2014 ACC Football Season Power Rankings: Week 2

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 to rank the ACC's best college football programs on a weekly basis.

Here are the results for week 2:

BC INTERRUPTION ACC POWER POLL, WEEK 2

1. Florida State Seminoles, 140 points (10 first-place votes)
2. Louisville Cardinals, 126
3. Clemson Tigers, 120
4. Virginia Tech Hokies, 96
5. Duke Blue Devils, 95
6. North Carolina Tar Heels, 85
7. Pittsburgh Panthers, 82
8. Miami-Florida Hurricanes, 73
9. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 68
10. Boston College Eagles, 65
11. Virginia Cavaliers, 37
12. Syracuse Orange, 28
13. N.C. State Wolfpack, 25
14. Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 10

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

Last week: Defeated Oklahoma State, 37-31, in Arlington
This week: vs. The Citadel

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

The defending National Champs survived their first test out of the gate with a 37-31 victory over Oklahoma State in North Texas. With the win, Florida State tied a school record with its 17th consecutive victory -- a record that will fall this weekend as FSU hosts The Citadel in the 'Noles home opener.

2. Louisville Cardinals (1-0, 1-0)

Last week: Defeated Miami, 31-13
This week: vs. Murray State

Previous rank: t-3 (up 1)
Highest position: 2
Lowest position: 3

The Cardinals are the up to #2 spot with a big win over Miami in the program's ACC opener. This is the part where we needlessly overreact to a home week 1 win over a perpetually overrated ACC program starting a true freshman at QB and proclaim Louisville the next big threat to ending Florida State's dominance of the conference. Cupcake-y Murray State awaits in week 2.

3. Clemson Tigers (0-1, 0-0)

Last week: Lost to Georgia, 45-21 
This week: vs. South Carolina State

Previous rank: 2 (down 1)
Highest position: 2
Lowest position 5

The Tigers are down to the #3 spot in the conference following a 45-21 setback at Georgia. The game was tied, 21-21, at half, but Georgia scored four unanswered TDs in the second half to run away from Clemson. Georgia RB Todd Gurley established himself as an early Heisman frontrunner with 198 yards rushing and 3 TDs ... and a 100-yard kick return for a fourth TD. For Clemson, the Tigers should get in the win column this weekend as they host FCS South Carolina State.

4. Virginia Tech (1-0, 0-0)

Last week: Defeated William & Mary, 34-7
This week: at Ohio State

Previous rank: 6 (up 2)
Highest position: 3
Lowest position: 10

The Hokies are up two slots this week with a season-opening win over William & Mary -- both of them. Voters can't really decide on where to play Tech, with votes ranking from 3rd to 10th? The Hokies hit the road this week to take on 8th ranked Ohio State in the 'Shoe. Godspeed.

5. Duke (1-0, 0-0)

Last week: Defeated Elon, 52-13
This week: at Troy

Previous rank: 7 (up 2)
Highest position: 3
Lowest position: 10

Like Virginia Tech, Duke is another program that voters just can't place quite yet. Not sure how much a convincing 52-13 win over FCS Elon really tells us about the Blue Devils' chances of repeating in the Coastal Division. We might just be left scratching our heads for a few more weeks, as the next few games -- at Troy, Kansas, Tulane -- don't provide much in the way of a true test of DU's abilities.

6. North Carolina (1-0, 0-0)

Last week: Defeated Liberty, 56-29
This week: vs. San Diego State

Previous rank: t-3 (down 3)
Highest position: 4
Lowest position: 10

An erratic North Carolina team struggled to put away FCS Liberty for a half -- Liberty briefly took a 22-21 lead midway through the third quarter -- but blew the game open with 4 TDs in a span of 3 minutes, 49 seconds to pace past the Flames. UNC QB Marquise Williams accounted for four touchdowns in the win. This week, the Heels host San Diego State.

7. Pittsburgh (1-0, 0-0)

Last week: Defeated Delaware, 62-0
This week: at Boston College

Previous rank: 8 (up 1)
Highest position: 5
Lowest position: 9

In week 1, Pitt cruised to a 62-0 shutout victory over FCS Delaware; a game in which the Panthers rolled up 501 yards of offense while surrendering just 64. RB James Conner rushed for 153 yards and four first-half TDs in the team's first shutout in nine seasons. The road gets a bit tougher with a short turnaround road game at BC in week 2.

8. Miami (0-1, 0-1)

Last week: Loss at Louisville, 31-13
This week: vs. Florida A&M

Previous rank: 5 (down 3)
Highest position: 4
Lowest position: 10

Life, death, taxes and perpetually preseason overrated Miami Hurricane football teams. The U gets in the win column this weekend with a home game against Florida A&M.

9. Georgia Tech (1-0, 0-0)

Last week: Defeated Wofford, 38-19
This week: at Tulane

Previous rank: 9 (--)
Highest position: 4
Lowest position: 10

Georgia Tech struggled out of the gate, giving up a 92-yard touchdown and missing a 31-yard field goal and only managed a 10-9 lead at half against FCS Wofford. The Terriers hung around for much of the second half before two Georgia Tech TDs put the game out of reach. Tech travels to Tulane in week 2.

10. Boston College (1-0, 0-0)

Last week: Defeated UMass, 30-7
This week: vs. Pittsburgh (Friday)

Previous rank: 10 (--)
Highest position: 6
Lowest position: 10

Voters are mixed on where to place the good guys, with one voter ranking BC as high as 6th (?) but a majority of voters placing BC in the 9-10 range. BC has a huge opportunity to climb these rankings as they host Pitt in week 2.

11. Virginia (0-1, 0-0)

Last week: Lost to UCLA, 28-20
This week: vs. Richmond

Previous rank: 13 (up 2)
Highest position: 11
Lowest position 13

Perhaps there's some life yet with Virginia, which acquitted itself well in a 28-20 loss to 7th ranked UCLA in the opener. The Bruins needed three defensive scores in the second quarter to get past UVa. The Cavaliers are seeking their first win in almost a full calendar year as they host in-state FCS Richmond on Saturday.

12. Syracuse (1-0, 0-0)

Last week: Defeated Villanova, 27-26 (2OT)
This week: Bye

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

Syracuse QB Terrell Hunt punched a #softnosed Nova bro, he Wildcats missed a 25-yard GW FG with 12 seconds left, then decided to go for the 2-point conversion and the win in the second OT only to get stuffed. The Orange survived week 1, but few are feeling great about SU football after the first week of the season. Syracuse gets a well-timed bye in week 2 before facing Central Michigan at home the following Saturday.

13. N.C. State (1-0, 0-0)

Last week: Defeated Georgia Southern, 24-23
This week: vs. Old Dominion

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

Like Syracuse, State struggled to put away its FCS home opener vs. Georgia Southern. The Pack needed a Jacoby Brissett TD pass with just 1:37 remaining in the game to squeak past the Eagles. More cupcakery in week 2 as State hosts Old Dominion.

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

Last week: Lost to Louisiana-Monroe, 17-10
This week: vs. Gardner-Webb

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

The only reason Wake Forest scheduled a home-and-home with Louisiana-Monroe at all was because the conference went back on the decision to move to a nine-game conference schedule with the addition of Notre Dame. Thanks, Fighting Irish. Pray 4 Blogger So Dear.