favorite?

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — We’ve nearly reached the two-year checkpoint of Notre Dame officially joining the ACC, though that partnership doesn’t extend fully to football, of course.

But as summer crawls closer, let’s take a different look at the conference question and consider if Notre Dame football would be the preseason favorite if it were a full member in the ACC. In analyzing the conference landscape, the focus will be less on how 2015 schedules stack up and more on how the teams themselves compare on paper.

Last year, Florida State rolled through the regular season—narrowly bypassing Notre Dame in a game that will always have an asterisk for many Irish fans—and topped Georgia Tech in the ACC title game to advance to the Rose Bowl, where the Seminoles were stomped by Marcus Mariota and Oregon.

Clemson and Georgia Tech both finished 6-2 in the league in regular-season play, with the Yellow Jackets coming out of the Coastal Division to challenge Jameis Winston and company in the league championship.

For the sake of the argument, here, those three teams appear to be a cut above the rest of the conference, with Notre Dame likely fitting into that grouping as well. So the question comes down to how the Irish compare to the Seminoles, Yellow Jackets and Tigers.

At first glance, it might seem Notre Dame wouldn’t be favored over Florida State, which has gone 58-11 in five years under head coach Jimbo Fisher, with trips to the Orange Bowl and BCS National Championship Game in 2012 and 2013, respectively. But the list of vital Seminole departures following the 2014 season extends well past the name Winston.

Player	Round
Jameis Winston	1
Cameron Irving	1
Mario Edwards Jr.	2
Eddie Goldman	2
Ronald Darby	2
P.J. Williams	3
Tre' Jackson	4
Rashad Greene	5
Karlos Williams	5
Nick O'Leary	6
Bobby Hart	7

Fisher and his staff must replace a top cornerback (Darby) and three key offensive playmakers (Williams, Greene and O’Leary), among others. Meanwhile, Notre Dame returns a bulk of its starters on both sides of the ball.

Everett Golson’s transfer to Florida State assuredly makes this particular comparison more intriguing, and he does move the needle enough to make a difference for both teams. Still, I’ll take Notre Dame, which returns its most attractive draft prospects in Ronnie Stanley, Sheldon Day and KeiVarae Russell, for starters, while the Seminoles are left retooling.

What about Georgia Tech? These teams will have a chance to sort it out in mid-September, when the Yellow Jackets visit South Bend for an afternoon clash.

Talented redshirt junior quarterback Justin Thomas is back to lead Paul Johnson’s triple-option attack. Thomas produced 1,719 passing yards and 18 touchdown tosses to go along with 1,086 rushing yards and eight scores in 2014.

Marc Serota/Getty Images

After Thomas, however, the Yellow Jackets lose their next four leading rushers. Sure, an option system can sometimes run itself, especially with such a strong signal-caller at the helm, but, again, Notre Dame’s returning depth would likely give it the preseason advantage.

That brings us to Clemson, which finished 10-3 after a 40-6 steamrolling of Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The Tigers will host the Irish in South Carolina the first weekend of October.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson’s health is of the utmost importance, after his true freshman season was stunted by a torn ACL. Watson had thrived for the Tigers in 2014 against Florida State and then North Carolina, and he could be one of the best quarterbacks in the conference if healthy.

Tyler Smith/Getty Images

That uncertainty, though, coupled with the losses of defensive stalwarts and first-round draft picks Vic Beasley and Stephone Anthony, would likely give the Irish the leg up in the preseason polls.

It’s all conjecture, and Notre Dame won’t be competing for the ACC championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Dec. 5.

But the Irish will go head-to-head with Georgia Tech and Clemson in 2015.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is a lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.