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Okay, who’s ready to poke around this pile of crap we call a football conference with a stick? Let’s see what we can find if we move some of this crap over to the side. Hmm, it appears to be yet more crap. Oh well.
Also, um:
Also, the gap is closing quickly! (I’m talking about both SEC vs others … and ACC vs AAC.)
— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) September 29, 2019
AVG SP+ RATINGS BY CONFERENCE
1 SEC (13.0)
2 Big 12 (12.6)
3 Big Ten (11.6)
4 Pac-12 (9.2)
5 ACC (4.0!!!)
6 AAC (1.5)
AAC: 4 top-40 teams
ACC: 2 top-40 teams
Man alive, are there any men alive around here?! This grim, real grim. Clemson is the only ACC team in the top 30.
ACC Standings by SP+ Rating
| Team | Wk 6 SP+ Rtg (Rank) | SP+ Rank Change | Offense Rank | Defense Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Wk 6 SP+ Rtg (Rank) | SP+ Rank Change | Offense Rank | Defense Rank |
| Clemson | 24.5 (6) | -3 | 15 | 5 |
| Miami | 11.3 (31) | -1 | 65 | 21 |
| Virginia | 6.4 (42) | -5 | 90 | 27 |
| Duke | 5.9 (44) | 16 | 53 | 47 |
| Florida State | 5.2 (47) | 10 | 26 | 78 |
| Wake Forest | 4.2 (53) | -13 | 39 | 70 |
| NC State | 2.8 (55) | -7 | 79 | 44 |
| Pitt | 1.5 (59) | 3 | 113 | 19 |
| UNC | 1.3 (60) | 5 | 43 | 80 |
| Syracuse | 0.9 (65) | 10 | 72 | 65 |
| Louisville | 0.3 (70) | -1 | 61 | 71 |
| Virginia Tech | -0.3 (72) | -19 | 88 | 52 |
| Boston College | -0.9 (74) | -1 | 44 | 89 |
| Georgia Tech | -7.3 (92) | 3 | 120 | 41 |
This does serve to provide me with some comfort amid NC State’s struggles. Pretty much everybody has struggles. Some good defenses are being badly squandered by awful offenses, and Florida State’s got it the other way around.
Virginia Tech earned the week’s biggest black eye by getting flogged at home by Duke (never a good idea), and perhaps we’re witnessing the end of Justin Fuente’s tenure in Blacksburg. Surely—surely!—Virginia will finally end its long losing streak in that rivalry series.
SP+ also hated Wake Forest’s performance at Boston College; even though the Deacs won, BC significantly out-gained them on a per-play basis.
As for us, well, hey, the defense did move up a couple spots.