For some off-season football reading, we want to look at the ACC’s 25 best out-of-conference wins of the 2020s. For years, we’ve said winning OOC games would benefit the health of the ACC. With the obvious bias built in and the narratives being set around media, actual winning doesn’t matter like it should. It’s still fun to look back on some nice wins. Maybe we’ll get back to looking at results one day. We can only hope.
For the previous decade, we ranked the ACC’s 50 biggest OOC wins of the 2010s.
There were some great wins there. That’s for sure.
We look at games 6-10 here, and soon we’ll get into the top 5.
Games 1-5 | Games 11-15 | Games 16-20 | Games 21-25
6. Miami 41 Florida 17 – August 31, 2024
Miami’s 41 – 17 win in the Swamp over Florida was significant in so many ways. It kicked off Cam Ward’s Heisman candidacy, Miami’s flirtation with playoffs, and a 9-0 top 5 start. The ACC was searching for quality opening week wins, and Miami was one of the few bright spots. Cam Ward threw for nearly 400 yards and 3 TDs, and the defense looked fast and dominant. The Gators turned out to be pretty good by the end of year, going 8-5 with wins over LSU and Ole Miss in November. This win won’t soon be forgotten by Hurricane fans.
7. Miami 48 #23 Texas A&M 33 – September 9, 2023
By the end of the year Texas A&M had fired Jimbo Fisher and went 7-6. Miami also went 7-6 and 3 of their last 4 games, but for one glorious night Miami looked like the Miami of old. Against a ranked Aggie team, the Hurricanes looked aggressive and fast. Tyler Van Dyke threw for 5 TDs. This win had Miami fans and the college football world thinking that the Canes might be on their way to a monster season. That didn’t happen, but in early September of 2023 we were reminded of what Miami football is still capable of when it hits on all cylinders.
8. Pittsburgh 41 Tennessee 34 – September 11, 2021
When Pittsburgh went down to Knoxville and defeated Tennessee 41-34, it raised a lot of eyebrows. There haven’t been many ACC wins over SEC teams in recent years, especially on the road, besides Clemson, and this game set in motion what would be possible for the Panthers for the rest of the season. They went on to win 11 games and the ACC Title. Tennessee wasn’t great, but they were a decent 7-6 (4-4) team with a win over Top 20 Kentucky and near wins over top 15 Ole Miss.
9. SMU 66 TCU 42 – September 21, 2024
SMU leaps into the top 10 of the ACC’s best OOC wins of the 2020s with this 66 – 42 over TCU. It was part of a truly great first season for the Mustangs in the ACC as they made a run to the ACC Title game, and the playoffs in an 11-3 top 15 season. TCU was a solid team that went 9-4 (6-3). It never made an sense that SMU resume’s was so constantly questioned when prior to the ACC Title game, their only loss was by 3 points to a very good BYU team. This was QB Kevin Jennings first full game starting, and he completed 14 out of 19 passes with 2 TDs.
10. Syracuse 44 #25 UNLV 41 – October 4, 2024
For a non-P4 win to be this high up the list, it better be over a really good team. Syracuse’s 44 – 41 win over UNLV was just that. It was on the road. UNLV was 2-0 against the Big 12, beat Cal in a bowl game, only lost 3 total games to Syracuse and G5 playoff participant Boise State, and oh yea they won 11 games and finished in the top 25 with an 11-3 record. The win was part of a great first year for Head Coach Fran Brown as he led Syracuse to a 10-3 top 25 season of their own. After a 3-1 start that showed flashes of how good Syracuse could be, this game proved the season could be special, and it was.
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