The Confidential

ACC Football Rankings: November 14, 2011

This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  Here is how we view the ACC football schools as of November 14, 2011:

1.  Clemson–At 9-1 with a victory over Wake Forest, Clemson guaranteed itself a spot in the conference championship game.  From here, Clemson needs to win out to show that it deserves the top 10 ranking.  The conference NEEDS Clemson at 11-1.

2. Virginia Tech–In beating Georgia Tech, Va Tech has solidified itself of #2.  With games remaining against talented North Carolina and rival/rolling Virginia, it will not be easy for the Hokies to finish 11-1.  The dream matchup of 11-1 Clemson vs. 11-1 Va Tech is still alive though.  While a rematch, this would capture attention.

3. Georgia Tech–Of the three 7-3 teams, The Confidential will give Georgia Tech the nod here.  It beat Clemson… giving it the best win of the bunch.  While Virginia has the head-to-head advantage, Virginia also has the head scratching losses to NC State and Southern Mississippi.

4. Florida State–This young team is rolling now.  With the 3-game losing streak a mere blip in the rear-view mirror, these kids appear to be coming together at the right time.  Head-to-head matchup with Virginia will tell us a lot.

5. Virginia–At 7-3, Virginia could fairly be ranked #3 or #4 here.  But The Confidential will require Virginia to prove it on the field first.  As noted above, the win over Georgia Tech is offset by some poor losses.  A win over Florida State would vault them to #3.

6. Miami–held their own against a hot Florida State team.  On the road.  While an argument could be made for North Carolina here, Miami showed that it belonged here by beating North Carolina on the road.

7. North Carolina– At 6-4, North Carolina gets a huge test against Virginia Tech this week.  Winning at the Hokies is rarely expected, but the Tarheels need to show that they can compete to maintain this slot.

8.  Wake Forest– So many close games for Wake Forest.  Playing Clemson to the wire is just another example of same.

9.  Syracuse–after three losses in a row, it is tempting to drop Syracuse to double-digits.  However, they still have wins over West Virginia and Wake Forest.  The latter is something that North Carolina State could not do.  A week off before taking on Cincinnati.

10.  North Carolina State– Losing to Boston College pretty much sums up this enigma of a team.  With Maryland coming up after the Clemson game, NC State can still get bowl eligible.

11. Pittsburgh— Beating Louisville to get to 5-5 made it tempting to slide Pittsburgh up a few notches.  With games @ West Virginia and hosting Syracuse to finish the regular season, this will be resolved on the field.

12.  Duke—Played Virginia tough before fading.  The Blue Devils get the edge over Boston College based on the head-to-head.

13. Boston College–the win over NC State provided some good news for the fan base.  Upcoming games against Notre Dame and Miami may not make continued good news a safe bet.

14. Maryland- as if it couldn’t get worse, the drubbing by Notre Dame also featured a season-ending injury to Danny O’Brien.  At 2-8, it is difficult to see this team winning either of its two remaining games–both of which are on the road.

What do you think?  Do we have it right?

ACC Football Rankings: November 7, 2011

This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  Here is how we view the ACC football schools as of November 7, 2011:

1.  Clemson–With the week off, no reason to demote.  Need to be focused against Wake Forest this week.

2. Virginia Tech–The fact that Miami handled Duke easily makes that narrow victory look a bit worse… but not enough to drop in the standings.

3. Georgia Tech–Florida State appears back on track.  Going to need to play well to hold them out of the #3 spot.  But with a game against the Hokies coming up, the focus is on rising to #2.

4. Florida State–Another dominant win, this time over hapless Boston College.  These are important wins for re-establishing the brand though.  A win over Miami would be huge.

5. Miami–A dismantling of Duke is nice, but let’s see how they do against Florida State.

6. Virginia–At 6-3, the Cavs are now bowl-eligible and looking good.

7. North Carolina State– Everyone else lost.  Not sure anyone deserved to be the #7 team. 

8.  Wake Forest– Played Notre Dame tough, but still a winnable game.   Needs just one win for bowl eligibility.

9.  Syracuse–two road losses in a row have Syracuse still a win away from bowl eligibility.

10.  North Carolina–no excuse for getting shutout.  This team has more talent than that.

11. Pittsburgh— Played Cincinnati tough, but in the end the loss of Ray Graham was too much to overcome.

12.  Duke—After taking the Hokies to the final minutes, Duke did not show up against Miami.  At 3-6, the bowl dreams are down to a flicker.

13. Boston College–they caught Florida State at a bad time, as the Seminoles are on a roll right now.

14. Maryland- dark days in College Park.  

ACC Football Rankings

This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  Here is how we view the ACC football schools as of October 31, 2011:

1.  Clemson–The Confidential is sticking with Clemson here.  Losing to Georgia Tech was disappointing, but not disastrous.

2. Virginia Tech–hard to move the Hokies after they only barely beat Duke.

3. Georgia Tech–the win over Clemson gets things back on track.

4. Florida State–dominant win over North Carolina State suggests that better times are ahead.

5. Miami–the loss to Virginia is a step backward.

6. North Carolina– Almost moved the Tarheels ahead of Miami.  Impressive win over Wake Forest.

7.  Syracuse– Hugely disappointing loss to Louisville.  They get the edge with the win over Wake Forest.

8.  Wake Forest–Needed that North Carolina win to get to the next level.

9.  Virginia– With wins over Miami and Georgia Tech, this is the one team that may be significantly underrated at this point.  The Confidential is feeling a bit guilty here.

10. Pittsburgh— A win over UConn without their best player gets them the nod here, but it may be a short-lived stay this high.

11.  Duke—Playing the Hokies close is better than getting shellacked by the Seminoles.  We still expect NC State and Duke to flip.

12. North Carolina State–hard to not penalize a team that did not score.  I am sure the Wolfpack will rise up a few slots soon enough.

13. Boston College– the head-to-head matters, but the fact that Maryland just seems to have quit on Edsall carries the day.

14. Maryland- Beating Boston College to go to 3-5 was imperative.  This team is reeling.

ACC Football Rankings

This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  Here is how we view the ACC football schools as of October 26, 2011:

1.  Clemson–hard to argue with 8-0.

2. Virginia Tech—  again, hard to argue with 7-1.

3. Miami–the Kansas St. loss looks more impressive with every week.  The win over Georgia Tech makes this an easy selection for #3.

4.  Georgia Tech— this starts to get more difficult.  The losses to Virginia and, to a lesser extent, Miami cause some concern.  But with games against #1 and #2 coming up, we’ll find out real soon whether this team was a mirage.

5.  Syracuse– Fresh off the win over previously ranked West Virginia, and coupled with an early season win over Wake Forest, I’ll give the Orange the nod here.

6.  Wake Forest– That season opening loss to Syracuse looks better now, but the win over Florida State is key here.

7.  Florida State–  The most impressive wins are Duke and Virginia.  This is not your father’s Florida State team.

8.  North Carolina State– The loss to Cincinnati is looking more justifiable now.  At some point, this team needs an upset though.

9.  North Carolina– With a win over Rutgers and a win over Virginia, we’ll discount the three losses to teams at the top of these standings.

10. Virginia– The win over Georgia Tech may say more about Georgia Tech fizzling, but it is the best win among the remaining teams.

11. Maryland– This gets REALLY tough down here.  Maryland did beat a rattled Miami team Week 1.  They also rallied against West Virginia.  Grasping at straws at this point.

12. Pittsburgh— Pitt has played a tough-ish schedule, so we’ll give them the nod here.  The win over South Florida is now looking less impressive though.

13. Duke— Overcoming a loss to Richmond is progress.  The win over Boston College certainly helps.  The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Blue Devils though.  Hard to see them leapfrogging anyone.

14. Boston College– The anti-Clemson.  No wins over a FBS school yet.  Ugh.