ACC power rankings after Week 2: Miami, Clemson solidify themselves at the top of the league
Week 2 of ACC action is in the books.
It was another eventful week for the league. The ACC went 10-2 in nonconference matchups, with Cal and Duke picking up what were arguably the biggest wins of the weekend for the ACC.
Miami and Clemson retained the top spots after they turned in dominant performances, but there’s plenty of movement this week elsewhere in the rankings.
Here’s Saturday Down South’s updated Week 2 power rankings:
17. Wake Forest (Previously: 16)
Tough loss for Wake Forest, who was leading Virginia for most of the game but couldn’t find enough stops late in the game.
16. Florida State (Previously: 15)
Florida State was off this week and will look for its first win of the year in Week 3 against Memphis — Mike Norvell’s former team.
15. Stanford (Previously: 14)
Stanford crushed Cal Poly in Week 2.
14. Duke (Previously: 17)
Duke moves out of the basement after it won on the shores of Lake Michigan against Northwestern on Friday night. Jordan Moore is a stud and Maalik Murphy played very well in the win as well. Manny Diaz and his staff deserve quite a bit of credit.
13. SMU (Previously 9)
SMU has been a walking red flag this season and it finally caught up to Rhett Lashlee’s team in Week 2. The Mustangs fell 18-15 against BYU on Friday night, relying solely on field goals to put points on the board. I’m not sure if Preston Stone or Kevin Jennings is the better quarterback — or if either is even good enough for it to matter. SMU is in big trouble if things don’t get figured out in a hurry.
12. Virginia (Previously: 13)
Virginia looked like it was in trouble for most of its game against Wake Forest, but it ended up securing a big road win in Winston-Salem. Anthony Colandrea continues to be one of the most volatile quarterbacks in the country — he had 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in the win on Saturday. For Virginia in 2024, I’m considering volatility to be a good thing.
11. Pitt (Previously: 12)
Pitt moves up a spot this week after its gutsy win over Cincinnati. The Panthers scored the final 22 points of this game to earn a 1-point win over the Bearcats. Impressive stuff from new offensive coordinator Kade Bell and quarterback Eli Holstein in this one.
10. Virginia Tech (Previously: 7)
Virginia Tech slides down 3 spots, but that has more to do with the other teams in this area than it does with the Hokies. Brent Pry’s group earned their first win of the year against a pretty bad Marshall team.
9. Boston College (Previously: 8)
Boston College keeps the No. 8 spot this week after it dominated Duquesne. Thomas Castellanos threw touchdown passes on 4 of his 10 attempts in this one.
8. Cal (Previously: 11)
What a win for Cal at Jordan-Hare! The Golden Bears turned in a special defensive performance against Auburn and got just enough offense to pick up a huge road win over an SEC foe. Cal’s defensive struggles from last season appear to be a thing of the past.
7. Georgia Tech (Previously: 3)
Disappointing showing for Georgia Tech against Syracuse. The Yellow Jackets couldn’t stop anything Kyle McCord and the Orange wanted to do. The offense is strong, but this defense will need to get a lot better if they’re going to compete near the top of this league.
6. Syracuse (Previously: 10)
Welcome to the No. 6 spot, Syracuse. The Orange totaled 515 yards and only punted twice in a 31-28 win over Georgia Tech. Picking up a ranked win in Week 2 is a pretty strong start to the Fran Brown era.
5. Louisville (Previously: 6)
Louisville moves up a spot this week for its thrashing of Jacksonville State. The Cardinals host Georgia Tech next weekend, so we should find out a lot more about Jeff Brohm’s team in Week 3.
4. NC State (Previously: 4)
I’m not dropping NC State despite its blowout loss to Tennessee. The Vols are a Playoff-caliber team. NC State isn’t close to that, but it doesn’t have to be in order to be a top 4 team in the ACC.
3. North Carolina (Previously: 5)
I don’t feel great about putting UNC in this spot, but the Tar Heels looked pretty good on Saturday with Conner Harrell running the show against Charlotte. They are sort of the No. 3 team in this league by default. There’s a sizable gap between No. 2 and No. 3 in the ACC right now.
2. Clemson (Previously: 1)
Clemson validated my decision to keep the Tigers at No. 2 in these rankings even after getting blown out by Georgia last week. Clemson blasted App State 66-20 on Saturday night as Cade Klubnik had one of the best games of his collegiate career. More importantly, true freshman Bryant Wesco emerged as a potential No. 1 option at receiver — something Klubnik hasn’t had during his time as Clemson’s starter.
1. Miami (Previously: 2)
No change for Miami this week after the Canes blasted Florida A&M in Week 2. Impressive performance on both sides of the ball, but there’s only so much we can learn from this level of competition.