The ACC started the year with 5 teams ranked in the top 25, and two weeks later there are still 5 ranked teams (Clemson, NC State, Miami, Wake Forest, and Pittsburgh). Florida State and North Carolina are in the receiving votes category.
The ACC desperately needed a respectable beginning to the football season. There have been bumps in the road, but overall the conference has gotten the start it needed.
The conference had lost 13 straight bowl games from 2019-2021 with a very ugly 31-60 mark over the rest of the Power 5 in the last 5 years. Also avoiding a bunch of G5 losses will help too. Try asking for a renegotiation of a media rights deal for the conference with those numbers. Let’s just say it’s easier when those OOC numbers are better, as it usually translates to improved ratings.
So far the ACC is a decent 4-3 against the rest of the Power 5 with these wins.
W Florida State vs LSU
W Pitt vs West Virginia
W Wake Forest vs Vanderbilt
W Duke vs Northwestern
L Boston College Vs Rutgers
L Virginia vs Illinois
L Pitt vs Tennessee
In the last two years, the ACC had just 8 of these wins.
A further look at the G5 wins, and one shouldn’t devalue these wins after seeing what the Sunbelt conference did yesterday with Appalachian State winning at Texas A&M, Marshall winning at Notre Dame, and Georgia Southern getting Scott Frost fired at Nebraska.
North Carolina has a win at Appalachian State, and likely middle-of-the-pack ACC team Louisville won at UCF for a nice win.
Old Dominion beating Virginia Tech is the only ACC loss to a G5 or lower team.
The results aren’t earth-shattering, but considering recent OOC results, the ACC didn’t need to completely flounder early in the season. They need to remain in the national conversation, and so far they have.
Next week provides more opportunities as there are more games that set the national narratives.
Purdue at Syracuse
Ole Miss at Georgia Tech
Texas Tech at NC State
Miami at Texas A&M
Georgia Tech is likely overmatched against Ole Miss, but a 2-1 result in the other three games should be a minimal target for the momentum to continue.
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