2014 ACC Football Season Power Rankings: Week 6

Each week, the BCI staff writers and other Boston College football prognosticators secretly convene in a cigar smoke-filled bunker deep underneath Alumni Stadium, tasked at ranking the ACC's best college football programs on a weekly basis.

Here are the results for week 6:

BC INTERRUPTION ACC POWER POLL, WEEK 6

1. Florida State Seminoles, 112 (8 first-place votes)
2. Clemson Tigers, 90
3. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 79
4. Louisville Cardinals, 69
5. Miami Hurricanes, 65
6. Virginia Tech Hokies, 61
7. Duke Blue Devils, 58
7. Virginia Cavaliers, 58
9. N.C. State Wolfpack, 57
10. Pittsburgh Panthers, 35
11. Boston College Eagles, 31
12. North Carolina Tar Heels, 18
13. Syracuse Orange, 15
14. Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 1

1. Florida State Seminoles (4-0, 2-0)

Last week: Defeated NC State 56-41
This week: Wake Forest

Previous rank: No. 1 (--)
Highest position: 1
Lowest position: 1

Florida State got absolutely destroyed in the first quarter by an energized N.C. State team, falling behind 24-7 at one point. But like all good teams do they came back. Jameis Winston fresh off his suspension, threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns. The Seminoles defense did not look like world beaters however, and have lots of room for improvement if they want to make it to the NCAA playoffs. Luckily they will have a week to figure out how to fix all that this week when Wake Forest comes into Tallahassee. The Noles are 39 point favorites, pray for the Demon Deacons.

2. Clemson Tigers (2-2, 1-1)

Last week: Defeated North Carolina 50-35
This week: N.C. State

Previous rank: 2 (up 1)
Highest position: 2
Lowest position: 8 (??????)

Now this is the Clemson team that we expected to see. Deshaun Watson had a fantastic game against the Tar Heels "defense" accounting for six total touchdowns. If it wasn't for the Tigers pooping away a very winnable game against FSU, don't you think we would be looking at this team differently?

3. Georgia Tech (4-0, 1-0)

Last week: Idle
This week: Miami

Previous rank: 6 (up 3)
Highest position: 2
Lowest position: 8

They didn't play last weekend, but the ACC's inability to get out of their own way helped the Yellow Jackets to climb up three spots in this weeks poll. The Jackets are going to be tested this week though, as they face off against Miami.

4. Louisville Cardinals (4-1, 2-1)

Last week: Defeated Wake Forest 20-10
This week: @ Syracuse

Previous rank: 4 (same)
Highest position: 3
Lowest position: 10

Louisville certainly didn't look like they belonged at the top of the class of the ACC, but they did what they had to do to beat Wake Forest. Playing without starting quarterback Will Gardner, and star wide receiver Devante Parker, Louisville will face off against Syracuse in a Friday matchup in upstate New York. The Cards are only a slight favorite to win this one (-1.0)

5. Miami (3-2, 1-1)

Last week: Defeated Duke 22-10
This week: @Georgia Tech

Previous rank: 9 (up 4)
Highest position: 3
Lowest position: 9

Miami's defense looked stout against a Duke offense that is accustomed to putting up points, forcing Anthony Boone to throw two INT's while keeping him off the scoreboard. Brad Kaaya on the other hand was efficient, throwing 20/34 for 223 yards and two touchdowns. This week is another Coastal Division showdown, this time against Paul Johnson and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

6. Virginia Tech (3-2, 0-1)

Last week: Defeated Western Michigan 35-17
This week: @UNC

Previous rank: 10 (up 4)
Highest position: 4
Lowest position: 10

Not sure what beating Western Michigan says about this team, but a win is a win and with the poor performance by the ACC this week Tech jumped again. This week they are playing UNC in what has to be a must win game for the Tar Heels. VT could use a solid ACC win, and what better team to do it against than a Heels team that has let up over 100 points in the past two weeks.

7. Duke (4-1, 0-1)

Last week: Lost to Miami 22-10
This week: BYE

Previous rank: 2 (down 5)
Highest position: 4
Lowest position: 9

The much vaunted Duke offense looked flat and ineffective against Miami last weekend only managing 264 total yards, and going a mind blowing 2-16 on third down conversions. Certainly they looked exposed in their first real matchup and the voting reflected it. They will have a week off to lick their wounds.

7. Virginia (3-2, 1-0)

Last week: Defeated Kent State 45-13
This week: vs Pittsburgh

Previous rank: 7 (up 1)
Highest position: 4
Lowest position 12

UVA went out and took care of business against Kent State. They have an interesting matchup this weekend against Pitt, favored by (-7).

9. N.C. State (4-1, 0-1)

Last week: Lost to Florida State 56-41
This week: at Clemson

Previous rank: 9 (up 2)
Highest position: 3
Lowest position: 12

Congrats to N.C. State on their moral victory against Florida State last weekend. Can't feel to great though for two reasons. One, the Pack had that game and let the Noles come back, and second they now have to travel and face off against a Clemson team that was firing on all cylinders last weekend. The Tigers are heavy favorites in this one (-15).

10. Pittsburgh (3-2, 1-0)

Last week: Lost to Akron 21-10
This week: @Virginia

Previous rank: 5 (down 5)
Highest position: 7
Lowest position: 11

So Boston College couldn't stop the Pittsburgh defense, but Akron could? Consider me confused. Pitt, who has arguably one of the best running backs in the country (before last weekend) James Conner managed over 300 yards of offense but turnovers were a killer. Big game this week with Virginia.

11. Boston College (3-2, 0-1)

Last week: Lost to Colorado State 24-21
This week: IDLE

Previous rank: 7 (down 4)
Highest position: 9
Lowest position: 11

Boston College's defense couldn't make a stop, and the offense sputtered in the second half, which lead to a heart breaking loss at home against the Rams. BC is off this week.

12. North Carolina (2-2, 0-1)

Last week: Lost at Clemson 50-30
This week: Virginia Tech

Previous rank: 12
Highest position: 6
Lowest position: 14

UNC's defense is atrocious, allowing 120 points in the last two weeks. The Heels are back in a situation they were in last year, where they will need to start stringing together some big wins if they want to make a bowl. They certainly have the talent to do it, the question is will the coaching and defense wake up in time.

13. Syracuse (2-2, 0-0)

Last week: Lost to Notre Dame 
This week: vs Louisville

Previous rank: 12 (down 1)
Highest position: 11
Lowest position: 13

Syracuse's offense looked great against Notre Dame, putting up over 400 yards of offense. The defense looked solid to start too, forcing Everett Golson to throw two early picks. But somehow the Orange still managed to choke away this game.

14. Wake Forest (2-3, 0-1)

Last week: Lost at Louisville 20-10
This week: at Florida State

Previous rank: 14 (--)
Highest position: 13
Lowest position: 14

From the frying pan straight into the fire goes Wake Forest as they are 35 point dogs against Florida State this week. Don't expect any upsets out of this one.