Editor’s note: Over the past 2 weeks, Saturday Road has previewed the 2023 ACC football season with its annual Crystal Ball prediction series. Here are the individual team previews:

Boston College | Clemson | Duke | Florida State | Georgia Tech | Louisville | Miami | UNC | NC State | Notre Dame | Pittsburgh | Syracuse | Virginia | Virginia Tech | Wake Forest

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Picking upsets is a tricky proposition. But that’s what makes picking so fun.

No matter how much thought we put into the picks and how much intel we might think we have, there’s usually no rhyme or reason as to why, where and when they’ll happen.

That having been said, I actually hit on 5 of my 9 upset predictions, with the 10th nullified by the cancellation of the Virginia-Virginia Tech game.

With any luck, I’ll come out on the winning side of the ledger again this year. But as a public service, I don’t recommend running out to your favorite sportsbook  and plunking down your hard-earned money on any of these picks.

So here goes …

10. Pittsburgh vs. North Carolina, Sept. 23

The Tar Heels were picked to finish 3rd behind Clemson and Florida State. The Panthers were tied with Duke for 6th in the ACC’s preseason poll. UNC has the edge at quarterback in Heisman Trophy contender Drake Maye. Pitt has the better defense, championship experience and is at home – where it’s beaten the Tar Heels the past 2 times they’ve visited. 

This game will be overshadowed by the showdown between Tigers and Seminoles on the same day. But it could turn out to be just as important. Despite Pitt’s low preseason expectations, the winner will be the early frontrunner to sneak into the ACC Championship Game if either of the two favorites falter.

9. Syracuse at Purdue, Sept. 16

The Orange rallied to beat the Boilermakers at home on Garrett Shrader’s 25-yard pass to Oronde Gadsden II with 7 seconds remaining last year. But while they did make it to a bowl for the 1st time since 2018, they stumbled to the finish line with six losses in their final 7 games.

Even though Purdue won 8 games, played Michigan in the Big Ten Championship Game in 2022 and will almost certainly be favored, Jeff Brohm’s departure to Louisville has the Boilermakers in rebuilding mode. That’s all the advantage the Orange needs to sweep the home-and-home series.

8. Miami at NC State, Nov. 4

The Hurricanes catch the Wolfpack between an emotional game against Clemson and a grudge match with in-state nemesis Wake Forest.

It’s a trap game and Miami is good enough to take advantage. Especially against an opponent that always seems to lose at least 1 game it shouldn’t lose every year.

7. Boston College vs. UConn, Oct. 28

This might not seem like an upset at face value. But the Huskies aren’t the pushover they once were. They were actually a bowl team last year. And the Eagles won only 3 times during an injury-plagued 2022 campaign.

BC will be playing for coach Jeff Hafley’s job. It will have All-ACC guard Christian Mahogany and others back. And it has a score to settle with UConn after losing to it – and losing their starting quarterback – in East Hartford last year.

6. Georgia Tech vs. Syracuse, Nov. 18

The Orange will have already clinched bowl eligibility by the penultimate week of the regular season. The Yellow Jackets, by contrast, will be in desperation mode needing 2 more wins with 2 games left to play in coach Brent Key’s 1st full season as coach.

A hard-earned victory on Senior Day will help Tech equal its win total from the previous season and keep its slim postseason hopes alive. At least until the following week’s rivalry showdown with 2-time defending national champion Georgia.

5. Virginia Tech vs. Purdue, Sept. 9

The Boilermakers are doing their part to boost the ACC’s national profile. Their trip to Blacksburg will result in the 1st of their 2 losses to conference teams during the opening month of the season. Tech gets the edge this battle of rebuilding programs because of the home-field advantage and the fact that coach Brent Pry and his staff are a full year ahead of new Purdue coach Ryan Walters in the process.

This will be a good early gauge of the impact of the Hokies’ highly-rated transfer class, especially on offense.

4. Virginia vs. James Madison. Sept. 9

It’s hard to think of an ACC team being an underdog to an in-state rival just 2 seasons removed from being an FCS program. But the Dukes are coming off a season in which they won 8 games and would have gone to a bowl had they not been in the process of transitioning to the FBS. And the Cavaliers are dealing with both a massive rebuild on the field and the aftermath of an unthinkable tragedy off it.

Emotions will be running high as coach Tony Elliott’s team returns to Scott Stadium for their first regular-season game since the deaths of 3 team members last November.  The most fitting tribute to Lavel Davis Jr,, D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler will be to win the game. 

3. Wake Forest vs. NC State, Nov. 11

Superman had his Kryptonite. The Wolfpack have Winston-Salem. They’ve only won once in their past 10 visits to the venue now known as Allegacy Stadium, with the only victory coming in 2015.

By contrast, State has won 7 of the past 8 against the Deacons in Raleigh. There’s no rhyme or reason for the pattern. But it’s real. And it will continue again this year.

2. North Carolina vs. South Carolina at Charlotte, Sept. 2

Yes, the Tar Heels are actually favored by a point or 2. But forget the betting line. This is a top tier ACC team against a middle-of-the-pack SEC team. It’s a game the ACC team doesn’t usually win, but is vitally important to the league’s perception nationally.

UNC does, however, own a recent victory against the Gamecocks at Bank of America Stadium. That 2020 victory turned out to be the springboard for Sam Howell’s standout career in Chapel Hill. Now his successor Maye begins his Heisman campaign with an emphatic passing performance against UNC’s neighbors from South of the border.

1. NC State vs. Clemson, Oct. 28

This will be Clemson’s toughest test of the year outside of the Florida State game. The Wolfpack beat the Tigers the last time they came to Raleigh in 2021 and aren’t afraid of playing at home against their former Atlantic Division rival. 

Clemson could enter 7-0, but NC State will present a stiff challenge with the stingiest defense in the league and a resurgent Brennan Armstrong airing it out. Most important, they’ll catch the defending ACC champions looking ahead to the following week’s showdown with Notre Dame.