If we've learned anything after four weeks of ACC football, Florida State and Clemson are a step above everyone else and Wake Forest, in turn, is a step below the group.
Every other team's standing in the conference can be reasonably argued at this point.
Virginia Tech followed up a win at Ohio State with losses to East Carolina and Georgia Tech, both at home. Pittsburgh beat Boston College, then muddled its way through a win at Florida International -- before falling at home to a seemingly mediocre Iowa team.
Who needs Jameis Winston? Well, Florida State could have used its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, that's for sure. Instead, he got to see what his head coach Jimbo Fisher would probably like him to see -- the team can win without him.
FSU should have lost that game based on everything but the scoreboard -- except, if you believe in such things, in its resolve and toughness. The Seminoles made plays when it mattered, and it's easy to see that even though this isn't the dominant team of a year ago, it's still got a lot of that mental edge to it that last year's team had.
Florida State's offense had trouble getting going (albeit against an excellent D-line) but the Seminole defense finally looked like the dominant unit we all thought it might be entering this season. That's certainly encouraging moving forward.
I don't care that Florida State didn't have Winston. Clemson was still expected to lose at the No. 1 team in the country, which has talent at other positions.
And lose they did, but the game was theirs for the taking.
Here's what's particularly encouraging:
1) Clemson has clearly found its quarterback in talented freshman Deshaun Watson.
2) Clemson's defensive line finally fulfilled their immense promise of the preseason. Some late-game miscues against a very good team shouldn't change the way we view the Tigers, who were still very impressive in defeat.
Now, if only they could find a kicker.
Boston College, likely suffering from a USC hangover, couldn't put Maine away for a little while. But ultimately, the Eagles ran away from the Black Bears; and with the exception of a hiccup against Pittsburgh, the Eagles have looked fantastic all year.
BC continued its trend of dominance on the ground, too, outrushing Maine, 413-22. That's a combined rushing margin of 865-42 in the last two games, if you're scoring at home.
Duke hasn't faced any daunting competition so far. It's unfortunate, since this should have been a more competitive schedule -- Troy is usually much better, Tulane was a program on the rise and Kansas, well, should be better.
Regardless, the Blue Devils have taken care of business in non-conference play. Now, they head on the road to play a Miami team that has talent but needs to be better against formidable competition.
Duke destroyed Miami at home last year. Can they get two in a row against Miami in their first real test?
Speaking of scheduling, to call Virginia's schedule brutal wouldn't be doing it justice. The Cavaliers have played No. 11 UCLA at home (losing by one score), FCS Richmond (a Virginia win), a then-ranked Louisville team at home (victory) and then losing by just eight points at No. 20 BYU.
Virginia didn't win an ACC game last year, and it has already broken that streak. This is the Cavaliers' last non-conference game and a relative break heading into league play.
But Virginia has done itself proud against this difficult slate, and will have as good a chance to win the Coastal Division as anyone.
It's hard to blame Pitt for losing to Iowa, even at home; but it was somehwat troubling to see the club squander a late lead against the Hawkeyes.
The Panthers' best win remains one by transitive property (a win over BC), and unless the Panthers improbably struggle with Akron this weekend, we likely won't know more about this club until the Virginia game (Oct. 4).
Georgia Tech's first three games -- narrow wins over non-conference opponents that it arguably should have had a much easier time with -- didn't seem to bode well for its ACC opener, a road game against an angry Virginia Tech team.
Well it ended up being just fine, as the Yellow Jackets took advantage of Virginia Tech turnovers and kept its own mistakes to a minimum in their first win over the Hokies since 2009. Georgia Tech has always been pesky in the Coastal Division, and it looks like that trend is going to continue.
It was a good thing Louisville's defense made the trip to FIU, as they held the Panthers to just 205 total yards.
But Louisville averaged a paltry 0.3 yards per carry and forced quarterback Will Gardner to do it all himself, nearly.
That's not a formula for success, and if this Louisville offensive line doesn't get better, the Cardinals are going to find themselves struggling -- even with Wake Forest, a team that has an excellent defense.
Well, yikes. Two weeks after beating Ohio State on the road, the Hokies have now lost two in a row, both at home (East Carolina, Georgia Tech).
On Saturday, Virginia Tech had 12 penalties and committed three turnovers, and couldn't turn its 424 total yards into anything meaningful, as a result.
The Hokies will have a week to lick their wounds before starting ACC play in earnest, and they'll need that time to fix their shortcomings.
You can only play who's on the schedule, and for the last two weeks anyway, NC State has taken care of its worst two opponents of the year -- in emphatic fashion.
NC State has looked excellent on offense, efficient and at times explosive, while its defense has had its ups and downs but looks to be getting better. Florida State is an entirely different species than NC State has seen the first four weeks, though.
But the Wolfpack does have a history of upsetting highly-ranked FSU teams at home, so it should be an interesting game this week.
(Note: NC State would be a spot higher than Virginia Tech, but the Wolfpack don't have a victory resembling anything close to at Ohio State.)
Personal fouls, turnovers, you name it -- Miami couldn't get out of its own way in a loss at Nebraska, gaining 435 yards to Nebraska's 456 but turning it over three times and committing nine penalties for 82 yards.
On the bright side for the Hurricanes, it would seem as if they have their quarterback of the future -- Brad Kaaya was 28 of 42 for 359 yards and three touchdowns -- but the defense isn't where many thought it could be or should be, surrendering 456 yards to the Huskers (343 on the ground).
Duke rushed for nearly that many yards against Miami last year, and so the Hurricanes had better shore some things up this week.
Some ACC power rankers have the Orange below North Carolina in these rankings. But the thing is, Syracuse out-gained Maryland 589-369 (370-89 on the ground) and held the ball for nearly five more minutes.
The issue, of course, was mistakes. Syracuse had eight penalties, two turnovers and was also just 4-of-14 on third down in spite of its eye-popping offensive numbers.
Then, there was a blocked punt and a missed field goal. So mistakes in all areas, really.
And Syracuse at least has a blowout victory to its credit, even if it's been disappointing in its other two games so far. Maryland is a pretty good team, but Syracuse should be more disciplined.
It wasn't the fact that UNC lost -- the Tar Heels were a slight underdog at ECU, after all -- but the WAY it happened. North Carolina had a week off to prepare for this game and had been thinking about it all off-season.
The Tar Heels even entered this season ranked while ECU was not (though that's since been corrected). And still, UNC surrendered a school-record 789 yards of total offense to go with a school-record 70 points by an opponent. UNC has had some bad football teams and has played some dominating opponents.
And still, this was the worst.
The Tar Heels have a lot of issues up front on both sides of the ball, and anything resembling offensive consistency has yet to really materialize. If UNC is going to win shootouts this year -- which it might have to do -- it needs a lot more from the offense.
Nothing gets easier from the Heels from here on out, though, as they start a brutal stretch with a trip to Clemson this weekend.
Congratulations to Wake Forest for exceeding my own expectation of victories for the season. Dave Clawson will eventually have a competitive team in Winston-Salem -- but not in 2014.
Still, the defense played well yet again and the offense gave them just enough against Army.
Most encouraging was that freshman quarterback John Wolford (238 yards passing, two TDs, one INT) led a game-winning drive in the waning moments. He was only sacked once.
Wake still managed just 100 yards on the ground, but that's a significant improvement from past weeks.
The Deacs have yet to really be blown out, as they were in the games against both ULM and Utah State in the second half, and they're showing a lot of fight.
Their will might just get broken as ACC play starts, but it's encouraging for Clawson's rebuild job nonetheless.
