We knew it was bound to happen at some point, but Miami losing a game unexpectedly didn’t surprise us at all. The real question is, will the Canes lose another one at some point, because that’s been their DNA for the past few decades?
Georgia Tech moves into the No. 1 spot with a road win over Duke, and Louisville slides into the No. 2 spot with the road win over Miami. Virginia went life and death with Washington State, and remains perfect in the non-conference since their loss against NC State wasn’t a conference game.
All of the other teams slide up a spot with wins, and we see FSU free-fall to the bottom third of the conference after the embarrassing loss to Stanford.
Here are my updated ACC Power Rankings through eight weeks:
- Georgia Tech (7-0) +1
- Louisville (5-1) +2
- Miami (5-1) -2
- Virginia (6-1) -1
- SMU (5-2) +1
- California (5-2) +1
- Pittsburgh (5-2) +1
- Duke (4-3) -3
- NC State (4-3)
- Wake Forest (4-2) +1
- Syracuse (3-4) +1
- Clemson (3-4) +1
- Virginia Tech (2-5) +1
- Stanford (3-4) +2
- FSU (3-4) -6
- North Carolina (2-4) -1
- Boston College (1-6)
The week nine slate in the ACC doesn't offer any games that we'd deem as must see TV. SMU travels to Wake Forest and NC State travels to Pittsburgh if you're an FSU fan reading this and wonder what those teams look like. Needless to say, the season is over for FSU as they will likely make a coaching change, so those games don't mean much anymore.
Georgia Tech and Virginia don't play one another in the regular season and remain undefeated in conference play. The Yellow Jackets are probably more liable to win-out the rest of their ACC games than Virginia. Virginia owns a head-to-head win over Louisville. It's possible that Miami could win the rest of their games and not make the ACC Championship game, and that would be hilarious.