BSD Staff Week 6 ACC Power Rankings

Our weekly power rankings of the ACC are back, and man is this conference a mess!

How it works: Each writer gives a ranking and a brief description. All rankings are averaged and compiled into an overall ranking.

Composite ACC Power Rankings

1) Clemson (5-0, 3-0)

Average Ranking: 1

Highest Ranking: 1

Lowest Ranking: 1

Last week: 1 (No Change)

2) Wake Forest (5-0, 1-0)

Average Ranking: 2.2

Highest Ranking: 2

Lowest Ranking: 3

Last Week: 2 (No Change)

3) Virginia (4-1, 2-0)

Average Ranking: 2.8

Highest Ranking: 2

Lowest Ranking: 3

Last Week: 3 (No Change)

4) Florida State (3-2, 2-1)

Average Ranking: 4.6

Highest Ranking: 4

Lowest Ranking: 7

Last Week: 5 (Up One Spot)

5) North Carolina (3-3, 2-1)

Average Ranking: 5.3

Highest Ranking: 5

Lowest Ranking: 7

Last Week: 6 (Up One Spot)

6) Pittsburgh (4-2, 1-1)

Average Ranking: 5.5

Highest Ranking: 4

Lowest Ranking: 8

Last Week: 8 (Up Two Spots)

7) Duke (3-2, 1-1)

Average Ranking: 7.8

Highest Ranking: 6

Lowest Ranking: 13

Last Week: 4 (Down Three Spots)

8) Syracuse (3-2, 0-1)

Average Ranking: 8.8

Highest Ranking: 8

Lowest Ranking: 9

Last Week: 9 (Up One Spot)

9) Louisville (3-2, 1-1)

Average Ranking: 9

Highest Ranking: 7

Lowest Ranking: 12

Last Week: 12 (Up Three Spots)

10) North Carolina State (3-2, 0-1)

Average Ranking: 9.3

Highest Ranking: 6

Lowest Ranking: 12

Last Week: 10 (No Change)

11) Virginia Tech (3-2, 1-2)

Average Ranking: 10.7

Highest Ranking: 7

Lowest Ranking: 12

Last Week: 13 (Up Two Spots)

12) Boston College (3-3, 1-2)

Average Ranking: 11.5

Highest Ranking: 11

Lowest Ranking: 13

Last Week: 7 (Down Five Spots)

13) Miami (2-3, 0-2)

Average Ranking: 12.2

Highest Ranking: 10

Lowest Ranking: 13

Last Week: 11 (Down Two Spots)

14) Georgia Tech (1-4, 0-2)

Average Ranking: 14

Highest Ranking: 14

Lowest Ranking: 14

Last Week: 14 (No Change)

Individual ACC Power Rankings

Adam

1) Clemson: Still obvious.

2) Wake Forest: Still undefeated.

3) Virginia: Still only 1 loss @ top 10 ND.

4) Pitt: Solid win on the road @ Duke this week.

5) North Carolina: Beat GT, as expected. Every loss is still undefeated.

6) Duke: Lost @ home to Pitt, though they made it interesting towards the end.

7) Florida State: Didn’t play, no change.

8) Syracuse: Still feel like they have the most potential of the teams below them.

9) Louisville: Beat BC at home, looks like their offense might be starting to sync.

10) NC State: Again, didn’t play, no change.

11) Boston College: Lost to Louisville, gave up 664 yards of offense, and lost their starting QB.

12) Virginia Tech: They forced 5 turnovers and still managed to blow a 28 point lead and almost lose... but they won.

13) Miami: Lost to VT.

14) Georgia Tech: Still, their offense is just atrocious. I feel for the defense.

Elijah

1) Clemson: Until they lose, they will continue to have the best proven coach and talent in the ACC. Many are turning on them a bit because Lawrence hasn’t looked as sharp but they are still the class of the ACC.

2) Virginia: There is a gap between Clemson and the next group but Virginia is the best of the rest in my opinion. Their defense is scary and their lone loss was against a pretty darn good Notre Dame team.

3) Wake Forest: I’d say Wake is closer to UVA than UVA is to Clemson. Wake has only played one conference game but now they face opponents that are more familiar which makes it tougher.

4) Florida State: A ton of talent and starting to come around. This team could be scary.

5) North Carolina: The best 4th quarter team but very average the first three quarters.

6) Pittsburgh: PItt earns this because of UCF but that looks less and less impressive. Big win against Duke.

7) Virginia Tech: A must needed win. Like FSU more talent and disappointing for the recruits they have.

8) Duke: Tough loss, after a week of earning respect.

9) Syracuse: Dino used to be so hot but now.. it’s cooled off a bit.

10) NC State: Nothing special.

11) Boston College: BC has been disappointing.

12) Louisville: Surprising win but still not great.

13) Miami: Crazy low, I know especially for the talent they have but literally the second worst record in the ACC puts you here.

14) Georgia Tech: still an adjusting period.. going to take longer than anticipated.

Samurai

1) Clemson: Still yep.

2) Wake Forest: Until we lose, we stay here.

3) Virginia: See #2.

4) Florida State: In this instance, I’m going off raw talent. After Duke got dropped, I had to ask myself who I’m most afraid of besides Clemson and, well, it’s probably FSU.

5) North Carolina: They won, but beating up on Georgia Tech is... nothing this year.

6) Pitt: Credit where it’s due, they keep winning.

7) Duke: Pitt beat them this week, and they looked rough. I may have been overrating them.

8) NC State: Bye week for them too, but the shifting of other rankings necessitates this drop.

9) Syracuse: They benefitted from the bye week somehow.

10) Louisville: Still not super sold on them but they won.

11) Boston College: Lost to Louisville AND lost their QB? Uh oh.

12) Virginia Tech: They’ve risen by virtue of beating Miami.

13) Miami: Invert that last one.

14) Georgia Tech: Still the worst.

Cam

1) Clemson: Until they lose they will be #1 in the conference and a top 2 team in the NCAA. Have shown flaws but no one has been able to top them in almost 2 years!

2) Wake Forest: This also shouldn’t be a surprise. Only other undefeated team in the conference, defense has been very improved, the offense has been insane and Sciba has been rock solid. They have gotten through a possible top 3 QB drafted in Jordan Love, the return of the Mack, and and a bruiser of a game in BC. I’m a believer in the #BermundaBoyz

3) Virginia: I went back and forth of putting them 3 or 4. I give them the edge cause well they beat who I have #4 and think they are a solid team

4) Florida State: They just have so much talent, seem to be playing very well with Hornibrook under center. Akers is so bleeping good, if that OL keeps being serviceable then they can do some damage

5) North Carolina: Someone’s gotta be here and everyone keep losing. Howell is fine but they still had some issues with GT but nothing too scart

6) NC State: I mean... They can run the ball?

7) Louisville: So like yeah they put up 41 on BC. But they needed every single one of those points. I said last week good passing destroys this team. Bad passing still threw for three touchdowns!

8) Pitt: Just beat UVA and they win the coastal what is going on over there

9) Syracuse: Have they fixed like some of their issues?

10) Miami: Deejay Dallas, really good! What on earth was that first half??

11) Virginia Tech: I know they beat Miami but getting throttled by Duke looks even worse!

12) Boston College: this team might be toast without Anthony Brown and their DBs refusing to cover

13) Duke: Back where you belong you frauds

14) Georgia Tech: I dont want to talk about it.

Riley

1) Clemson: They haven’t been as dominant as expected, but they are the king until somebody knocks them off.

2) Wake Forest: Deacs were off this weekend, but have two road wins and three Power 5 wins. Looking to keep it going against Louisville this weekend.

3) Virginia: The Cavaliers win in Week 1 against Pitt is looking a whole lot better. Two tough tests against Miami and Duke in the next two weeks that will provide #clarity for the Coastal.

4) Florida State: Maybe a little high here, but feel like the Noles are putting it together for Taggart. They play Clemson and Wake, both on the road in the next two weeks.

5) Pittsburgh: Really nice win in Durham over the Blue Devils.

6) Duke: Head scratching first half against the Panthers coming off of a big win against VPI. Got better in the second half, but shouldn’t have lost to Pitt at home.

7) North Carolina: UNC has been in every single game they’ve played in this season but still sits at 2-3. The process is good, but the results aren’t there just yet.

8) Louisville: Scott Satterfield has the Cards moving in the right direction in year one. Statement game against Wake coming up on Saturday night.

9) Syracuse: We will learn something about Cuse this week, so far they have been beaten by two good teams and TCOB against everybody else.

10) Virginia Tech: Good bounce back win after getting romped by Duke in Blacksburg last Friday.

11) Miami: Bad loss to the Hokies this week in Coral Gables.

12) NC State: Big game against Cuse this week on national tv, can they find a starting QB?

13) Boston College: Almost completed the comeback against Louisville, but looks like they are going to finish last in the Atlantic.

14) Georgia Tech: It’s a rough first year under Collins and no signs of turning around.

Edward

1) Clemson: They might eventually slip up and lose one given that they've looked vulnerable at times, but until they do they remain atop the conference.

2) Wake Forest: The Deacs are still undefeated (lovely bye week) and until they lose they remain second.

3) Virginia: They still have only one loss, and it’s to a Top 10 Notre Dame team. If Wake loses a game the Cavs move up to #2.

4) Pitt: The Panthers picked up a nice road win in Durham, and could be the only team to really give Virginia a challenge in the Coastal.

5) Florida State: The Noles still have a ton of talent, and may have figured something out with Alex Hornibrook at quarterback. Of all the team’s remaining on Wake’s schedule, the Noles scare me the most other than Clemson.

6) North Carolina: The Heels still have only three losses, and they are all close losses to undefeated teams. Expect them to make some noise in the Coastal.

7) Duke: The Blue Devils looked horrible in the first half against Pitt, but credit them for coming back in the second half. If not for a controversial call on a two-point conversion attempt they could be staring at a 4-1 record.

8) Louisville: The Cardinals’ offense looked very impressive in their win over Boston College, and first year head coach Scott Satterfield could have them in the top half of the division at the end of the year. The Deacs had better bring their A-game Saturday night.

9) Syracuse: The Orange have two very bad losses, yet somehow move up simply because they are in less trouble than some of the rest of the league.

10) NC State: They still don't have a quarterback who can accurately throw further than ten yards. This team is in big trouble if they don't settle on a quarterback quickly and make adjustments to the offensive gameplan.

11) Boston College: The Eagles just lost to Louisville and gave up over 600 yards of offense. They also lost quarterback Anthony Brown in what looked like a really bad injury.

12) Virginia Tech: The Hokies barely survived in the second half after forcing five Miami turnovers in the first half. This team is still bad, but after beating Miami they move up a spot this week.

13) Miami: The Hurricanes are just bad. After a loss to Virginia Tech at home, Manny Diaz might need to start worrying about his job.

14) Georgia Tech: Still in rebuilding mode. This team might not win another game all year.

How would you all rank the ACC? Comment below. If you’re a fan of another school, feel free to weigh in on your team’s ranking and season as well.