Week 5 shook up the ACC, and the biggest winner may have been the team not playing at all.
Duke stayed put at No. 2 in the latest power rankings after its bye week, while chaos around the league sent several teams flying up and down the board. Miami still sits alone at the top, and the gap between the Hurricanes and everyone else looks pretty real right now.
Miami’s case is simple: the Hurricanes went into Clemson and left with a 41-13 win, a road performance that made the rest of the conference look like it’s chasing shadows. That moved Miami to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in ACC play, and now it gets a bye before the Week 7 showdown with rival Florida State.
Duke, meanwhile, used its off week perfectly. Manny Diaz and company avoided a messy Saturday, stayed unbeaten at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the league, and now head to Georgia Tech in Week 6. They’re still unranked in the AP Poll, but the record keeps holding.
Wake Forest made a loud statement at No. 3.
The Demon Deacons have only one loss, and that came in a tight game against Miami. Everything else has looked convincing, and their 57-3 dismantling of Stanford only reinforced that.
There’s a real argument they belong even higher.
Pittsburgh climbed to No. 4 after a strong road win at Virginia Tech on Friday night, but the Panthers took a brutal hit in the process. Star QB Mason Heintschel tore his ACL and is out for the season. Pitt now has to navigate its first game without him, hosting North Carolina this weekend.
Virginia Tech slipped to No. 5 after that painful home loss to Pitt, one that ended with a controversial missed field goal as time expired. The Hokies don’t get much time to sit with it either, since a long trip to California is next.
SMU checks in at No. 6 after moving to 4-1, though the 25-16 win over Boston College didn’t exactly clear up the picture on the Mustangs. They’re on bye this week before hosting Virginia in Week 7.
Florida State comes in at No. 7, and the Seminoles are starting to look better than plenty of people expected. Their two losses don’t look disastrous in context: one was a close one against SMU, and the other came at Alabama, a team that looks like a title contender.
In Week 5, Florida State rolled Virginia 38-7. A Friday night trip to Louisville comes next, followed by the Miami game in Week 7.
Clemson sits at No. 8 after another season that’s been hard to pin down. The Tigers have two lopsided losses, but both came against top-10 teams in LSU and Miami. They’re on bye after this week, then face an FCS opponent before a home game against Virginia Tech on 10/24.
North Carolina lands at No. 9 after a loss that at least showed some fight. The Tar Heels stayed competitive with Notre Dame and fell by 11 on Saturday afternoon. That sets up a rough stretch, with road games at Pitt and Duke in back-to-back weeks.
NC State comes in at No. 10 after continuing to be one of the league’s strangest teams. The Wolf Pack bounced back from a baffling loss to Vanderbilt with a win over App State, then followed that by beating Louisville. At this point, they’re hard to make sense of, but they keep finding ways to win.
Louisville is sliding in the wrong direction at No. 11.
The Cardinals opened the year with a competitive loss to Ole Miss, then beat SMU in a result that made them look like a playoff contender. Since then, they’ve dropped two straight to Wake Forest and NC State and now own a losing record.
Florida State comes to town Friday night, and Louisville needs a response.
Virginia drops to No. 12 after a season that has gone from promising to plain uneven. The Cavaliers opened with a dominant win over NC State, but since then they’ve beaten Norfolk State and Delaware while losing to West Virginia and then getting crushed by Florida State.
California sits at No. 13 after another loss, this one on the road at UNLV. The Golden Bears were supposed to be a surprise team in the ACC, but the results haven’t matched the hype. And the schedule is about to get even nastier with Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, SMU, NC State, and Virginia all lined up.
Boston College is No. 14, though the Eagles have at least shown some fight in back-to-back close losses to Virginia Tech and SMU. After a bye, they’ll get a shot at a quality win at home against Pitt.
Stanford is No. 15 after failing to build on its win over Georgia Tech. The Cardinal went to Wake Forest and got hammered by 54 points. Next up is a trip to Notre Dame, which, as the source material put it: Gulp.
Syracuse sits at No. 16 after pulling out a 42-41 road win over UConn. At this point, the Orange will take any win they can get. Virginia is waiting this weekend.
Georgia Tech rounds out the rankings at No. 17 after a bye following its loss to Stanford. The Yellow Jackets host Duke this weekend, with the Blue Devils trying to stay unbeaten and Georgia Tech trying to salvage a season that has already gone sideways.
In Other News...
Duke's Newcomers Already Created The Roster Battle Fans Wanted
Dukes annual Countdown to Craziness scrimmage did exactly what fans hoped it would do: create a little early-season noise around a roster that suddenly looks a lot more interesting. The white team edged the blue team 29-24, and the event offered a first real glimpse at a mix of newcomers who already seem ready to push for minutes. Freshman Deron Rippey Jr., Patrick Ngongba and transfer John Blackwell all flashed in ways that should only sharpen the competition heading into the season.
There will be some growing pains along the way, especially for freshmen like Joaqim Boumtje Boumtje and Cameron Williams, who are still adjusting to the speed and physicality of college basketball. But that is part of the appeal of this group, too. Duke wanted roster tension, internal pressure and a reason for fans to lean in early, and the scrimmage suggested the Blue Devils may have all three before October is even over. [Read more 🡒]
Dukes Season Kickoff Hinted At Two Dangerous ACC Contenders
Dukes annual Countdown to Craziness did what it is supposed to do: turn an offseason showcase into an early look at a program that expects to matter. The men and women both got their moment in front of the Cameron crowd, with Jon Scheyer and Kara Lawson front and center as the school leaned into the kind of optimism that comes after recent NCAA tournament runs and enough returning buzz to make the ACC race feel very real.
The intrigue, though, is different on each side. Scheyers group looks built to be in the national conversation again, even if it does not have an obvious singular face yet, while Lawsons team arrives with a sharper edge after her latest international success with Team USA. Between the scrimmage flashes and the coach-driven confidence, Duke left the building looking less like a school opening a season and more like one with two teams already measuring themselves against the leagues best. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Fans Got Their First Real Clue About This Roster
Dukes annual Countdown to Craziness offered the first real look at this years group inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, with the Blue-White scrimmage giving fans a chance to size up the rotation and get a feel for how the pieces fit. It was the kind of early October snapshot that does not answer every question, but it does at least start to show which players are ready to make an impression before the games count.
The scrimmage had the usual mix of energy and experimentation, and the evening ended with Team White coming out on top in the Elam ending format, thanks to a three-pointer from Deron Rippey Jr. Duke will not have long to sit on the exhibition notes, either, with a scrimmage against Belmont coming up as the next opportunity to see whether the early flashes translate into something more reliable. [Read more 🡒]