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[Horizontal red lines indicate tiers]
1. Clemson (last week: 52-3 W vs Wake Forest); season record: 11-0 (8-0)
Previous Rankings: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
Dude... whatever, man. We get it, okay?
2. Virginia Tech (last week: 45-0 W @ Georgia Tech); season record: 7-3 (4-2)
Previous Rankings: 7, 11, 11, 12, 13, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
Georgia Tech had put together three really good performances in a row before Virginia Tech rolled into town and squashed those happy vibes. The Hokies defense held the Yellow Jackets to just 134 yards of total offense. VT hosts Pittsburgh this week and then hits the road to take on rival Virginia to finish off the regular season. Pretty impressive the turnaround this season for this team. I’ve been touting Scott Satterfield as the run-away ACC Coach-of-the-Year this season, but Justin Fuente is deserving in his own right.
3. Miami (last week: BYE); season record: 6-4 (4-3)
Previous Rankings: 9, 10, 6, 13, 6, 13, 12, 14, 7, 5, 3
The Hurricanes have Florida International and Duke remaining in the regular season, so things are shaping up for Manny Diaz to have a possible 9-win season in Year 1 of his tenure in Miami. Not bad considering the garbage luck they had early in the year in losing games they should have won. Seriously, this team is four plays away from being undefeated (but they’re not actually anywhere near that good).
4. Louisville (last week: 34-20 W @ NC State); season record: 6-4 (4-3)
Previous Rankings: 11, 7, 10, 11, 11, 6, 2, 6, 4, 3, 6
The Cardinals didn’t look great throughout the first half, and were actually trailing at halftime to a beat-up and pretty unimpressive NC State squad. But they hung around enough and then made the most of their opportunities in the second half en route to the win.
5. Wake Forest (last week: 3-52 L @ Clemson); season record: 7-3 (3-3)
Previous Rankings: 5, 3, 3, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 4
Don’t feel so great, does it, Wake? You know, for as great of a season as it felt the Deacs were having, they’re just 3-3 in ACC play right now. Granted, they finish up with Duke and Syracuse, so they should end up at 5-3, but still. Just seems like they should have a better conference record than that.
6. Pittsburgh (last week: 34-27 W vs North Carolina); season record: 7-3 (4-2)
Previous Rankings: 12, 9, 7, 3, 10, 7, 8, 3, 8, 8, 5
On behalf of all decent and good people everywhere, just let me say “Thank you” to Pitt for not gagging that game away. The Panthers get to play the Transitive Property game to try and win the Coastal Division title. They need to beat VT this week and then the following week have VT beat...
7. Virginia (last week: BYE); season record: 7-3 (5-2)
Previous Rankings: 3, 2, 2, 5, 5, 3, 13, 4, 5, 6, 7
A week off to rest up before facing in-state non-conference opponent Liberty. After that is the big season-ending, Coastal Division championship game against arch-rival Virginia Tech.
8. Florida State (last week: 49-12 W vs Alabama State); season record: 6-5 (4-4)
Previous Rankings: 10, 12, 9, 7, 9, 5, 4, 5, 3, 9, 8
After a one-year hiatus, the Seminoles are back to bowl eligibility. FSU will be off this week before finishing up against rival Florida as they put interim coach Odell Haggins unblemished career record on the line.
9. Boston College (last week: BYE); season record: 5-5 (3-4)
Previous Rankings: 4, 5, 13, 10, 8, 11, 7, 7, 11, 7, 9
Their last two games are against Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, so chances are slim, but you have to appreciate that Steve Adazzio is right on target for another 7-win season. I mean, it’s almost like he’s messing with us all at this point.
10. North Carolina (last week: 27-34 L @ Pittsburgh); season record: 4-6 (3-4)
Previous Rankings: 8, 6, 4, 9, 4, 4, 9, 10, 9, 10, 10
The kings of one-possession games lost another close one after another 4th quarter comeback fell short. After a layup of a Senior Day (they play Mercer of the FCS), bowl eligibility will come down to a match-up with NC State to end the regular season.
11. Syracuse (last week: 49-6 W @ Duke); season record: 4-6 (1-5)
Previous Ranking: 6, 14, 12, 6, 7, 9, 6, 12, 14, 14, 14
Surprising what can happen when you don’t turn the ball over and capitalize on opportunities. It will probably surprise you to hear that Syracuse didn’t even total 400 yards on the day, and QB Tommy DeVito only threw for 105 yards. Probably says less about Syracuse, though, and more about...
12. Duke (last week: 6-49 L vs Syracuse); season record: 4-6 (2-4)
Previous Rankings: 13, 8, 5, 4, 2, 8, 11, 9, 10, 11, 11
Dude... Duke... What the heck, man?! That’s embarrassing.
13. NC State (last week: 20-34 L vs Louisville); season record: 4-6 (1-5)
Previous Rankings: 2, 4, 8, 8, 12, 10, 5, 11, 12, 12, 13
Another week, another game in which the Wolfpack continually shot themselves in the foot offensively, while asking way too much of an injury-depleted defense. The results were as expected. Despite how awful this season has felt, the chance for bowl eligibility does still exist. First, though, they’ll need to beat...
14. Georgia Tech (last week: 0-45 L vs Virginia Tech); season record: 2-8 (1-6)
Previous Ranking: 14, 13, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 13, 13, 13, 12
As mentioned above, the Yellow Jackets had been playing much better of late, but they ran into a bad situation in a more talented Hokies squad that’s clicking right now. GT hosts NC State this week in a (*sad_trombone*) battle to not be the worst team in the conference this year.