One week after the ACC helped deliver chaos to the college football season, the league is right back in the spotlight with another packed slate that gets going early and barely lets up.
Miami survived the wildest day yet in 2026, and somehow the Hurricanes came out of it still sitting at No. 1.
Now they head home to face Pittsburgh, which has dropped its last two games. That matchup is one of several on a schedule that should be well underway before most people finish breakfast on Saturday.
The timing is relentless. Miami kicks off at 9 a.m.
PT, and Cal’s trip to No. 23 SMU starts at the same time.
Add two ACC games on back-to-back ESPN windows Friday night, and four of the league’s seven games this week could be done before 1 p.m. PT Saturday.
Pittsburgh at No. 1 Miami, 9 a.m., ESPN
The Hurricanes are 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the league, and they’ve been dominant on both sides of the ball. Miami leads the nation in scoring offense at 49.6 points per game and scoring defense at 9.8. Pittsburgh enters at 5-2 and 2-2, but the Panthers have lost two straight since quarterback Mason Heintschel went down with a season-ending ACL injury.
Cal’s own early start comes at SMU, where the Mustangs have been perfect at home in ACC play since joining the conference for the 2024 season. SMU is 10-0 in those conference home games and brings a 5-1, 3-1 record into the matchup.
The Mustangs also feature former Cal running back Kendrick Raphael, who is averaging 89.5 yards per game at 5.4 yards per carry. The Bears, by contrast, are rushing for just 90.3 yards per game at 3.3 yards per attempt.
Boston College at Georgia Tech, 12:30 p.m., ACC Network
Boston College arrives off a 27-21 win over Pitt, but road games have been a problem. The Eagles have lost 10 of their past 11 away from home. Georgia Tech is 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the ACC, and the Yellow Jackets have lost three of their past five at home.
Duke at Virginia, 3 p.m., ACC Network
Duke and Virginia meet again after seeing each other twice last season. Virginia won 34-17 in Durham in mid-November, but Duke answered in the ACC championship game, winning 27-20 in overtime to claim its first outright conference title since 1962. Both teams come in sliding the wrong way: Duke is 4-2 and 1-2, while Virginia sits at 4-3 and 2-2.
Syracuse at North Carolina, 4:30 p.m., ACC Network
Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels are 4-2 and 2-1, already matching their win total from his debut season a year ago. North Carolina beat Syracuse 27-10 earlier this season, and the Orange enter at 2-4 and 0-4 in conference play. Syracuse scored 54 points in wins over New Hampshire and UConn, but across four ACC games it has managed only 20.5 points per game.
Stanford at NC State also fits into the week’s batch of tricky matchups. The Cardinal beat Georgia Tech as a 3 1/2-point underdog, but in four other games against FBS opponents it has missed hefty point spreads by a combined 97 points. Stanford is a 7-point underdog at home against NC State, which is 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the ACC.
The odds listed are subject to change.
In Other News...
Cal Heads To SMU With One Massive Offensive Question
Cal heads into its trip to SMU carrying more than the usual road-game uncertainty, because the offense is already dealing with a thin margin for error. The Bears will be without leading rusher Adam Mohammed and running back Carter Vargas, two absences that put even more pressure on a unit trying to find some stability away from home.
The bigger concern may be what surrounds the backfield. Four wide receivers and three starting offensive linemen are listed as questionable, including Ian Strong, Bastian Swinney and Jimothy Lewis Jr., which leaves Cals depth in a precarious spot if any of those players cannot go. SMU has its own injury issues, including safety Tyren Polley Jr. and running back Dramekco Green, but the Bears offensive availability is the more immediate storyline as they try to sort out who will be ready to play. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Heads To SMU With One Frustrating Question Still Unanswered
After Cals 41-7 loss to Wake Forest, Tosh Lupoi owned the result and tried to move the conversation forward toward SMU, but the clearest lingering issue from the defeat remained the one he never fully answered: why Jackson Brousseau got the start over Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. Lupoi addressed the quarterback decision, but he did not offer much detail on how he made it, leaving the Bears with a familiar kind of uncertainty as they head into another road test.
Sagapoluteles late entrance only sharpened the question. He was the more effective of the two against Wake Forest and delivered Cals lone touchdown, while Brousseau struggled to get the offense moving. Now Lupoi is saying the job will go to whoever gives the Bears the best chance to win at SMU, a team with plenty to like on both sides of the ball and a matchup that will demand a cleaner answer under center. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Needs This Offensive Reset To Look Real At SMU
Cals offense is heading into another reset this week, with Tosh Lupoi expected to pair Pat McCanns play-calling with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele at quarterback against SMU. The Bears have spent the season searching for the right mix after trying different quarterback and play-caller combinations, a sign of just how unsettled things have been on that side of the ball. Now theyll find out whether this version can bring a little more clarity against a defense that will not make the adjustment easy.
The timing adds another layer of intrigue because Sagapolutele is coming off a game in which he was replaced as the starter, so how he handles the change matters as much as the scheme itself. Cal still has to deal with a thin rushing attack and a tough road environment for any offense looking to find rhythm, which makes this more than a simple personnel tweak. It is a chance for the Bears to see whether a new combination can hold up when the game counts for real. [Read more 🡒]