ACC Power Rankings updated after Week 12 of college football
The college football season is winding down, and the ACC Championship matchup is set heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
Florida State had already clinched a spot in the ACC title game prior to this weekend, and Louisville will join the Seminoles in Charlotte after escaping with a win at Miami on Saturday. Unfortunately, FSU star quarterback Jordan Travis will not be able to play in the ACC title game, or the regular season finale against Florida , as he suffered a devastating season-ending injury against North Alabama on Saturday.
Elsewhere in the ACC, Clemson pulled away from North Carolina to earn its third straight win, while Virginia upset Duke to improve to 3-8 (2-5). Here are the updated ACC Power Rankings following Week 12 of the college football season:
Florida State pounded North Alabama 58-13 to improve to 11-0 on the season, but the victory didn’t come without a cost. Star quarterback Jordan Travis was carted off the field in the first quarter with an injury and is out for the season.
Tate Rodemaker played well for Florida State in place of Travis, but there’s no doubt that losing the senior is a huge blow for the Seminoles. Florida State still has a chance to beat Florida and Louisville and potentially earn a spot in the College Football Playoff, but the national title hopes the Seminoles had prior to Saturday took a serious hit over the weekend.
Despite entering the game with only one loss in ACC play, Louisville was a slight underdog heading into Saturday’s matchup at Miami. It wasn’t easy, but Jeff Brohm ‘s club found a way to win and clinch a spot in the ACC Championship game.
Brohm would love to lead the Cardinals to an ACC title in Year 1 back at Louisville. However, there’s other business to take care of first. The Cardinals will attempt to end their four-game losing streak to rival Kentucky on Saturday. If they do, they will also keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
NC State appeared headed in the wrong direction at the midpoint of the season. However, after getting off to a 4-3 start, the Wolfpack have won four straight and are now 8-3, with one regular season game remaining.
Head coach Dave Doeren challenged his team after a 24-3 loss to Duke in mid-October. Since then, NC State has wins over Clemson, Miami, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech . Quarterback Brennan Armstrong played really well this past weekend against Virginia Tech and appears to have regained his confidence after being benched earlier this season.
Clemson has turned its season around after a 4-3 start and is playing its best football of the season down the stretch. The Tigers have a pair of wins over ranked teams in their past three games, beating Notre Dame and North Carolina in recent weeks.
Clemson’s defense has continued to play at an elite level, and the Tigers have stopped having the disastrous turnovers that hurt them early on in the year. Up next, Clemson is heading to Columbia for its rivalry matchup with South Carolina . The Tigers have struggled on the road this season, so extending their winning streak to four games won’t be easy.
North Carolina has quickly gone from a College Football Playoff contender to a team that is in danger of finishing at 4-4 in the ACC. The Tar Heels are 2-3 in their last five games after falling 31-20 at Clemson on Saturday.
UNC’s defense played well early in the season, but it has taken a step back as of late. North Carolina put up 457 yards of offense and averaged nearly 8 yards per carry against the Tigers, but the Tar Heels were unable to finish off drives and managed only 20 points.
Georgia Tech bounced back from an ugly outing against Clemson to beat Syracuse on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets finish the year 5-3 in the ACC and have some impressive wins on their resume.
Georgia Tech beating No. 1 Georgia and finishing the regular season at 7-5 is highly unlikely. Still, it’s been a solid first season for first-year head coach Brent Key
The Blue Devils were a serious threat to reach the ACC Championship game for much of the season, but the injury to Riley Leonard has been devastating for Duke. Mike Elko ‘s squad has dropped four of five games after falling to Virginia on Saturday.
The last two games in particular have been heartbreakers as losses to North Carolina and UVA came by a combined 5 points. Still, reaching a bowl game is a solid year for Duke, especially considering the injuries the Blue Devils have dealt with.
Miami was surprisingly a favorite over Louisville this past weekend, despite the Hurricanes entering with four losses and the Cardinals only having one. Miami nearly proved oddsmakers right, before falling in the back-and-forth contest.
Mario Cristobal appears to have the Hurricanes program heading in the right direction, even with Miami going 2-5 in its past seven games. It’s clear that Cristobal has upgraded the talent level at Miami.
Virginia Tech was still in contention to reach the ACC title game entering last weekend. However, after Louisville won and the Hokies lost, Brent Pry ‘s club has yet to even clinch a bowl game.
Virginia Tech trailed 35-14 entering the fourth quarter against NC State this past weekend, before rallying to lose by one score. The Hokies will now face rival Virginia, needing a victory to reach a bowl.
Boston College has struggled the past two weeks, after going on a five-game winning streak in the middle of the year. The Eagles lost to a Pitt team that only had one win over an FBS team all season on Saturday, a week after getting blown out by Virginia Tech.
The good news is that BC is 6-5 and has already clinched a spot in a bowl game. However, Boston College needs to beat Miami on Saturday to avoid ending the regular season on a three-game losing skid.
Syracuse suffered a 31-22 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday, leading to head coach Dino Babers being fired. Babers finished 41-55 in nearly eight seasons with the Orange, prior to being let go.
Syracuse is 5-6 on the season but has only one win over an ACC team. The Orange will host Wake Forest on Saturday with a chance to become bowl eligible.
Wake Forest was blasted by Notre Dame and former Demon Deacons quarterback Sam Hartman this past weekend. Hartman passed for four touchdowns against his former team, while Wake Forest managed only 232 yards of offense.
Wake Forest has now dropped four straight games and six of its past seven after a 3-0 start to the year. The Demon Deacons will look to close the season on a high note on Saturday at Syracuse.
Virginia finally got over the hump on Saturday, beating Duke 30-27 to earn its second big upset win of the year. The Cavaliers were close to pulling off multiple other upsets but dropped four games by seven points or less.
Tony Elliott appears to have the program heading in the right direction, despite the Cavaliers being 3-8. Virginia will look to close out the season on a high note with a win over rival Virginia Tech this weekend.
Pitt finally had a bright moment on Saturday, after what had been a rough 2023 season. The Panthers beat Boston College to earn their first win since Oct. 14 against Louisville.
The victory was only the second against an FBS team all year for Pitt. The Panthers close out their season at Duke this weekend.
The ACC Power Rankings are still being sorted out entering the final weekend of the regular season. There are plenty of intriguing ACC games, as well as nonconference matchups, coming up this weekend. It will be interesting to see how the final weekend of the ACC season unfolds.
