Clemson upset #11 Virginia on the road, 42-24

We have hit the 2/3rd mark of the FCFB season. 8 games down, 4 to go and this past week in the ACC was…..odd. Duke and Virginia losing to Syracuse and Clemson respectively. #5-9 in last week’s power rankings all lost while #10-13 all won.

1. NC State– NC State went into #1 UMass and fought a war with and came out with a hard fought 17-14 win to become one of the first 2 8-0 teams ever. NCSU has lived up to the hype this season and is a win vs. BC away from heading back to the ACCCG. But first they must travel to Louisville to face a Louisville team who has come close vs some great teams and as Clemson showed us this past week, those teams can be dangerous.

2. Pittsburgh– Pitt showed their home crowd that they are still the National Title picture by knocking off #3 Boston College 33-28. Pitt takes command of the Coastal this week after a pair of losses by Duke and Virginia. They can strengthen that grip when they host UVA this week.

3. Boston College– Speaking of that game, BC took their first loss of the vs. Pitt. They were bound to lose a game at some point and they still control their destiny in the Atlantic. They hit the road again this week to take on a Clemson who has shown an ability to play up to top teams.

4. Virginia Tech– Virginia Tech got a week off this week as they beat Cincinnati in a low scoring game, 17-6. The difficulty gets upped this week as they host a reeling Duke team who’s Playoff and ACCCG hopes are on the line as they have dropped 2 in a row.

5. Duke– As I was saying, Duke has now dropped 2 in a row as they handed Syracuse their first ACC wins in a 16-14 game. Duke went from a obvious playoff contender to a fringe Top 25 team in 2 weeks. Now it is time to see if they go the path of Coastal Carolina and USF last season and collapse or the path of Iowa State and make a run back into the playoffs and a trip to Blacksburg this week will tell us a lot.

6. Virginia– Losing 42-24 to Clemson at home isn’t a good idea. Yet somehow this team has a simple path to the ACC Title game and it runs through Pitt this week as they take on by far the best team they will have played so far. Duke is the only .500+ team they have even played so far. A Pitt win would do miracles for that resume. Lose and their playoff hopes are probably dead.

7. Syracuse– Well, well. How the hell did you get here. From 1-4 with blowout losses against Clemson and Louisville to now being a Top 50 team in composite and a win over Duke. One of the biggest turnarounds within this season. They host Florida State this week.

8. Clemson- Onto the other upset squad of the week as Clemson beat #11 UVA 42-24 and keeping their ACC Title hopes alive. That NC State game could end up biting them in the butt big time. Clemson takes on another Top Dog of the ACC as they host Boston College this week.

9. Florida State– Florida State took down in-state rival, Miami, this week in a tightly contested 28-24 game. They have now won 2 out of 3 after a 1-4 start as they travel up north to face another former 1-4 team in Syracuse.

10. Louisville– UL-BYU and missed PAT’s. Name a more iconic duo. In another instant classic Louisville lost another heartbreaking game as they missed a PAT in OT to end up losing 31-30 against #10 BYU. Now they have to win 3 of 4 to even make a bowl. Up first they get to take on the top team in the nation in NC State this week.

11. Wake Forest– Wake got back in the winning column this week as they knocked of UNC, 28-14, in an in-state showdown to finally snap their 4 game losing streak. They get out of the ACC this week as they face one of the worst teams in the nation in FIU this week.

12. Miami– Miami traveled to FSU and lost a tight 28-24 game. Fun Fact: That was the most points Miami has scored in a game all season long. This was the first time all season they scored more than 17 points and they hadn’t scored that many since Week 1.

13. North Carolina– UNC fell to Wake 28-14 this week. Man that miracle win over VT feels like a forever ago. They get to go into Sun Belt Territory as they face an unpredictable Troy team this week.

14. Georgia Tech– Hey GT. Still down here by yourself I see. Well, with all these upset within the ACC and your 38-24 loss to to UCF this week, you are the only team with less than 3 wins in the entire ACC and you have 1. They continue their OOC road trip as they go from Orlando to Boise this week to face a Boise team that just knocked off #19 Nevada.