Now that the race for the ACC title has some new players in the lead positions, here are our Power Rankings after Week 8 of the 2016 season.
Last weekend in the ACC was quite an issue for those of us trying to figure out what’s going on in the conference. A total of six teams had the weekend off, leaving just four games taking place and a whole bunch of movement in our weekly power rankings.
As you’ll see later in this article, one of those changes is (SPOILER ALERT) at the top where the Louisville Cardinals have re-taken the top spot following a monster showing this weekend.
Now that we know who is on top, how much movement was there this week? Here’s a look at our power rankings following Week 8 action.
As per our protocol here with the power rankings, you are supposed to move down when you lose a game. Well, when the Cavaliers are so bad that they were already in last place, there is nowhere else to go – so that’s a mild victory for the men from Charlottesville.
It’s not even so much that they got beat by North Carolina this past weekend. It’s that they were never in the game even for a moment. That’s the way it has been for most of the year and will likely go for the final five games of the season.
Thankfully for the men from just outside of Boston, having a team like Virginia in the conference means that they get saved for just a week from being moved down even further. So, congrats for not losing as bad this week, Eagles!
All you heard from the start of the season was how BC was going to be better this year than they were in 2015. It’s not cool to harp on it, but Patrick Towles has been a huge disappointment. His 45 yards passing last week pretty much tell the whole story.
Normally, when you are on the bye week, you go down in the rankings as well. However, when you have teams as bad as Virginia and Boston College in the same conference, you catch a break – even if the Yellow Jackets have been a disappointment in the ACC this season.
With games left against North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Georgia, head coach Paul Johnson’s team is going to be lucky to finish the season with a record at .500. All that makes a game like this week against Duke that much more important.
Speaking of the Blue Devils, the bye week gave them a chance to think about what the first half of the season was – a disappointment that was filled with losses to teams like Virginia and games that got away, like their last outing against Louisville.
For the last part of the year, games against North Carolina, Virginia and Miami await – which means an upset win in one of those games is going to be needed just to sniff a bowl game. It’s pretty much a given that Duke has gone back to being one of the teams watching the postseason again.
Before their bye week, the Demon Deacons were looking like a team that might make some noise in the ACC. Then, a loss to Florida State in which they scored just six points reminded Wake Forest they have much more work to do.
The Deacs will likely get to bowl eligibility this week when they take on Army – which is a good thing, considering the schedule after that includes Louisville and Clemson in the final month of the season.