Football

Some slight movement in this week’s ACC Football Power Rankings as Miami and Wake lock in the top two spots. Louisville and Duke move up one spot apiece following their wins over Stanford and Boston College. The two biggest stories among the Contenders is Miami barely surviving against North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Notre Dame is next up for the Canes and they can’t afford to play at the same level against the Irish as they did with the Heels.

Next, SMU getting tripped up by Syracuse who knocked off North Carolina the previous week. Those wins earned the Orange a 4 position jump into the Muddle of ACC Football Power Rankings. The Mustangs drop a spot and fall to No. 4 this week. SMU is tied with Louisville at 4-2 with the Cardinals owning the head-to-head. Louisville is one game shy of earning their bowl bid. Mark your calendars for November 14 as SMU and Wake Forest battle it out. SMU has earned their way into a bowl.

At this point Miami has locked in a bowl bid and are looking at a CFP Ranking as well. Let’s just say that the outcome of the Notre Dame game carries big water. Wake has a bowl bid and will possibly lock in the second spot in the ACC Championship Game. The Deac’s 51-7 win over Virginia upset the apple cart in Charlottesville and it remains to be seen if the fruit is merely bruised or will be culled in the same fashion as recently witnessed with Florida State football.

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Duke bumps Virginia Tech out of the fifth spot in the rankings primarily because the Hokies were idle and the Blue Devils won 47-2 over Boston College which also affords them a bowl bid. Duke and Virginia Tech have the same record and they haven’t played but Duke is eight spots higher nationally in our LFI Ranking. The Hokies can move back into the top 5 with a win over SMU in Friday night football action.

ACC Football Power Rankings

This week’s ACC football ‘Muddle’.

#6 – Virginia Tech comes off a Bye week and heads into an important match with SMU. The Hokies have a bowl bid locked in.
#7 – Clemson delivered a 36-24 win over Florida State and need a win to go bowling. It may not be all that easy as they head to Syracuse.
#8 – North Carolina comes off a nail-biting loss to Miami and move up a notch on performance.
#9 – Pitt grabs a 34-11 win over Georgia Tech and lock in a bowl bid for their efforts.
#10 – Boston College drops 2 spots after a loss to Duke.
#11 – Syracuse knocked off SMU 30-27 and move up four spots in the rankings.
#12 – NC State found some oxygen with their win over Cal, 31-10 and it was enough to jump four spots in the conference football power rankings.

As we begin to edge closer to the end of the regular football season, ‘The Strugglers’ are in a rough spot.

#13 – Florida State drops 2 spots after a loss to Clemson and are in search of a new head coach and staff as a result of the performance.
#14 – Virginia falls to Wake Forest and the Wahoos social media got a bit snippy as a result. The Cavaliers started the season with promise and imploded.
#15 – Stanford has shown some sparks of life but not enough to ease out of the conference mess. The Cardinal drop 1 after a loss to the Cardinals.
#16 – Cal stumbled against the Wolfpack and falls three spots this week.
#17 – Georgia Tech has suffered brain freeze this season and the most recent loss to Pitt leaves them in the cellar.

Games to watch this week – Miami and Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and SMU, Clemson and Syracuse plus Duke and NC State.

North Carolina faces off with UConn, Florida State takes on Boston College, Merrimack is at Wake Forest and Louisville heads to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech.