ACC power rankings – Week 13: Playoff committee needs to put respect on Miami’s name
Heading into their regular season finale before an ACC title game against Clemson, Miami keeps their top spot after beating Virginia.
With one week to go in their regular season, the Miami Hurricanes are rolling on their path towards the ACC title game against the Clemson Tigers in a few weeks, and remain atop the conference in this week’s power rankings.
The Hurricanes pulled out a big 44-28 victory over Virginia to move to an impressive 10-0 on the year, and now just have to survive their regular season finale against the Pittsburgh Panthers before their inevitable showdown with Clemson.
Elsewhere, there were plenty of upsets and statement wins in the ACC, specifically with NC State and Georgia Tech both falling after solid performances from Wake Forest and Duke, respectively. Now, with a ton of shuffling to go around this week, it’ll be an important last week for most teams as they look to jump up on the list to end the year.
Check out this week’s power rankings, and see where your team landed after a busy week in the ACC.
North Carolina Tar Heels 3-8
Last week: Won 65-10 over Western Carolina
Last rank: 14
Somehow, we’re getting closer and closer to a possible jump out of the last spot on the ACC power rankings for North Carolina, which is beginning to scare me a bit after all I’ve said about them in the past.
The Tar Heels proved that they’re not completely terrible when they earned their third win of the year in a 65-10 rout over Western Carolina over the weekend, and their case got even better after Pittsburgh added another loss to their record. North Carolina has a week to possibly dig their way out of their hole, making next weekend a potential game-changer for these rankings.
Pittsburgh Panthers 4-7
Last week: Lost 20-14 to Virginia Tech
Last rank: 13
Just like North Carolina before them is getting closer to jumping ahead in the rankings, Pittsburgh is rapidly approaching a spot at the very bottom of the ACC rankings to finish out the 2017 season.
Albeit in a solid effort, the Panthers took an L when they went up against the Virginia Tech Hokies, losing by just six points to one of the conference’s best teams. However, if they lose their regular-season finale next week and North Carolina takes home a victory, it’ll be tough to make a case for them sticking around at 13 to finish the year.