Duke’s stay near the top of the ACC Power Rankings didn’t last long.
After sitting at No. 2 through the bye, the Blue Devils slid a spot following a frustrating road loss to Georgia Tech, a team that had been hanging near the bottom of this weekly list after a rough start. Duke is still 4-1, so nothing is off the rails yet, but the margin for error has already tightened with North Carolina coming to Durham next.
At the top, not much changed. Miami remains No. 1 at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in ACC play, and the Hurricanes are still sitting in their own tier. They’re off their bye now and will host Florida State next week.
Wake Forest keeps chasing from the No. 2 spot. The Demon Deacons are 5-1 and coming off a 38-14 road win over NC State, their third straight victory since the lone loss. Next up is a tricky trip to Cal.
SMU moved into third without even taking the field, helped by chaos elsewhere in the league. The Mustangs are 4-1 and have back-to-back home games against Virginia and Cal ahead as they try to build some traction before Charlotte.
Duke lands at No. 4 after its first ACC loss. The Blue Devils opened the first of eight straight conference games with a three-point defeat at Georgia Tech, and now they get a rivalry game with North Carolina this weekend.
Pittsburgh drops behind Duke after losing for the first time this season, a setback that came at home against North Carolina in the Panthers’ first game without star QB Mason Heintschel. It was a game Pitt could have taken, and now the road gets tougher with trips to Boston College and Miami.
Clemson also moved up without playing. The Tigers’ two losses came at LSU and at home against Miami, while their ACC wins over North Carolina and Cal keep them in the mix. They’ll face Charleston Southern after the bye before a key home date with Virginia Tech on 10/24.
North Carolina’s road win at Pittsburgh stands out as one of the biggest results of the Bill Belichick era so far. The Tar Heels are 3-2 and look improved from last season, and the trip to Duke could tell a lot about where they stand in the league.
Louisville’s season looked shaky after losses to Wake Forest and NC State, but the Cardinals flipped things fast against Florida State. Down 14-0, they answered with a goal-line stand and a 99-yard touchdown run, then outscored the Seminoles 44-6 the rest of the way. Louisville now gets Syracuse, Stanford and Georgia Tech in succession.
Virginia Tech continues to search for a clean break from close losses. The Hokies followed the heartbreaking two-point defeat to Pitt with another narrow setback at Cal. Georgia Tech comes to town this week.
Florida State has now given everyone another reminder of how fast things can unravel. After beating Virginia 38-7, the Seminoles built a 14-0 lead on Louisville before getting run over the rest of the way. Miami is next on the road, and Mike Norvell’s seat is on fire.
Virginia bounced back from its loss to Florida State with a tight win over Syracuse, but a three-point home result against one of the conference’s lower teams doesn’t exactly scream contender. The Cavaliers head to SMU next.
Cal steadied itself with a needed win over Virginia Tech after a two-game skid. The challenge only ramps up from here, starting with Wake Forest in Berkeley.
NC State had a chance to ride the momentum from its win over Louisville, but Wake Forest shut that down. The Wolfpack are off this week and then get Stanford and Cal back-to-back.
Georgia Tech gets a big climb after taking down Duke at home, a win that goes a long way toward rescuing its season. Virginia Tech is next on the road.
Boston College was idle this week and now gets a major chance at home against a Pitt team still adjusting without its starting quarterback.
Syracuse showed some life by taking Virginia into the fourth quarter on the road, even if it couldn’t finish the job. Fran Brown at least has something to point to, though the schedule gets brutal from here: Louisville, North Carolina, SMU and Clemson.
Stanford’s recent stretch has been ugly. After beating Georgia Tech, the Cardinal have been blown out in back-to-back losses to Wake Forest and Notre Dame, getting outscored 115-10. Elon comes to Palo Alto next week.
In Other News...
Dukes First Loss Put One Big Limit On This Team
Dukes first loss of the 2026 season came in Atlanta, a 28-25 defeat to Georgia Tech that left the Blue Devils with a familiar kind of frustration: they were close, productive and still not quite clean enough to finish the job. Penalties were a major reason the night slipped away, and the offense had to navigate a tougher script than usual with running back Nate Sheppard working through the game on a taped foot.
Even with that limitation, Sheppard still led Duke in both rushing and receiving yards, a reminder of how much the Blue Devils lean on him when the margins get tight. Walker Eget helped keep the offense moving with 259 passing yards and a touchdown, stepping up when Sheppard was clearly not at full strength, but Duke still ran into one big limit that showed up at the wrong time and cost it the chance to leave Atlanta unbeaten. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Suddenly Has A Troubling Issue Before North Carolina
Dukes unbeaten start came to an abrupt end with a 28-25 loss to Georgia Tech, and the way it happened left plenty for the Blue Devils to sort through before the rivalry game against North Carolina. The loss exposed issues in the trenches and around the quarterback, even as Nate Sheppard and Walker Eget turned in performances that kept Duke within striking distance deep into the game.
For a team that had been rolling, the concern now is less about one bad night than about what it revealed. Duke struggled to control the line of scrimmage, couldnt consistently generate a pass rush, and again came up short in late-game execution, a combination that turns next week into more than just another ACC game. North Carolina is arriving at a moment when Duke suddenly has to answer a much tougher question about how quickly it can clean this up. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Newcomers Are Embracing A Lineup Edge Fans Will Notice Fast
Jon Scheyer is leaving himself room to lean on a much deeper Duke rotation this season, and that approach was on display during a preseason scrimmage against Belmont. Freshman guard Deron Rippey Jr. and senior transfer guard John Blackwell both sounded encouraged by what they saw, pointing to a roster built with enough depth and versatility to keep the Blue Devils from relying on the same small group every night.
The short-term wrinkle is that Duke is still working through injuries to two players, though the expectation is that both will be ready for the season opener. Even so, the early feel around this group is that Scheyer could have more lineup options than usual, and the newcomers are already embracing the idea that competition for minutes will be part of the teams edge. [Read more 🡒]