ACC Power Rankings: Week Eight

So, that wasn’t the most fun of weekends from the North Carolina perspective. UNC saw their undefeated season end at the hands of an otherwise struggling Virginia team. While that loss doesn’t end all the hopes for this season, it was a pretty big blow, at least morale-wise.

That wasn’t the only game that caused a bit of a shakeup in the ACC. With the dust now settled on last week, let’s take a look at how the conference is shaping up in this week’s power rankings.

1. Florida State (7-0, 5-0 ACC)

Last Week: beat Duke 38-20

It looked iffy for a bit, but FSU came on strong to beat a good Duke team by multiple scores. That was more than enough to keep them at the top of the power rankings.

This Week: Saturday at Wake Forest

2. Duke (5-2, 2-1 ACC)

Last Week: lost to Florida State 38-20

The Blue Devils may have more losses than a couple teams below them, but both came against good competition and both were tight when they had quarterback Riley Leonard available. However, Leonard suffered an injury in the third quarter of their loss to FSU, and it remains to be seen what will happen with him moving forward.

This Week: Saturday at Louisville

3. Louisville (6-1, 3-1 ACC)

Last Week: Bye

After a bad loss to Pitt, the Cardinals had the weekend off, allowing them to rise a bit amongst the chaos.

This Week: Saturday vs. Duke

4. North Carolina (6-1, 3-1 ACC)

Last Week: lost to Virginia 31-27

Look, the Heels still have some pretty good wins, but losing to arguably the worst team in the conference has to drop you some.

This Week: Saturday at Georgia Tech

5. Miami (5-2, 1-2 ACC)

Last Week: beat Clemson

The Hurricanes responded from the tumultuous last couple weeks with a much needed — for their sake — win over Clemson. The victory also took them off a tie at the bottom of the ACC standings.

This Week: Saturday vs. Virginia

6. Clemson (4-3, 2-3 ACC)

Last Week: lost to Miami 28-20

None of their losses are to truly bad teams, but whew boy, Tigers, what are you doing? This is the first time they’ve had three conference losses in a season since 2010, which was Dabo Swinney’s second full year as head coach.

This Week: Saturday at NC State

7. NC State (4-3, 1-2 ACC)

Last Week: Bye

After getting the weekend off, NC State will return to the field this week, facing down a decently tough schedule the rest of the way.

This Week: Saturday vs. Clemson

8. Syracuse (4-3, 0-3 ACC)

Last Week: Bye

Thanks to results this past week, the Orange are now the only winless team in conference play. That being said, they’ve faced a fairly tough slate so far, and the rest of their schedule is winnable, if they can get out of their funk.

This Week: Thursday vs. Virginia Tech

9. Boston College (4-3, 2-2 ACC)

Last Week: beat Georgia Tech 38-23

After losing to Northern Illinois and playing FCS Holy Cross close in their opening games, it looked like BC might be the worst team in the conference. However, the Eagles are now on a three-game win streak, are above .500, and have a bit of a pathway to a bowl appearance.

This Week: Saturday vs. UConn

10. Virginia Tech (3-4, 2-1 ACC)

Last Week: Bye

The Hokies had the weekend off after their surprise win over Wake the week before.

This Week: Thursday vs. Syracuse

11. Wake Forest (4-3, 1-3 ACC)

Last Week: beat Pitt 21-17

The back end of the ACC in general is a bit weird. The Demon Deacons are above .500, but only just, needing a late touchdown to sneak past Pitt.

This Week: Saturday vs. Florida State

12. Pitt (2-5, 1-3 ACC)

Last Week: lost to Wake Forest 21-17

Another weird team to try and rank, considering their results.

This Week: Saturday at Notre Dame

13. Georgia Tech (3-4, 2-2 ACC)

Last Week: lost to Boston College 38-23

Now we have the Yellow Jackets, who are the most awkward team to try and rank. Their wins over Miami and Wake are decent, but they now have losses to Bowling Green and BC. Honestly, you could put teams 9 through 13 in any order and it would make some amount of sense.

This Week: Saturday vs. North Carolina

14. Virginia (2-5, 1-2 ACC)

Last Week: beat North Carolina 31-27

Sigh...

Next Week: Saturday at Miami