Boston College Moves Up To Second In Hootie’s Power Poll

Rank, School, Overall record/ACC, Previous rank, Comment:

1. Clemson, 7-0/4-0 (1). Tigers travel to Florida State remembering that this game used to be for all the ACC marbles.

2. Boston College, 6-2/ 3-1 (3). My preseason darkhorse pick in the ACC. The Eagles flexed their muscles Friday night in dismantling Miami. BC is 5-0 at home and travels to Virginia Tech next week. Interesting.

3. N.C. State, 5-1/ 2-1 (2). Any dreams of stealing the Atlantic Division crown from Clemson vanished in Death Valley last weekend. Can Wolfies avoid an upset in the Carrier Dome this weekend?

4. Virginia, 5-2/ 3-1 (6). Cavaliers are on a two-game winning streak and could become bowl eligible on Saturday afternoon when they host UNC in the South’s Oldest Rivalry.

5. Pitt, 3-4/ 2-1 (9). The Panthers are coming off a bye week and have had plenty of time to recover from a near upset over Notre Dame and extra time to prepare for visiting Duke.

6. Georgia Tech, 4-4/ 2-3 (12). When the Yellow Jackets get it going, they’re mighty hard to stop. Just ask Bud Foster, who still probably can’t believe his eyes. GT has a long way to go but still not out of the Coastal if it continues to play like this.

7. Virginia Tech, 4-3/3-1 (5). Hokies were in the leading role to win the Coastal but looked very vulnerable the past couple of outings, barely escaping Carolina and getting pounded by Georgia Tech. Young defense has been exposed yet again.

8. Miami, 5-3/ 2-2 (7). The Hurricanes, predicted by some (not by me) as national contenders in the preseason, are beginning to swoon earlier than normal. Maybe they need a new gimmick.

9. Duke, 5-2/1-2 (4). Blue Devils are kind of hard to figure. Lack of a running game may be their downfall. Jones can’t do it by himself.

10. Florida State, 4-3/2-3 (10). Deondre Francois had his best passing game of the season last week against hapless Wake Forest. He won’t find the going so easy this week at home against Clemson’s ferocious defense.

11. Syracuse, 5-2/2-2 (8). The Orangemen outlasted UNC in the Dome last weekend in overtime, but they really need to find a way to upset N.C. State (also in the Dome) this weekend. It would make the Orange’s season. May require great games from both ‘Cuse QBs.

12. North Carolina, 1-5/1-3 (11). Tar Heels are a dangerous team right now. Their backs are against the wall. There’s debating down on Tobacco Road about whether Larry Fedora should be fired. Well, UNC fans, it’s almost basketball season.

13. Louisville, 2-5/0-4 (14). The Cardinals will host Wake Forest this week in a Battle for the Basement of the ACC Power Rankings. At least Louisville has shown a pulse the last couple of weeks and have had an extra week to prepare, so we’ll go with Petrino’s boys.

14. Wake Forest, 3-4/0-3 (13). Demon Deacons started the season with seven scholarship linebackers. They’re down to one. They’ve had to move a safety over just to have enough bodies to play the position. Wake’s defense is gawd-awful and getting worse.