Football

It may not be so apparent on first glimpse but ACC football continues undergoing a transition. Some unexpected teams have been shaking off the dust and are rising in Week 9 rankings while others have found their way to the mud for a good wallow. Out of the Top 5 teams four have already punched their cards to a post-season appearance. Let’s take a look at ‘The Contenders’.

At the top is Miami at No. 1 both in the ACC Nation Rankings and the AP Top 25. The Canes come off a week where it took a rivalry game with Florida State to get them rolling again, and roll they did with a 29 point spread over Pitt. The final, 52-23. Miami heads to North Carolina on Saturday night.

Wake Forest continues to hold down the second position in our football rankings even though they were off this week. The Demon Deacons will entertain Virginia this Saturday at home.

SMU is still a strong third in the rankings and is tied with Wake Forest in the conference standings at No. 2. The Mustangs put the pedal to the metal with Cal coming away with a 59-20 win. Those are the kind of numbers that Rhett Lashlee needs to put up on teams to catch the attention of the CFP committee. SMU has won their last two games by a combined 82-33. It would be easy to overlook competitors on the schedule between now and November 14 when they play Wake Forest in Dallas. It wouldn’t be a good idea. Syracuse is on the scoreboard Saturday and have some thoughts about how to pull off wins when least expected.

Louisville, at No. 4 is putting forth records which are misleading at best. The Cardinals are 4-3 and 3-2 and have a 41-31 win over SMU which is arguably the best win anyone other than Miami has in ACC football. Louisville was off this week but get back on the horse as they entertain Stanford on Saturday.

At No. 5 this week Virginia Tech wrests the spot away from Clemson following a 20-16 win in Death Valley. The win cinches a post-season berth for the Hokies. Virginia Tech have two close losses, 2 to Pitt and 5 to Cal. They’re off Saturday but jump back into the fire with both feet against SMU on November 6.

Out of the remaining 12 teams only two moved up in the football rankings.

ACC Football Power Rankings

Grab some Irish Spring because you’re about to get some of the mess found in ‘The Muddle’ on you. Why that particular brand? Because, ‘she likes it too’.

#6 – Duke moves up one spot after winning at Virginia, 19-16. It wasn’t pretty, but it snapped a two-game skid. Both losses were by points or less. Duke is one win away from a bowl bid. Boston College visits Saturday.
#7 – Clemson drops two spots after losing at home to Virginia Tech, 20-16. The Tigers still have a head-to-head win over North Carolina, which is why they are ahead of the Heels in the rankings. Clemson heads to Tallahassee on Saturday for a go at Florida State.
#8 – Boston College is up 5 spots following a solid win over Georgia Tech, 49-27. The Golden Eagles have two straight ACC football wins under their belts and although they’ve lost to Cincinnati, Virginia Tech and SMU they are all respectable at least for the purposes on ranking teams. They take on Duke in Durham on Saturday.
#9 – North Carolina dips 3 spots after a last second loss to Syracuse in Chapel Hill, 31-30. And, btw the Orange had not won an ACC game this season up to this point. The positives are road wins at Pitt and Duke but a home loss like this hurts. Miami comes to town Saturday.
10 – Pitt slides one spot following their loss to Miami, 52-23. Everyone, outside of their fan base, expected a loss, but not by that much. Since the quarterback injury, the Panthers are 0-2 in conference football play. Georgia Tech is next on the list and it’s trick or treat time for two struggling teams. A win for Pitt is a special treat as it puts them into the post-season with a bowl bid.
#11 – Florida State is down a spot this week. They had a bye and only slipped because Boston College passed them. The Noles still have a decent 38-7 win over Virginia and haven’t completely rolled over against teams as they look for their footing. Clemson visits Saturday and offers an opportunity for a significant home football win.
#12 – Virginia slips a notch following a 19-16 loss to Duke. That’s three losses in four games, and all three were by 10 points or fewer. The struggle is real as they play at Wake Saturday.

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ACC Football Power Rankings

‘The Strugglers’ is the one section no one likes to see teams in (unless they’re a rival) and this is where you can feel the pain.

#13 – Cal drops a spot after losing to SMU, 59-20. The Bears have been outscored 100-27 over their last two games. The win over Virginia Tech is the only reason they aren’t lower. This Saturday Cal heads to NC State.
#14 – Stanford jumps up 3 spots in the rankings in Week 9 and finally leave the cellar dweller status behind. The Cardinal picked up their second straight win by defeating NC State 31-28. Stanford heads east to take on Louisville on Saturday.
#15 – Syracuse edges up 1 with a win over North Carolina, 31-30. It’s the first ACC win this season for the Orange and it should be noted that most of their losses have been close. SMU visits Saturday.
#16 – NC State drops 2 after their loss to Stanford, 31-28. The win over Louisville is looking more like an outlier. The Pack entertain Cal Saturday.
#17 – Georgia Tech stumbles two spots and becomes the cellar dweller position from Stanford. The Yellow Jackets lost at home to Boston College, 49-27. They’ve lost to Stanford head-to-head and now the win over Duke just isn’t holding up. The Rambling Wreck take on Pitt next.

Cold Hard Reality Of College Football

Boo Corrigan did something that rarely happens in October at a football program like NC State. He fired their head football coach right after the Pack lost to Stanford. Dave Doeren has the most wins in school history and he was one of the longest-tenured coaches in the ACC. On top of that the team beat Louisville three weeks ago and the Cardinals sit at No. 4 in our rankings. Pulling the plug with five games left suggests either the locker room had something to do with it, or someone wanted a head start on the coaching search before the December carousel.

An interim coach and a fan base with nothing left to play for doesn’t usually end well. That first test is Saturday against Syracuse, a team that’s looking to take as much advantage of the situation as possible.

One of the things Doeren did was laid a foundation. Yes, he took a program that came and went and made it one that showed up every year. The thing is he never raised the ceiling. He didn’t have a single 10-win season or reach an ACC title game, and he went 52-57 in conference play. NC State’s last leagues title came in 1979, and nothing in the last few years suggested that was about to change. It was solid, predictable, plain-vanilla football. Steady is find for a while, but at some point steady means stuck.

Doeren laid the foundation. Someone else needs to build the rest of the house.

The job is attractive: a stable roster, a quarterback in CJ Bailey with two years of eligibility left (but ESPN points out that other teams can begin knocking at his door), and Gunner Rivers headlining the 2027 class.

Who are some of the names being bandied about for the position?