ACC power rankings after Week 4: Miami, Clemson and Louisville emerge as clear contenders
Week 4 of ACC action is in the books.
Miami, Clemson and Louisville all picked up big wins as they continue to separate themselves as the top contenders in the ACC. Meanwhile, teams like North Carolina and NC State both fell down the rankings this week as they suffered embarrassing losses.
Here’s Saturday Down South’s updated ACC Week 4 power rankings:
17. Wake Forest (Previously: 17)
Wake Forest was idle this week.
16. NC State (Previously: 8)
NC State got crushed by Clemson on Saturday. The Tigers probably could have scored 100 if they didn’t let up in the second half. This is one of the worst power-conference teams in the country.
15. Virginia Tech (Previously: 11)
The Hokies lost another power-conference game on Saturday, this time falling to Rutgers. What could have been a special season under Brent Pry is quickly turning out to be a pretty big disappointment.
14. Duke (Previously: 13)
Duke slides down a spot this week, but not because of anything it did. The Blue Devils took care of business in Week 4 against Middle Tennessee. Duke will host a UNC team that is suddenly in crisis next week.
13. Virginia (Previously: 14)
Virginia crushed Coastal Carolina at home. That kind of result was far from a given entering the night, so credit to Tony Elliott and his staff for getting a great performance out of this team. Virginia hosts BC next weekend.
12. Florida State (Previously: 16)
FSU moves up 4 spots this week after earning its first win of the season. The Noles weren’t great on offense again, though. Getting to the postseason is still far from a certainty.
11. Georgia Tech (Previously: 9)
Georgia Tech now has 2 ACC losses and its only win came against a mediocre-at-best Florida State team. I still have some belief in the Yellow Jackets, but it hasn’t been a great month overall.
10. Stanford (Previously: 15)
Stanford has recovered nicely from its Week 1 loss to TCU. Big win over Syracuse this weekend. It’s not too hard to see a path to 6 wins, although next week against Clemson is certainly a tough matchup for the Cardinal.
9. SMU (Previously 12)
Good news: SMU put up 66 points in the Iron Skillet. Bad news: The Mustangs only gained 375 yards. They scored 2 defensive touchdowns and had a special teams score. I’m not sure how sustainable that is moving forward, but rivalry wins last forever.
8. North Carolina (Previously: 3)
Carolina probably deserves to drop further than this after giving up 70 points to James Madison, but there’s not just not many teams who are making a good argument to move up into this slot. Carolina’s defense was good in the first 3 games of the season, so maybe not all is lost.
7. Cal (Previously: 7)
Great effort from Cal in Tallahassee. There’s an argument to be made that Cal deserved to win that game — it out-gained FSU by more than 100 yards and was equal in the turnover battle. Tough result, but an admirable performance for Cal, so I’m keeping Justin Wilcox’s team at No. 7.
6. Syracuse (Previously: 6)
Syracuse lost to Stanford on Friday night but the Orange stick at No. 6 for now. If Kyle McCord plays turnover-free football, Syracuse can be really good.
5. Boston College (Previously: 10)
The upper middle class of the ACC was a total mess this week, so Boston College moves up 5 spots after its Red Bandana Game win over Michigan State.
4. Pitt (Previously: 5)
I’m not totally sold on Pitt yet, but the Panthers move up another spot this week after crushing Youngstown State in Week 4.
3. Louisville (Previously: 4)
Great win for Louisville against Georgia Tech. The Tyler Shough experiment is working beautifully to start the year — he just needs to stay healthy. If he does, I think the Cardinals are legitimate contenders to earn an ACC title berth. They will face both Clemson and Miami this season, so the opportunity will be there.
2. Clemson (Previously: 2)
Clemson’s blowout win over App State wasn’t enough — it wanted more. The Tigers avenged last year’s “Tyler from Spartanburg” game with a 59-35 win over NC State. The Wolfpack scored 21 points in garbage time and still lost by 3 full scores. The Tigers look to be elite on both sides of the ball.
1. Miami (Previously: 1)
Miami didn’t have any issues with South Florida on Saturday, dispatching the Bulls 50-15 in what was billed as a “trap game.” Mario Cristobal’s Canes are 4-0 and clearly look like the best team in the ACC.
Pry needs to reign in or fire Bowen now. If not, fire Whit, Pry and the entire staff. This is atrocious!!