1. No. 3 Clemson (5-0, 3-0 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 1 (W 49-14 at Syracuse)
Clemson got back to business and showed that its lackluster road win at NC State was a blip on the radar with a 49-14 hammering of a Syracuse team that was playing well. Clemson wasn't perfect, but perhaps most impressive is how much the Tigers' defense is stepping up and playing better, allowing 35 points in the last three weeks, all to ACC opponents (and 21 in the last two games, or 10.5 per game).
1a. No. 6 Florida State (5-0, 3-0 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 2 (W 63-0 over No. 25 Maryland)
I'm not a believer in moving one team ahead of another in power rankings unless one team does something spectacular and the other team struggles. Florida State's 63-0 thrashing of Maryland was spectacular, but it's not like Clemson struggled with Syracuse. Still, the Seminoles are showing that rather than rebuilding around a young quarterback in Jameis Winston, they might be even better than they were a year ago, particularly on offense. Because of Jameis.
3. No. 13 Miami (5-0, 1-0 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 3 (W 45-30 over Georgia Tech)
Miami still has its issues defensively, but the Hurricanes made the plays they needed to on both sides of the ball to pull away in the fourth quarter and beat the Yellow Jackets, a team that was in desperate need of a win. Miami is still the clear No. 3, though, and not really nipping at the heels of Clemson and Florida State. (Then again, who is?)
4. No. 24 Virginia Tech (5-1, 2-0 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 5 (W 27-17 over North Carolina)
Sure, the Hokies' offense is still not great. But you know what? That defense is spectacular. And quarterback Logan Thomas seems to be finding its groove. The Hokies are showing all the early signs of being able to sneak up and win a muddled Coastal Division, something they have done many a time in the past when no one else wants to step up and take it.
5. Maryland (4-1, 0-1 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 4 (L 63-0 at No. 8 Florida State)
I'm not going to punish Maryland too much for the 63-0 loss at Florida State. ... although ... yeah. It wasn't good. The Terps didn't play well, but Florida State played extremely well. And Maryland's body of work is still pretty good. It won't take much, though, for Maryland to take a nosedive.
6. Georgia Tech (3-2, 1-2 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 6 (L 45-30 at No. 14 Miami)
The Yellow Jackets were right in the game at Miami until the fourth quarter, but they fell apart after pulling within a point at 24-23, turning it over on their next two drives (which led to Miami touchdowns). Georgia Tech has turned it over a bit too much in the last few weeks, and that's going to hurt the Jackets going forward. The defense has been rather unimpressive as well, even though Miami's offense is very good.
7. Pittsburgh (3-1, 2-1 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 7 (Off)
Pitt is below Georgia Tech only by the slightest of margins. The explosiveness of Pitt's offense with transfer quarterback Tom Savage at the helm has been a pleasant surprise, and if the defense can carry over what it did against Virginia last week, the Panthers could be a contender in the Coastal Division. Because pretty much everyone else is.
8. Boston College (3-2, 1-1 ACC)
Last week’s ranking/result: 9 (W 48-27 over Army)
BC has already passed its win total from all of last season with a 48-27 win over Army. It wasn't a perfect performance, but the Eagles were able to build on their 48-34 loss to Florida State the week before and show that it wasn't a fluke. Well, it was probably a little bit of a fluke. But still.
9. Virginia (2-3, 0-1 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 10 (L 48-27 to Ball State)
Virginia at least had its defense to fall back on, until this week. Welp. The Cavaliers were able to put up some points, and those 27 points were the most by Virginia against an FBS team this year. But it killed itself with penalties (13 for 93 yards) and turnovers (four). Still, the defense shouldn’t allow over 500 yards to a Ball State team that, while good offensively, isn’t THAT good. Fortunately for UVa, the win over BYU still looks pretty good.
10. Syracuse (2-3, 0-1 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: T-11 (L 49-14 to No. 3 Clemson)
Syracuse is in danger of taking a precipitous drop -- it's not embarrassing to lose to Clemson, but Syracuse quarterback Terrel Hunt played alarmingly poorly, completing just 8-of-24 passes for 52 yards and three interceptions. The Orange got the ground game going with 323 yards, but the passing game was so bad it didn't really matter.
Now, the North Carolina teams. Here’s the thing...it's hard to pick who’s the worst with this bunch. Between them, they have two wins over BCS-conference teams, and one was Wake's win over NC State (the other was Duke's win over Memphis).
Do you reward North Carolina’s strength of schedule? (Two of UNC's losses have come to ranked teams, both on the road, and three of their losses have been on the road.) Do you reward teams with three wins (Duke, NC State and Wake), even though the teams they've beaten aren't good?
It's tough to say. And so, in the spirit of what ACC football in the state of North Carolina has looked like this year, I give you....
T-14. Wake Forest (3-3, 1-2 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 14 (W 28-13 over NC State)
Jim Grobe owns the state of North Carolina, as he showed with yet another improbable win over an in-state opponent at home. Unfortunately, the Deacs have been rather unimpressive against everyone else.
T-14. NC State (3-2, 0-2 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 8 (L 28-13 at Wake Forest)
Right now, the most impressive thing the Wolfpack have done this season was stay competitive with Clemson through 2 1/2 quarters at home. The loss at Wake Forest was inexcusable.
T-14. Duke (3-2, 0-2 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: T-11 (Off)
Duke’s accomplishments aren't much better: wins over an FCS team, a Memphis team with one win on the year and a narrow home win over Troy. And the Blue Devil defense still is not very good.
T-14. North Carolina (1-4, 0-2 ACC)
Last week's ranking/result: 13 (L 27-17 at Virginia Tech)
Effort may not have been an issue for the Tar Heels in Blacksburg, but they continue to hurt themselves with mistakes. And again, as was said last week, at some point you are who your record says you are. And their record says they have the fewest wins of any ACC team.
