ACC Football Week 3: Staff Predictions

It was nice for me while it lasted.

After going undefeated last week, I decided it was time to completely mess that up and overestimate how good Duke, Louisville, and Wake Forest would be. Thus, it’s back in the pack I go and new leaders have emerged.

Here’s how everyone went this last weekend:

As you can see, no one had a perfect week, but Douglas and Joe get the price for nearly getting there, going 6-1 each. There were a lot of 4-3’s, including yours truly, and that was enough to create a three-way tie for second, while Douglas and Joe rode their 6-1 weeks to vault into a tie for first. In dead last? Jake, who correctly predicted Boston College’s upset in Durham, and didn't really get much else right.

The slate this week continues to be in flux, and keep in mind that this may even be outdated by the time you read this as more postponements are possible. We’ve already lost Notre Dame and Wake Forest thanks to some positive COVID tests in South Bend. You’re going to see this addressed in a curious way by one of our writers, and it’s caused a change in how we are going to score these predictions going forward.

That’s right, Brandon decided to believe the reports out of Blacksburg that the VT/NCSU game won’t be played this weekend and actually took COVID. It’s created a new rule: if he’s right and the game is postponed, he gets a correct guess. If the game is played, he’s wrong. However, if the game is postponed everyone else isn’t penalized.

This sets up as another weekend where we should see some separation, as there’s a pretty even split between the Cards and Pitt, Duke and UVa, and Virginia Tech and NC State. Will Brandon’s gamble pay off and give him a leg up on anyone? Should any of us guessed COVID was going to win in another game? We’ll keep an eye on Saturday.