The Confidential

The Confidential’s ACC Football Top 10 Poll: Week 12

With just a few weeks, the ACC picture is starting to take shape.  A few teams are out of the bowl picture.  Several are locked-in.  But how do they rank?   Here is the Confidential Correspondents Football top 10 Poll for Week 12.  Remember, we include Notre Dame and Louisville.  This week, we’ll start with team number #1 and work our way down to #10–where it gets murkier.

1. Florida State (10-0), 50 points/5 first place votes.  The Seminoles obliterated Syracuse.  Syracuse was not the first team to be outclassed.  Really, only Boston College has had any success at all.  And Boston College looked good against Clemson.  That makes New Mexico State the third best team on the BC schedule, apparently.    Next up: Idaho.
2. Clemson (9-1), 45 points.  The Tigers are 9-1 and just two wins away from a possible BCS game.  The looming test is South Carolina.  Before that?   Citadel.  Next up: Citadel.
3. Louisville (9-1), 38 points.  The Cardinals have a weak grasp on the #3 spot here, as the love for Duke grows every week.  The Cardinals were typically unimpressive in defeating Houston.  The sad thing for Louisville is that the American turned out to be more impressive than expected.  Next up: Memphis.
4. Duke (8-2), 35 points.  Although Miami is struggling, the Blue Devils showed that they were for real by beating the Hurricanes convincingly.  Duke now has the inside track to play Florida State in the ACC Championship Game.  Who saw that coming?   Next up: @ Wake Forest.
5. Georgia Tech (6-4), 25 points.  The Yellow Jackets beat Duke, but it might not be enough for a return to the ACC Championship Game.  Georgia Tech is done with conference play, as the last game of the season will be a the rivalry game against the Georgia Bulldogs.  Next up: Alabama A&M.
6. Miami (7-3), 24 points.  The Hurricanes are struggling.  The loss to Florida State seems to have shaken up the team psyche.  The Seminoles will do that.  Miami needs to rally to avoid this season turning from hopes of “being back” to “not much better than recently.”  Next up: Virginia.
7. Virginia Tech, (7-4), 20 points.  The Hokies lost to a wounded Maryland team, continuing the strange season.  At some points this year, the Hokies look good.  For the most part, middle of the ACC pack has been the norm.  Next up: @ Virginia on November 30.
8. Notre Dame (7-3), 14 points.  The Fighting Irish had an extra week to recover from the loss to Pitt.  It does not get any easier, as a good Brigham Young team comes to South Bend this weekend.  Notre Dame cannot be looking ahead to Stanford.  Next up: Brigham Young.
9. Boston College (6-4), 12 points.  Boston College is now bowl-eligible, which is a great improvement over last year.  Even better is that they have looked good all year long.  Only the North Carolina game looks shaky, and look where the Tar Heels are now.  Next up: @ Maryland.
10. North Carolina (5-5), 7 points.  The Tar Heels are on the move.  Winners of four straight, Old Dominion is up next for a chance to get bowl eligible.  Once 1-5, give credit to Larry Fedora’s group as they have turned the season around.  Next up: Old Dominion.

There is no #11 team in our poll.  However, Syracuse (5-5) plays Pitt (5-5) in a game for bowl eligibility.  The ACC newcomers will supply at least one bowl-eligible team this year.  By the end of the week, the ACC might have TEN bowl eligible teams.  Given that either Syracuse or Pitt will win, the only issue is North Carolina.

What do you think?

Others receiving votes: Syracuse 2.

What do YOU think????