Do you want to talk about chaos? Week 11 in the ACC brought it and then some! UVA fell from the unbeatens in the ACC with a loss to Wake Forest. California came across the country and beat Louisville in overtime.
SMU stayed in the mix with the one-loss teams with a win over Boston College. Miami beat Syracuse to keep its faint hopes of making the ACCCG game alive with all of the chaos. Georgia Tech was on a bye, and Duke lost to UConn in an out-of-conference game one week after upsetting Clemson on the road.
Here are my updated ACC Power Rankings through 11 weeks:
- Georgia Tech (8-1, 5-1 ACC) +1
- Pittsburgh (7-2, 5-1 ACC) +2
- SMU (7-3, 5-1 ACC) +2
- Virginia (8-2, 5-1 ACC) -3
- Louisville (7-2, 4-2 ACC) -2
- Miami (7-2, 3-2 ACC) +2
- Duke (5-4, 4-1 ACC) -1
- NC State (5-4, 2-3 ACC)
- Wake Forest (6-3, 3-3 ACC)
- Virginia Tech (3-6, 2-3 ACC)
- California (5-5, 2-4 ACC)
- Clemson (4-5, 3-4 ACC) +1
- Syracuse (3-7, 1-6 ACC) -1
- North Carolina (4-5, 1-3 ACC) +2
- Stanford (3-7, 2-5 ACC) -1
- FSU (4-5, 1-5 ACC) -1
- Boston College (1-9, 0-6 ACC)
The week 12 slate is interesting because some teams will eliminate themselves with a loss. If Clemson goes to Louisville and wins? That will be three conference losses for the Cardinals and likely takes care of them. UVA must travel to Duke and could be without its starting quarterback. A loss there likely eliminates the Wahoos and their luck-filled season.
NC State will play Miami, and a Wolfpack win would eliminate the Hurricanes from making the ACCCG. It’s an out-of-conference matchup, but Notre Dame will travel to Pittsburgh. If Pitt wins that game and beats Georgia Tech and Miami to finish its regular-season? They’d make the ACCCG and would have a spot in the CFB Playoffs if they won. It would also eliminate Notre Dame from making the CFB Playoffs. If they lose to Notre Dame and win out, they’d still have a shot to make the playoffs as the ACC Champion.
FSU will host Virginia Tech in a game that will likely have low fan attendance and some toxicity from the fans in attendance after FSU's poor showing against a bad Clemson team.