ACC Power Rankings: Week Three

This past weekend in college football was a pretty solid one for the ACC. All of the expected contenders picked up wins, with some coming against fellow Power 5 competition. One of those was North Carolina, who picked up a nice little victory over Minnesota.

With another week in the books, let’s take a look at the conference in break it down with this week’s power rankings.

1. Florida State (3-0, 1-0 ACC)

Last Week: beat Boston College 31-29

FSU played their first iffy game last week, as they ended up beating Boston College by just two, despite leading by as much as 21 earlier in the game. That being said, they’ve still done enough to hold onto the top spot, just with not as much daylight between them and field. Their next game will be an intriguing one, though.

Next Week: Saturday at Clemson

2. North Carolina (3-0)

Last Week: beat Minnesota 31-13

Thanks to the Tar Heels pulling away late and beating a okay power conference opponent, we’re moving UNC up to the #2 spot this week. Even though they needed overtime to beat Appalachian State, this has still be one of the most impressive non-conference run that Carolina has put together in a while.

Next Week: Saturday at Pitt

3. Miami (3-0)

Last Week: beat Bethune-Cookman 48-7

The Hurricanes did about what they should do when they blew out their FCS opponent.

Next Week: Saturday at Temple

4. Duke (3-0, 1-0 ACC)

Last Week: beat Northwestern 38-14

The Blue Devils continued their nice little start to the season as they beat Northwestern. They’ll probably pick up another win this weekend, but they have some tough tests on the horizon after that.

Next Week: Saturday at UConn

5. Louisville (3-0, 1-0 ACC)

Last Week: beat Indiana 21-14

With a win over the Hoosiers, Louisville did their part in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Next Week: Saturday vs. Boston College

6. Syracuse (3-0)

Last Week: beat Purdue 35-20

Is Syracuse...good? The Orange didn’t face the sternest of tests in their first two weeks, but this weekend they went on the road and beat a power conference team in Purdue. It’s still probably unlikely they challenge for a ACC Championship Game berth or anything, but they certainly could be bowling this winter.

Next Week: Saturday vs. Army

7. Wake Forest (3-0)

Last Week: beat Old Dominion 27-24

Old Dominion seems like a fairly competent Group of 5 team, but Wake Forest still arguably should’ve done better than just a three-point win.

Next Week: Saturday vs. Georgia Tech

8. Clemson (2-1, 0-1 ACC)

Last Week: beat FAU 48-14

Clemson finally put together some semblance of a good win in beating Florida Atlantic. Their next four games are all against teams currently undefeated, so truly find out where they stand in the conference after that.

Next Week: Saturday vs. Florida State

9. NC State (2-1)

Last Week: beat VMI 45-7

In terms of where I think they’ll finish the season, I would probably rank the Wolfpack over a couple of the undefeateds. However as far as power rankings go, neither of their wins have been the most impressive, and they lost to the only good team they’ve played, so we’ll have them down here for now.

Next Week: Friday at Virginia

10. Pitt (1-2)

Last Week: lost to West Virginia 17-6

Pitt’s offense really struggled in the Backyard Brawl loss to West Virginia, putting up just two field goals. We’ll see this weekend if their offense is truly bad against a UNC team that — while improved so far this year — isn’t exactly the ‘85 Bears.

Last Week: Saturday vs. North Carolina

11. Boston College (1-2, 0-1 ACC)

Last Week: lost to Florida State 31-29

The Eagles nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback, falling just a couple points short of what would’ve been a massive win. That’s enough to drag them ahead of the rest of the bottom of the ACC, but not any higher than that.

Next Week: Saturday at Louisville

12. Georgia Tech (1-2, 0-1 ACC)

Last Week: lost to Ole Miss 48-23

There’s nothing super egregious about losing to a ranked Ole Miss team, but Georgia Tech still has yet to beat an FBS team.

Next Week: Saturday at Wake Forest

13. Virginia Tech (1-2)

Last Week: lost to Rutgers 35-16

The Hokies were one of just two blemishes for ACC teams against the Big Ten this weekend, as they looked less than stellar against the Scarlet Knights.

Next Week: Saturday at Marshall

14. Virginia (0-3)

Last Week: lost to Maryland 42-14

Now, they have played a decently hard schedule so far, but yikes.

Next Week: Friday vs. NC State