College Football Conference Power Rankings: Week 11

3. ACC 

The ACC gets the third-place nod for having two teams still in the playoff discussion, but it has a long way to go to reach the status of the Big Ten or SEC.

Both of those title threats rolled through easy matchups on Saturday to remain in the hunt. Clemson seems to have totally recovered from the scare it suffered against North Carolina State three weeks ago, as the Tigers obliterated Syracuse 54-0. The Tigers have a manageable schedule remaining and only figure to be challenged in the ACC Championship Game over the rest of the season.

Louisville’s week did not get off to a good start, as the Cardinals were disappointed to be ranked seventh by the playoff committee. That makes Louisville’s path to the playoff pretty difficult, but it earned some style points on the field with a 52-7 win over Boston College and will at least jump Texas A&M this Tuesday.

Beyond those two, it’s hard to tell how good the rest of the ACC is. No. 20 Florida State expected to be much better than a three-loss team this season, and needed a late touchdown to beat floundering NC State on Saturday. Wake Forest shockingly stands at third place in the Atlantic, and will be headed to a bowl for the first time since 2011.

Virginia Tech and North Carolina are the only two teams in the Coastal Division at .500 or better in conference play. The Hokies are playing like the third best team in the ACC, but still have that ugly loss to Syracuse weighing down their overall resume.

Clemson and Louisvlle are championship contenders, but the rest of the top-tier just doesn’t stand up to the nation’s best two conferences.