ACC Football News & Notes: Chaos Reigns as November Arrives

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Just when you thought the picture was starting to clear in the ACC, Last Saturday Happened.

Georgia Tech was beaten, and the Yellow Jackets now find themselves tied with Pittsburgh for second place in the league. With Louisville, SMU, and Duke still very much in the hunt, the conference race is wide open. Six crucial league games are on tap for the weekend. Let’s see how things are looking with just four weekends left in the regular season.

Poll Position: ACC Stays Elite

The ACC continues to prove its strength nationally, standing as one of only two conferences that boast at least four teams ranked in the AP Top-25 poll’s top-18. This marks the sixth straight week the league has maintained four ranked teams.

Poll	Team	Ranking
AP Top-25	Virginia Cavaliers	#12
	Louisville Cardinals	#14
	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	#16
	Miami Hurricanes	#18
ARCA Coaches Top-25	Virginia Cavaliers	#11
	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	#14
	Louisville Cardinals	#15
	Miami Hurricanes	#18

The Pittsburgh Panthers and SMU Mustangs also received votes in both polls, underscoring the league’s overall depth.

The first College Football Playoff Rankings were released on Tuesday night, confirming the ACC’s prominence with five teams making the initial poll:

Virginia at #14
Louisville at #15
Georgia Tech at #17
Miami at #18
Pittsburgh at #24

This Weekend’s Matchups: Breaking Down the Six-Pack

1. SMU Mustangs (6-3, 4-1) at Boston College Eagles (1-8, 0-5)

SMU makes its first trip to Alumni Stadium to take on the struggling Eagles. The Mustangs are riding high, having scored 24 or more points in eight of nine games this season. Their offense is lightning-fast, recording 11 scoring drives that have taken less than two minutes off the clock. Complementing their quick-strike offense, the defense leads the nation in takeaways with 22. On the Boston College side, wide receiver Lewis Bond continues his ascent up the Eagles’ all-time receptions list, now just 11 catches away from Zay Flowers’ program record of 200.

2. Syracuse Orange (3-6, 1-5) at #18 Miami Hurricanes (6-2, 2-2)

Youth has been served for the Orange, with 19 players making their collegiate debut this year. Running back Will Nixon has caught a pass in 13 straight games—the longest streak in program history. The Hurricanes will be looking to bounce back from last weekend’s tough loss to SMU. Wide receiver Malachi Toney is having a stellar freshman campaign, leading all FBS true freshmen with 52 receptions, 632 receiving yards, 79 receiving yards per game, and 3 receiving touchdowns.

3. Stanford Cardinal (3-6, 2-4) at North Carolina Tar Heels (3-5, 1-3)

This marks the first meeting between these two teams as league members, with the all-time series tied at 2-2. This is Stanford’s last road game of the year, and they’ll be desperate to snap a 10-game losing streak on the road that dates back to last season. The Tar Heels are coming off their first league win last weekend over Syracuse, where they outscored the Orange 21-0 in the second half and outgained them 425-147 for the game.

4. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-3, 2-3) at #12 Virginia Cavaliers (8-1, 5-0)

Wake Forest is one win away from becoming bowl-eligible. They boast the #2 scoring defense in the ACC, allowing just 18.9 points per game, though they have allowed 30 or more points three times this season. Their loss at Florida State last weekend remains their sole road defeat this year. Virginia is on a seven-game winning streak—the fifth-longest in FBS. The Cavaliers are 5-0 at Scott Stadium, their most home wins since 2020 and the most under head coach Tony Elliot.

5. California Golden Bears (5-4, 2-3) at #14 Louisville Cardinals (7-1, 4-1)

This will be the first-ever meeting between Cal and Louisville. The Cardinal defense held Virginia Tech scoreless in the second half last week in their win, extending their incredible streak to 49 straight wins when shutting out an opponent for a half. The stingy defense is allowing just 280.6 yards per game, having held opponents to less than 250 yards three times. The Golden Bears are still searching for their sixth win to reach a bowl game; this is the third consecutive week Cal has tried to reach that goal. Running back Kendrick Raphael has been a touchdown machine, scoring six touchdowns in Cal’s last two games and totaling nine rushing touchdowns in their last five contests.

6. Florida State Seminoles (4-4, 1-4) at Clemson Tigers (3-5, 2-4)

Once “must-see TV,” this rivalry game marks the 38th all-time meeting, with FSU holding a 21-16-0 edge. In last week’s win over Wake, FSU rushed for five touchdowns, and their defense, led by Earl Little Jr., has recorded an interception in their last three games. The Tigers scored a season-high 45 points in last week’s loss to Duke, with the offense totaling 560 yards of offense and averaging 7.8 yards per play.