The thinning of the mob of teams still harboring dreams of winning the ACC is going to be a gradual process.
Thirteen teams entered play last week with one or fewer defeats in ACC games and that number was trimmed to 10.
This week, with seven conference matchups on the calendar, at least three more clubs will sustain their second ACC losses.
Three defeats are certain to emerge from these duels:
— Virginia vs. SMU matches a pair of 2-1 teams
— North Carolina and Duke are both 1-1
— And Wake Forest brings a 3-1 ledger to Berkeley to face 2-1 Cal
Cal coach Tosh Lupoi talks in the video at the top of this story about how fortunes -- and perceptions -- can change weekly in college football.
Third-ranked Miami, one of nine remaining unbeaten FBS teams, returns to action vs. Florida State on Saturday after a bye week. The Hurricanes appear substantially better than any ACC rival, but the chase below them is wide open.
Cal would find itself in a tie for second place if it can pull off a second straight upset at home vs. a heavily favored opponent. Of course, we're not even sure yet if quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele will be cleared from concussion protocol to play Saturday.
At 3-1, the Bears would be tied with either Virginia or SMU and, almost certainly, Pittsburgh, which is favored to beat Boston College.
Even so, with five weeks of regular-season games ahead, this won’t be sorted out for good anytime soon.
THIS WEEK IN THE ACC
Point spreads by DraftKings
Saturday
Virginia (plus-9.5) at No. 24 SMU 9 a.m., CW Network
The Cavaliers (4-2, 2-1) have something to prove here. They lost their only road game of the season so far, falling 38-7 at Florida State — the same FSU team that SMU beat 27-24 on the road in the season opener. And Virginia lost 33-7 to SMU (4-1, 2-1) at home in their previous meeting two years ago.
Charleston Southern (no line) at Clemson, 9 a.m., ACC Network
Here’s all you need to know about Clemson (3-2) stepping outside the ACC this week: The FCS Buccaneers (3-3) lost 45-3 to Vanderbilt last year. Things went no better in 2023 when they faced Clemson. That one was 66-17, with the Tigers outgaining them 679 yards to 73.
Pittsburgh (minus-6.5) at Boston College, 9 a.m., ESPN2
Quarterback Holden Geriner played well for Pitt (5-1 2-1) in relief when start Mason Heintschel tore his right ACL in the Panthers’ 35-33 win at Virginia Tech two weeks ago. But he was intercepted twice in his first start last week and Pitt lost 21-17 at home to North Carolina. BC (2-3, 0-2) has dropped two competitive ACC outings since beating Maine.
Georgia Tech (plus-10) at Virginia Tech, 12:30 p.m., ACC Network
The same Yellow Jackets (2-3, 1-1) that lost at Stanford two weeks ago returned to knock off Duke last week. This might be a good time to take on the Hokies (4-2, 1-2) have lost to Pitt and Cal in back-to-back weeks. Georgia Tech won 35-20 when the teams met last year in Atlanta.
North Carolina (plus-3) at Duke, 12:30 p.m., ESPN2
One of the great rivalries in college basketball, the Tar Heels (3-2, 1-1) and Blue Devils (4-1, 1-1) have engaged in a series of entertaining football games in recent years. Duke won 32-25 last year on a touchdown with 2:18 to play. The Blue Devils rallied from a 20-0 deficit two years ago to prevail 21-20. Carolina won 47-45 in 2023 when Drake Maye dashed 5 yards for a touchdown in the second overtime.
Florida State (plus-21.5) at No. 3 Miami, 4 p.m., ESPN
The Hurricanes (5-0, 3-0) are winning by an average margin of nearly 40 points. FSU (3-3, 1-2) would probably like to shorten the game by feeding the ball to running back Ousmane Kromah (565 rushing yards, 5 TDs), but Miami leads the ACC in run defense, allowing just 42.6 yards per game at a 1.8 yards-per-play clip.
Elon (no line) at Stanford, 4:30 p.m., ACC Network-X
Stanford (2-4) really needs this FCS breather in its schedule after losing the past two weeks to Wake Forest and Notre Dame by the horrifying combined margin of 115-10. Elon (4-3) has come no closer than 20 points against an FBS opponent four tries dating back to 2019.
Louisville (minus-15.5) at Syracuse, 4:30 p.m., ACC Network
The Cardinals (3-3, 2-2) haven’t scored fewer than 27 points in any game this season. So the problem has to be defense, right? Right. The Cardinals are 15th in the ACC in scoring defense (27.7) and have surrendered 30 points or more four times. Syracuse (2-3, 0-3) has dropped three of its past four games and the only win was by one point in overtime to FBS independent UConn.
No. 21 Wake Forest (minus-9.5) at Cal, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
A huge game — and a great challenge — for the Bears (3-3, 2-1), who come off a 25-20 upset of Virginia Tech and will play their next three on the road, starting a week from now vs. No. 24 SMU. Wake (5-1, 3-1) is 14-5 since former Washington State coach Jake Dickert took the reins last season. The Demons Deacons are 3-0 on the road this season, with wins over Purdue, Louisville and NC State.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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