Week Four ACC Power Rankings

Tier A: Clemson

1. Clemson (4-0) LW: 1

Clemson took care of business last week in a 52-10 drubbing of Charlotte, in which the starters sat out the entire 2nd half. The ACC continues to be Clemson or bust until further notice.

Tier B: Big Gap and Then…

2. Virginia (4-0) LW: 2

Virginia maintains it’s place as Number 2 in these power rankings. However, after struggling against Old Dominion, their grasp on the position is tenuous. This also means that the gap has only widened between Clemson and the rest of the conference. They have a big opportunity to solidify their position when they travel to South Bend to face the Fighting Irish this weekend.

3. Wake Forest (4-0) LW: 3

Wake Forest remains undefeated after easily dispatching FCS Elon last weekend. They are the talk of the ACC for their surprisingly hot start and the great play of Quarterback Jamie Newman. Although their best win this season a 6-point win over North Carolina, they have a favorable schedule and have a good chance at starting 6-0 with Boston College and Louisville coming up and it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they’ll be 9-0 when they face Clemson in November.

4. Pitt (2-2) LW: 6

We get to the first shake-up in the rankings as our Pitt Panthers surge into Tier B and #4 overall with their upset victory over Central Florida. With the dominant play of the defense and the offense starting to gel, it’s likely that Pitt would be the Coastal favorites if not for their season-opening loss to Virginia. For now, all the Panthers can do is take care of business and hope for a little help from their fellow conference-mates when they play the Cavaliers.

Tier C: Could Be Good, Could Be Bad, Who Knows?

5. Duke (2-1) LW: 7

The Blue Devils were on a bye last week, so we still don’t know too much about them through two games. They were blown out by Alabama, but then won handily against Middle Tennessee and NC A&T. They rise in the rankings due to poor play from the teams that were ahead of them. Hopefully we’ll learn more about what type of team Duke has when they face Virginia Tech tonight.

6. North Carolina (2-2) LW: 4

North Carolina, due to their proximity to the traditional heart of the conference, is one of those teams that the ACC media seems to desperately want to be good every year. This year was no different when after a 2-0 start with wins over South Carolina and Miami, they were suddenly being declared a Coastal favorite after going 1-7 in ACC play a year ago. Since then they’ve come back to earth a bit, losing to Wake Forest and Appalachian State to fall to .500. I suspect that this will continue and that they will struggle to be bowl eligible, but for now they sit in 6th in a weak conference

7. Miami (2-2) LW: 5

The Hurricanes have certainly not gotten off to the start that they had hoped in Manny Diaz’s first season. This past weekend they struggled in a 17-12 win over Central Michigan. They seem to have found a heck of a Quarterback in Jarren Williams, but have little else to hang their hat on so far this season. They get a bye this weekend to get their heads on straight, but then face a couple of crucial contests against Virginia Tech and Virginia that will determine if they can play their way back into contention for the division.

Tier D: Disappointing Starts

8. Syracuse (2-2) LW: 10

Syracuse actually rose a bit in the rankings due to a victory over Western Michigan after an inadequate start to the season. Tommy Devito had maybe the best game of his young career, throwing 7.7 yards per attempt and went an entire game without throwing an interception for the first time this season. It remains to be seen if he can replicate that success against tougher competition though. Like Pitt, the Orange get what should be an easy game this weekend against Holy Cross before beginning ACC play in earnest.

9. Florida State (2-2) LW: 9

Florida State beat Louisville last weekend 35-24 to improve to 2-2. Willie Taggert is still firmly on the hot seat in only his second season in Tallahassee, but a win over Louisville is a step in the right direction. They have a tough road ahead with games against Clemson, Wake Forest, Syracuse, and Miami, so a loss to a bad Louisville team would’ve been not much short of a disaster for the Seminoles. Looking at the remainder of their schedule there may only be 2 games left that they should be favored in, so it still may be a struggle to reach bowl eligibility.

10. North Carolina State (3-1) LW: 8

Despite starting 3-1 and defeating Ball State this past weekend, NC State finds themselves down at 10th in the rankings. Their wins have come at the hands of one of the worst teams in FBS (East Carolina), an FCS school (Western Carolina), and a low-level MAC team (Ball State). In their only game against a fellow P5 opponent, they were easily defeated by a WVU team that is supposed to be one of the worst in the Big 12 this year. None of this bodes well for conference play for the Wolfpack.

11. Boston College (3-1) LW: 11

The Eagles were able to move on from their embarrassing loss to Kansas with a win over Rutgers this past weekend. Running Back A.J. Dillon imposed himself on the game and Boston College was able to pull away in the 2nd half of a 30-16 victory. It maybe wasn’t as emphatic a victory as they would’ve wanted given how the previous week had played out, but they have a great opportunity to start ACC play 2-0 and play spoiler to Wake Forest when they come to visit this weekend.

Tier E: They’re Gonna Go Out There and Try!

12. Virginia Tech (2-1) LW: 13

Virginia Tech got what I’m sure was a much-needed early season bye after falling to Boston College in the opening week and having back-to-back scares from Old Dominion and Furman. Despite being 2-1, the Hokies desperately need to show some fight against Duke this weekend. This is already a team that seems to be in disarray and a blowout loss to Duke could be portents for a long season with a coaching search to follow.

13. Louisville (2-2) LW: 12

Despite losing to Florida State, the Cardinals have somewhat impressed me given how bad I thought they were going to be this season. They kept things reasonable against Notre Dame to open the season, then took care of business in defeating a couple of lesser opponents, before showing fight against the Seminoles. They may not have too many more wins the rest of the season, but they can probably scare a couple of teams.

14. Georgia Tech (1-2) LW: 14

Oh Georgia Tech, it was probably a good thing they had a week off after falling to The Citadel. New coach Geoff Collins now faces his old team Temple this weekend and his new team is currently an 8.5 point underdog. It’s definitely a weird situation for Collins as he has to travel back to where he was just coaching last season and probably lose with a bunch of players he didn’t recruit that were brought in to play a system he doesn’t coach to play against a team composed mostly of players that he did recruit. Collins may in time build a pretty damn good program at Georgia Tech, but this weekend may get him wondering why he ever left.