This week was a Bye-a-palooza in the ACC. Seven of the teams had a bye this week, and when there is that much football not being played, these rankings tend to not do a whole lot of moving. However, that doesn’t
mean all was quiet, and ten of the teams did play this week. While some schools stayed where they were, other scores did cause some movement—particularly over the middle, where more and more teams seem to be falling as the season goes along.
So without further ado, here are this week’s ACC power rankings.
The Contenders
1. Miami Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0)
Last Week: Bye
The Hurricanes enjoyed a bye this week and therefore stayed atop the rankings. Miami will continue their Sunshine State tour (they haven’t played a game outside of Florida this season) when they welcome in a Louisville team that beat the Hurricanes the last time the Cardinals visited Miami two years ago (albeit as a top-10 team).
This Week: vs Louisville
2. Virginia Cavaliers (5-1, 3-0)
Last Week: Bye
The Cavaliers also enjoyed a bye this week and much like their Miami brethren stayed atop the rankings. Virginia, who is led by a quarterback that Michael Lombardi deemed too small to play for UNC, will be looking for its fifth straight win as they host as they host a Cougar team that almost upset a top five Ole Miss squad on the road last week.
This Week: vs Washington State
3. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-0, 3-0)
Last Week: Beat Virginia Tech 35-20
The Yellow Jackets actually played a game this week, becoming the first ACC team to be bowl eligible by beating the Hokies as quarterback Haynes King continued to do Haynes King-type things (273 total yards, three touchdowns, 83% completion percentage). Georgia Tech will look to stay undefeated this week as they travel to play a very dangerous Duke team that has outscored its ACC opponents by 71 points in three games so far this season.
This Week: at Duke
4. Duke Blue Devils (4-2, 3-0)
Last Week: Bye
The Blue Devils are the third team in the top four of these rankings to be coming off a bye this week. Duke will be looking to shake things up in the ACC pecking order as they welcome in an undefeated Yellow Jackets team that did not have an extra week to prepare.
This Week: vs Georgia Tech
5. SMU Mustangs (4-2, 2-0)
Last Week: Beat Stanford 34-10
The Mustangs continued their regular season dominance of their new conference by beating the Cardinal for their tenth straight regular season conference win. In fact, SMU hasn’t lost a regular season conference game since November 17th, 2022 when they were still in the American. This week they will look to avenge their only ACC loss in a rematch of last season’s ACC Championship game.
This Week: at Clemson
Why Not Us?
6. Louisville Cardinals (4-1, 1-1)
Last Week: Bye
That’s right, the Cardinals make it four of the top six to have had a bye this past week. Louisville probably needed the extra time to prepare for a trip to play the undefeated and top-five-ranked Hurricanes. The last time these two teams met, Louisville couldn’t keep up with an undefeated Miami team in Kentucky. Will things be different this season on the road?
This Week: at Miami
7. Pittsburgh Panthers (4-2, 2-1)
Last Week: Beat Florida State 34-31
The Panthers went down to Tallahassee and handed the Seminoles their third straight loss. However, they stay behind Louisville this week, thanks to the Cardinals’ head-to-head win. This is Pitt’s second win in a row, as true freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns. Heintschel is making Pat Narduzzi’s decision to bench Eli Holstein look like a good one as the Panthers look to make it three straight wins.
This Week: at Syracuse
8. California Golden Bears (4-2, 1-1)
Last Week: Bye
The Golden Bears are the fifth team coming off a bye this week and their reward is they get to host a North Carolina team that appears to be in total disarray (more on the Tar Heels below). Is there a better way to get a team that has been floundering of late back on track than with a bye and a game against the Heels?
This Week: vs North Carolina
Preparing for Next Season
9. Clemson Tigers (3-3, 2-2)
Last Week: Beat Boston College 41-10
The Tigers continued their “revival” tour this week with another dominating win over an ACC doormat. Clemson has now beaten the two worst teams in the conference by a combined score of 79-20 as people start to wonder if Clemson has finally turned the corner this season. The Tigers will look to continue that streak as they look to go 2-0 against a SMU squad that is 10-0 against the rest of the conference since joining last season.
This Week: vs SMU
10. NC State Wolfpack (4-3, 1-2)
Last Week: Lost 36-7 to Notre Dame
The Wolfpack lost for the third time in the past four games as they got shut out by the Fighting Irish in the second half. Despite trailing by only 3 at halftime, NC State got run out of South Bend as Notre Dame scored 26 points and gained 271 yards in the second half. Just for good measure, Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey threw three interceptions and fumbled a snap for a safety in the fourth quarter to make sure the game was over. NC State is on bye this week as they look for their first win against a FBS squad in over a month.
This Week: Bye
11. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-2, 1-2)
Last Week: Beat Oregon State 39-14
The Demon Deacons won their second straight game in a row by beating a winless Oregon State team on the road. Wake Forest got 270 yards and four touchdowns from sophomore quarterback Deshawn Purdie in his first start for the Demon Deacons. Head coach Jake Dickert improved his lifetime record to 2-2 against Oregon State after previously facing the team the past three seasons as the head coach of Washington State.
This Week: Bye
12. Syracuse Orange
Last Week: Bye
Tired of bye weeks yet? Don’t worry, there is only one more. The Orange needed a bye, though, after scoring only six points over seven quarters (they did score 15 points in the last 10 minutes against SMU but only after falling behind by 28) after beating Clemson in Death Valley. This week, they invite in a Panthers that has gotten the better of them six times in the last seven meetings.
This Week: vs Pittsburgh
13. Florida State Seminoles (3-3, 0-3)
Last Week: Lost 34-31 to Pittsburgh
The Seminoles lost their third straight ACC game and second straight at home (last week’s rankings mistakenly said they were undefeated at home). In fact, Florida State has now lost eight straight ACC games. This week, they travel to Northern California to try to bookend that streak with wins over schools from the Golden State (their last ACC win was against Cal—albeit in Tallahassee—last season).
This Week: at Stanford
14. Virginia Tech Hokies (2-5, 1-2)
Last Week: Lost 35-20 to Georgia Tech
The good vibes for the Hokies seem to be a distant memory as the team lost their second straight conference road game. Virginia Tech allowed at least 30 points for the fourth time this season as they joined Boston College as the second team to lose five games this season. The Hokies will enjoy a bye to see if they can get those good vibes going again.
This Week: Bye
15. Stanford Cardinal (1-2, 2-4)
Last Week: Lost 34-10 to SMU
Maybe the Cardinal were still asleep last week—as their game against the Mustangs kicked off at 10 am PST—or maybe Stanford is just not a very good football team. Whatever the reason, the Cardinal lost their fourth game of the season and second straight in the conference. Stanford will hope for better results this week as they take on a Seminole team that hasn’t won a conference game since September…of 2024.
This Week: vs Florida State
The Kitchen is on fire, but everything is fine
16. Boston College Eagles (1-5, 0-4)
Last Week: Lost 41-10 to Clemson
Since almost upsetting California three weeks ago, the Eagles have been outscored 89-17 in their past two conference games. Boston College desperately needs a bye week, but doesn’t have another one scheduled until the week before Thanksgiving. The Eagles do, however, get to take a break from conference play as they welcome in a Huskies team that is also winless against the ACC (UConn lost 27-20 to Syracuse).
This Week: vs UConn
17. North Carolina Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1)
Last Week: Bye
So how does a team that was on bye drop a spot below a team that just lost by 31? The answer is it needs to have gone through the mess that the Tar Heels went through last week. Despite not playing, North Carolina coach Bill Belichick was still huge in the media as reports swirled of a divided locker room, a cancelled but still active docuseries, impermissible benefits, a suspended coach, a potential buy out, and a vote of confidence statement from the school and coach. This is five weeks into a first year head coach’s inaugural season. When the wheels have fallen that far off the bus, the team deserves to be at the bottom of the rankings. Maybe all this is just what the team needed to turn things around during yet another bye week. Maybe Belichick will use this as “coaching fuel” to get his team fired up. Or maybe this is just more circus from a coach who thinks the Patriots are out to get him and from a program that seems to be getting worse week after week, even when they don’t play a single snap of football.
This Week: at California