See, this is where things get fuzzy for me.
If Florida or Arkansas suddenly has a killer year, beats Georgia and Alabama with a stellar record in conference play, it's seen as "the SEC is on the rise." But if Georgia Tech or NC State has a helluva year, beating Clemson and FSU and having a stellar record in conference play, the ACC is seen as "weak."
We saw this consistently with the Coastal division - there was talk from all the talking heads and message board pundits of Coastal Chaos (which was a real thing), and that the Atlantic division was the stronger division because it had Clemson and FSU in it. Meanwhile in the Coastal, anything could happen on any given Saturday, because the teams had parity. And in out of conference play, IIRC the Coastal frequently did better than the Atlantic.
But it was the "weaker" side, because it was more balanced.
I guess this is just a rant about the media bias that continues, and will likely never go away. The same scenario playing out in 2 separate conferences will result in one argument for one conference, and the complete opposite for another conference - all because someone at ESPN decided years ago that one conference is weak and the other is strong.
So based on that, I don't care if FSU or Clemson are as good as possible. I of course want to see Clemson beat uGA (they're my 2nd favorite team that week), and always want to see the ACC do well in OOC play. But for both of them - particularly FSU, after the shenanigans they pulled this year - I'm fine if they drop a goose egg in conference wins.