Week One ACC Power Rankings

Week 1 is in the books, you know what it’s time for? That’s right, power rankings based on overreactions to only 60 minutes of football! As with last week and in all future weeks, these rankings will sort the teams into tiers. Though there is still a 1-14 ranking, I basically see teams within one tier as being generally interchangeable. Now, onto the rankings!

Tier A: Yep, It’s Just Clemson Again

1. Clemson (1-0, LW: 1)

You didn’t really think I’d put any other team here did you? Heck no! Georgia Tech was plastered and the first live game in the history of the ACC Network probably should’ve required children under 17 to watch this game with an adult. It wasn’t perfect though, as Trevor Lawrence did throw two interceptions and Georgia Tech scored a couple late 2nd half Touchdowns. However, even if it was a closer game, who are you really going to put up here with the Tigers? We’ll learn a lot more about this team when they play Texas A&M this weekend, but I still expect a Clemson blowout victory.

Tier B: Playing for 2nd Place

2. Miami (0-1, LW: 2)

They haven’t played since I did these rankings last week due to their Week Zero matchup with Florida. They get North Carolina this weekend and we should learn a lot more about both these teams. Hopefully for their sakes they spent their off week cleaning up some of the sloppiness for their season-opening loss.

3. Virginia (1-0, LW: 4)

Am I bumping up Virginia to make Pitt look better? No, if I was doing that I’d have put them ahead of Miami. Besides, the Cavaliers were able to knock off a conference opponent on the road by two scores despite their star Quarterback being kept relatively in check by the opposing defense. I’m not quite ready to declare them favorites to win the Coastal, but for now they move up a slot.

4. Syracuse (1-0, LW: 3)

Took care of business against Liberty in a 24-0 win. The defense played outstanding, forcing 4 turnovers and shutting out their overmatched opposition. However, the Orange offense left a lot to be desired. Highly touted quarterback Tommy DeVito didn’t exactly have a great game. He threw 2 interceptions, 0 touchdowns, completed less than 50% of his passes (17/35), and had only 5.03 Yards per Pass Attempt (YPA). That’s just unacceptable against a team of Liberty’s caliber and Orange fans are going to have to hope it was just first-game jitters or they aren’t going to live up to the lofty preseason expectations heaped upon this team.

5. North Carolina State (1-0, LW: 6)

Did what they were supposed to and blew out an overmatched opponent to open the season. While it seems like so many teams are spending opening week playing sloppy, making mental mistakes, and letting teams they’re better than hang around, NC State went out and never really gave East Carolina a chance. They had a potent balanced offensive attack led by first-time starter Matthew McKay and committed no turnovers. NC State is a young team this year, but Dave Doeren always has them solid and based on Week 1, they should be once again.

Tier C: Have Potential to Break Out

6. Florida State (0-1, LW: 7)

Florida State gets bumped up one spot despite losing. Honestly, I had expected them to be blown out by Boise State. Even though they blew a big lead, the fact that they had built that lead in the first place and, taken separately, only lost by 5 points stood out to me. If James Blackman can keep playing like he did against the Broncos last weekend, the Seminoles should be bowling again and have a chance at contending for 2nd in the Atlantic (can one contend for 2nd place?)

7. Boston College (1-0, LW: 9)

To me, Boston College knocking off Virginia Tech says more to me about the Hokies than the Eagles. I will say that Boston College did show that they aren’t just the AJ Dillon show on offense. The Junior Running Back did have 81 yards and a Touchdown. However, Eagles Quarterback Anthony Brown had a fine day with 275 yards, 2 Touchdowns, and 10.6 YPA. The defense also had a day, forcing 5 turnovers in the winning effort.

8. Pitt (0-1, LW: 5)

Given the reactions on twitter after last weekend’s loss to Virginia, I’m probably supposed to rank Pitt dead last. I am not overly negative or overreact to one game, in other words I’m sensible, so I only dropped them three spots. There’s potential in new Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple’s scheme, but they need to clean things up and play smarter. The defense will be fine. They’re right where they belong here as a middle-of-the-road ACC team.

9. Virginia Tech (0-1, LW: 8)

I’ve been beating the drum that Virginia Tech are frauds most of the offseason, so I felt some mild vindication when they lost to Boston College despite being favored. It is of course only one game, but Virginia Tech’s defense doesn’t look like it’s gotten much better and Quarterback Ryan Willis threw 3 interceptions. They lose only one spot for now, mostly because of how I feel about the quality of the teams in the bottom half of the conference

Tier D: May Not Be as Bad as We Thought

10. Wake Forest (1-0, LW:11)

The Demon Deacons knocked off a good Utah State team out of the Mountain West 38-35 to kick off their season. Wake Forest may have a pretty good Quarterback in Jamie Newman. The Junior signal-caller, who missed half of last season with an injury, torched the Aggies for 401 yards and 3 Touchdowns. Meanwhile the defense picked off highly regarded Utah State Quarterback Jordan Love 3 times.

11.  North Carolina (1-0, LW: 12)

Mack Brown won his re-debut (that’s what I’m calling it) with the Tar Heels in an upset over the other Carolina. This was honestly the most shocking result of the opening weekend in the ACC for me. It’s only one game and it may have said more about how bad South Carolina may be than how good North Carolina may be. However, the rebuild may not be as steep in Chapel Hill as was previously thought.

12. Duke (0-1, LW: 10)

Duke had it rough opening the season against the formidable Alabama Crimson Tide. I felt bad moving them down a slot because the final score of 42-3 was honestly about what I expected to be. Like many other teams, I don’t feel like much was really learned about this team in this game. However, it wouldn’t have felt right to put them ahead of Wake Forest and UNC, who actually won their openers, despite having less potent foes. Looking at this game, it’s hard to find any silver lining for the Blue Devils, who were badly outplayed in every facet.

Tier E: Rebuilding

13. Louisville (0-1, LW: 13)

Louisville may not be as bad as thought after being competitive with Notre Dame for a half. However, Notre Dame is chronically overrated and Louisville could’ve been taking advantage to first game jitters. This is still a deep hole for Scott Satterfield to drag this team out of, but every indication through the offseason and this first game is that he is just as capable as anyone to get the job done.

14. Georgia Tech (0-1, LW:14)

Poor Geoff Collins. He has the difficult task of overseeing the movement of the Georgia Tech offensive philosophy away from the Triple Option used under his predecessor. He has to do it with players specifically recruited by that old coach for his system. Expectations are as low as they can be due to all of this and then they tell him that his first game is against the reigning National Champions. Predictably Georgia Tech was destroyed, but they actually played better than I expected with two interceptions of Trevor Lawrence and actually scoring two touchdowns. It wasn’t enough to move them out of last, but unlike Duke they can at least pull some silver linings out of their blowout loss.

Disagree with our rankings? Let us know by commenting below, posting on the message board, or tweeting at us @TheJeemTeam or @IntoPitt