The ACC is known as a bit of a wild football conference. Before the end of the divisions, the Coastal was famous for being unpredictable, and having every single team represent with no repeat winners over a stretch. Over the weekend, that version of the ACC reared its head for a bit producing some unexpected results. One of those didn’t come courtesy of North Carolina against Notre Dame, but such is life.
With another week in the books, let’s check in on the conference in this week’s edition of our
ACC Power Rankings.
1. Miami (5-0, 3-0 ACC)
Last Week: Beat Clemson 41-13
One team still unaffected by any chaos has been the Hurricanes, who crushed Clemson to remain unbeaten.
This Week: Bye
2. Wake Forest (4-1, 2-1 ACC)
Last Week: Beat Stanford 57-3
Despite having one loss, I’m going to put the Demon Deacons over some undefeated teams. The reason for that is that the loss was in a pretty good effort against Miami, and Wake has some other good wins, including an absolutely obliteration of Stanford this past week.
This Week: Saturday at NC State
3. Pitt (5-0, 2-0 ACC)
Last Week: Beat Virginia Tech 35-33
There was controversy over whether Virginia Tech actually made a last second field goal that would’ve beaten Pitt. I’ll let you make that call for yourself, but the record books say the Panthers are still unbeaten.
This Week: Saturday vs. North Carolina
4. Duke (4-0, 1-0 ACC)
Last Week: Bye
It’s not really through any fault of their own as they had the weekend off, but Duke got passed by a bit in this week’s rankings.
This Week: Saturday at Georgia Tech
5. Virginia Tech (4-1, 1-1 ACC)
Last Week: Lost to Pitt 35-33
I still have no idea if that field goal was good or not.
This Week: Saturday at Cal
6. SMU (4-1, 2-1 ACC)
Last Week: Beat Boston College 25-16
Things were a little too close to call for the Mustangs last week, considering the opponent.
This Week: Bye
7. NC State (3-2, 1-1 ACC)
Last Week: Beat Louisville 31-28
I have absolutely no idea what to make of State at this point.
This Week: Saturday vs. Wake Forest
8. Louisville (2-3, 1-2 ACC)
Last Week: Lost to NC State 31-28
Speaking of teams I have no idea what to make of, I present the Louisville Cardinals!
This Week: Friday vs. Florida State
9. Florida State (3-2, 1-1 ACC)
Last Week: Beat Virginia 38-7
Their schedule is tough enough the rest of the way that it’ll be hard for Mike Norvell to change the “vibes” around the program too much, but FSU is at least solid this season.
This Week: Friday at Louisville
10. Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC)
Last Week: Lost to Miami 41-13
The rest of their schedule is pretty meh, so there’s still a non-zero chance that the Tigers end up with a good record, but the Hurricanes proved that Clemson still isn’t a particularly good team.
This Week: Bye
11. Virginia (3-2, 1-1 ACC)
Last Week: Lost to Florida State 38-7
The vibes around UVA seem a lot worse than a year ago when they were in the ACC Championship Game, a victory away from a College Football Playoff bid.
This Week: Saturday vs. Syracuse
12. North Carolina (2-2, 0-1 ACC)
Last Week: Lost to Notre Dame 37-26
Honestly, I could get on board with ranking UNC almost anywhere from 11 down and could understand the argument for it.
This Week: Saturday at Pitt
13. Stanford (2-3, 1-3 ACC)
Last Week: Lost to Wake Forest 57-3
This Stanford team may very well be improved from their first couple years in the conference, but they did not show that last week.
This Week: Saturday at Notre Dame
14. Cal (2-3, 1-1 ACC)
Last Week: Lost to UNLV 39-31
He’s only five games into the season and I doubt they’ll fire him after one year, but I now have a lot of doubts about the Tosh Lupoi era and how long it will last.
This Week: Saturday vs. Virginia Tech
15. Boston College (2-3, 0-2 ACC)
Last Week: Lost to SMU 25-16
Not to act like the College Football Playoff committee, but losing to Virginia Tech and SMU by 16 points combined are “quality losses” for a team in BC’s position.
This Week: Bye
16. Georgia Tech (1-3, 0-1 ACC)
Last Week: Bye
We’ll see if the Yellow Jackets used the bye week to figure some things out after a rough start to the season.
This Week: Saturday vs. Duke
17. Syracuse (2-2, 0-2 ACC)
Last Week: Beat UConn 42-41 (OT)
Their record may be .500, but I haven’t seen anything in the Orange’s wins to make me think that they’ll be good this season.
This Week: Saturday at Virginia
