ACC football officially kicked off last Saturday, with Florida State taking on Georgia Tech and SMU playing Nevada. After the Seminoles lost, it's left the path to the ACC title wide open. However, there are only a few with a real shot at it.
Clemson is the obvious first choice. Its talent outweighs every other team in the conference, and it returns most of its offense. The other teams in the running are Miami, NC State, Louisville, and Florida State. If it weren't for the FSU's loss on Saturday, it would've been No. 1, but right now, the Seminoles don't look like a top-10 team.
A few more are looking in from the outside. Virginia Tech is a team that returns more production than any team in the ACC. If the Hookies can polish their offense and reproduce what they did on defense last season, they could be a dark horse candidate. North Carolina and Georgia Tech, after the Yellow Jackets knocked off the FSU, could make a decent run, too.
Here are the ACC Power Rankings for week one:
Week one ACC Power Rankings
Rank | Team |
|---|---|
1 | Clemson |
2 | Miami |
3 | NC State |
4 | Louisville |
5 | Florida State |
6 | Virginia Tech |
7 | North Carolina |
8 | Georgia Tech |
9 | SMU |
10 | Duke |
11 | California |
12 | Syracuse |
13 | Virginia |
14 | Boston College |
15 | Pittsburgh |
16 | Wake Forest |
17 | Stanford |
The bottom of the league is tough to pin down because — coming into the season — SMU looked like a middle-of-the-road team. On the other hand, the Mustangs' performance on Saturday left much to be desired, consistently shooting themselves in the foot with penalties. But it's the first game of the season, and they pulled out the win, so they'll stay in the middle for now.
Another ACC newcomer is in the basement to start the season. The transfer portal hasn't been kind to the west coast team. Because of the high-grade requirements, they've struggled to replace talent jumping into the portal with transfers. The rest of the bottom five teams could fluctuate throughout the season.