ACC Football News & Notes: Three at the Top of the League

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As week three of college football nears, the ACC has three members at the top of the conference. They may not be the three you would expect. Boston College, Syracuse, and Virginia have been perfect through two weeks. While one team you may have put at the top, Florida State, finds themselves at the bottom instead. Keep in mind, it is still early. However, the standings do have a different look to it.

Four teams made this week’s Top 25 Associated Press Poll. The new member is the Boston College Eagles who checked in at #24 this week ahead of a big road game vs #6 Missouri Tigers out of the SEC. The last time these two met was back in 2021 at Alumni Stadium with the Eagles winning, 41-34. This one shapes up as a statement game for both as each team tries to establish themselves both in their leagues and the country. The other three ranked teams from the conference are Miami at #10, Louisville at #19, and Clemson at #22. For the Hurricanes, it is the first time in the top 10 since week 8 of the 2020 season. For BC, it’s the first time in the poll since week 12 of the 2018 season.

The USA Today Coaches poll has three in their poll. Miami at #12, Clemson at #20, and Louisville at #21. For the third week in a row, the ACC will be part of the only Top 25 matchup of the weekend. That will be the Eagles vs the Tigers. Through the first two weeks of the season, the league is 23-5 in non-league games. It is the second-best winning percentage among Power-4 leagues at 82.1%. As week three is set to begin, the ACC has five wins against other Power-4 schools. All five wins have been toad wins. The loss was also a road loss. The five wins tied them for the most among these leagues.

Let me give you an idea of how the three new teams are doing in their first season in the ACC. The Stanford Cardinal have a bye week after their 41-7 win over Cal Poly last weekend giving head coach Troy Taylor his first home win in his second season as the coach. The Cardinal defense is allowing just 39 yards on the ground so far. Stanford will finally make their league debut next Saturday on the road at Syracuse.

The SMU Mustangs (1-1) saw their place kicker Collin Rogers set a single-game, tie a career record, and set a new career-long in last week’s loss to BYU. The junior hit all five of his attempts to score all 15 SMU points. He leads all FBS kickers with eight makes through two games. He tied for the school record with 44 career field goal makes.

The California Golden Bears Took down the Auburn Tigers last week in their first-ever game at Auburn. The Golden Bears have now won four of the last five games vs SEC teams. They lead the country in takeaways with eight. In the win last weekend, they had five against Auburn. In 2023, the Golden Bears tied for the country lead with 28 of which 12 were interceptions.

There are no league games this weekend, but still plenty of good games to catch. Next week we look ahead to week four of the season.