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Jim Quist @ACCTheQ –
The ACC’s Labor Day weekend football kickoff turned out to have grind them up and spit ’em out results in the latest college football polls. The conference’s projected elite ended up being taken down a peg or two. Neither Clemson or North Carolina is who we thought they’d be following losses to Georgia and Virginia Tech. Miami’s loss to Alabama wasn’t unexpected though it still impacted their ranking. And under the ACC Nation umbrella, watching Notre Dame find themselves matched against a re-building Florida State was surreal. Nonetheless, the Irish move up in the polls. The only thing that almost topped that game was Brian Kelly fancying himself a comedian. His McKay styled post-game comments landed with a thud. Don’t give up your day job coach.
The biggest move comes by way of the Hokies who debut in the two Top 25 polls this week. Both NC State and Boston College are getting some love in the AP while the coaches feel that Florida State, Pitt and Virginia are deserving of some attention as well.
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College Football Polls
AP Top 25 (Updated 09/08/21)
| RANK | TEAM |
| #1 | ALABAMA |
| #2 | GEORGIA |
| #3 | OHIO STATE |
| #4 | OKLAHOMA |
| #5 | TEXAS A&M |
| #6 | CLEMSON |
| #8 | NOTRE DAME |
| #19 | VIRGINIA TECH |
| #22 | MIAMI |
| #24 | NORTH CAROLINA |
| RV | |
| #27 | NC STATE |
| #39 | BOSTON COLLEGE |
| #44 | FLORIDA STATE |
USA Today Coaches’ Poll
| RANK | TEAM |
| #1 | ALABAMA |
| #2 | GEORGIA |
| #3 | OHIO STATE |
| #4 | OKLAHOMA |
| #5 | TEXAS A&M |
| #6 | CLEMSON |
| #7 | NOTRE DAME |
| #21 | VIRGINIA TECH |
| #22 | NORTH CAROLINA |
| #24 | MIAMI |
| RV | |
| #29 | NC STATE |
| #35 | FLORIDA STATE |
| #38 | PITT |
| #41 | BOSTON COLLEGE |
| #52 | VIRGINIA |
For Clemson, Virginia Tech and North Carolina this weekend’s games won’t do much to bolster their rankings. There are games on the the schedule that will help a number of other teams. A solid recovery game for Miami against Appalachian State will go a long way in boosting confidence on and in the team.
NC State can further their cause with a big win over Mississippi State as can Pitt as they face off against Tennessee. With a big win over Illinois, Virginia can at the very least can climb further into the Receiving Votes category. A win against North Carolina on September 18 will push the Cavaliers into the sweet numbers.
One quick note. Before we all do a Chicken Little dance and swear the sky is falling keep in mind that the opening week of ACC football has been notoriously sketchy. Teams start off slow and seem to pick up steam as the season progresses. In today’s college football world one loss just isn’t enough to completely derail teams. Put some faith into your team’s coaches and players finding answers to questions to enable them to deliver wins moving forward.
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