Alabama shocks the world with a 48-42 win over #1 Pittsburgh in Overtime

Welcome back to the ACC Power Rankings after nearly a month away and we are in the endgame now. Final week of the regular season in FCFB and teams are still battling for Conference Title spots and teams are trying to make their case for the Playoffs. The ACC Championship is set as NC State and Pittsburgh will clash in one of the most anticipated games in league history but let’s focus on this week as it is Rivalry Week which also means that the ACC-SEC Challenge continues this week with a deadlock at 5-5 with 4 games remaining. One final chance for some of these teams to play this week, onto the rankings

1. NC State– NC State held off a resilient Missouri team this week in a close 35-28 battle that gets NC State closer to securing that playoff berth they missed out on last season but first they must not stumble against a struggling UNC team who will come to play this week.

2. Pittsburgh– Pitt was the biggest victim of the ACC-SEC challenge as Alabama knocked off Pitt in OT on a returned blocked FG for a touchdown. Heartbreaking way to lose but Pitt has to look ahead this week in a game they shouldn’t and can’t afford to lose against Miami. Losing to Miami would be a great way to play yourself onto the playoff bubble.

3. Boston College– They took care of business this week against Texas A&M as they keep their silm playoff hopes alive for another week. This week they take on Syracuse who is fighting for Bowl Eligibility this week and tends to show up against better teams.

4. Virginia Tech– VT handled LSU is a defensive 17-3 game and keeps their slim playoff hopes alive as the losses to UNC and GT continue to bite them hard but they should have no trouble getting ready to play this week as they take on bitter in-state rivals in UVA.

5. Duke– Good news Duke, you scored 52 points this week. Bad news, you gave up 76 points against Arkansas. Man this Duke team has full on collapsed, it feels like forever ago when they were 4th and 5-1 all they back in Week 6. They take on Wake Forest this week as they try to get revenge for last sesaon’s game which knocked them out the playoff race.

6. Clemson– Can’t say I expected Clemson to be bowling after being 2-5 with losses to Ball State, Georgia Tech, and Temple but here they are at 6-5 with wins over BC and Virginia and FSU this past week. Went the Syracuse route and decided to start winning but those losses still exist for Clemson which is a problem for them to move up.

7. Virginia– Virginia defeated Ole Miss in a very similar game as the VT-LSU game with a 17-3 final as well. This team wished they could have a couple a plays gone their way against Pitt and BYU and this season would be much difference. They face VT this week as they try to get their first win over them in the young league’s history.

8. Louisville– Louisville continues to be one of the least consistent teams in the league as they haven’t won or lost back to back games since the first 2 weeks of the season as they took care of GT 49-21. They take on Kentucky this week in a game with the roles reversed from last season as now UL is 5-6 and Kentucky is 8-3 hanging onto their playoff hopes by a thread.

9. Wake Forest– Losing to Vandy. Not Recommended. Wake fell to Vanderbilt in a 28-21 showdown which knocks them out of contention for a .500 season and probably bowl contention but the win over Syracuse was only 2 weeks ago.

10. Syracuse– Syracuse has now regressed to early season form with back to back losses to Wake and Mississippi State and now are on the outside looking in for a bowl at the moment and have to beat a Top 20 BC team to clinch the berth. Let’s see which Syracuse shows up this week.

11. Florida State– FSU took another loss this week as they fell to Clemson 21-7 which is the 3rd time this season they have scored 10 or less in a game. The loss knocked them out of contention for a .500 record and it would probably take a miracle to make a bowl as they are under 100 in composite. They take on arch-rivals Florida this week in one of two Tank Bowls in the State of Florida this week.

12. Miami– Miami played their best game of the season this week when they shut out Auburn 23-0 as it was the 2nd time they scored 20 or more all season and this time they actually won. Doesn’t change the fact this team is awful but it helps just a little. They could pull the upset of all upsets this week if they somehow upset Pitt.

13. North Carolina– UNC got shut out by Tennessee this week in a low scoring 14-0 game that also knocked them out of Bowl contention as well. They are in a very similar situation to Miami this week as they take on NC State in a rivalry game that should bring out the best in this UNC team, the one that upset VT earlier this season.

14. Georgia Tech– And here we are once again. GT at 14th in these ACC Power Rankings. Nothing else here has been as consistent but GT finds a way. They had Louisville on the ropes up 14-0 in the mid-2nd. Then….they fell apart. 21 points from UL to end the half including a 97 yard fumble 6 on the last play of the half. Then follow that up with a pick 6 on the first drive of the second half and it goes from 14-0 GT to 28-14 UL in 5 minutes. The game finished on a 49-7 run by Louisville. They are in a similar situation as the teams above as they take on arch-rivals Georgia who is in the thick of the playoff hope and would bring some semblance of success to an otherwise disastrous season.