Miami football second ACC Coastal favorite behind Pittsburgh per ESPN FPI
The Miami football team is given a 22.6 percent chance to win the ACC Coastal division according to the ESPN Football Power Index. Pittsburgh is the current favorite at 38.8 percent. Miami plays at Pittsburgh on October 30. The meeting between the Hurricanes and Panthers could be the defacto ACC Coastal title game.
The ACC has already seen a lot of surprising outcomes and we are not out of September yet. Pittsburgh is 3-1 this season. They have a win at Tennessee and a home loss against Western Michigan. Virginia Tech leads the ACC Coastal with a 1-1 record. Virginia is last at 0-2 and North Carolina is 1-2.
Duke, Pittsburgh and Miami have not played an ACC game yet. The Miami football team will play its ACC opener on Thursday night when they host Virginia. Miami moved up 11 spots in the FPI this week after their 69-0 win over Central Connecticut State. The Hurricanes rank fifth in the ACC.
Clemson has the highest ACC FPI ranking and remained fifth despite a 27-21 double-overtime loss at North Carolina State on Saturday. Pittsburgh moved up nine spots to 16 after a 77-7 victory over New Hampshire. North Carolina is one spot ahead of Miami at 23rd. Miami has their entire ACC schedule in front of them.
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Miami is favored to win six of its last eight games according to the FPI. The FPI projects the Hurricanes having below a 50 percent chance in two games. Miami has a 44.8 percent chance to win at North Carolina on October 16 and a 31.6 percent chance at Pittsburgh. The projections fluctuate week to week.
North Carolina who was the preseason favorite to win the Coastal is now the fifth favorite according to the FPI. The Tar Heels’ two losses place them with just a 4.5 percent chance to win the ACC Coastal. Behind Pittsburgh and Miami, Virginia Tech is listed with a 17.1 percent chance to win the Coastal and Georgia Tech is at 14.1
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The way the first month of the season has gone, the ACC is wide open. A coastal division team has not won the ACC since Virginia Tech defeated Florida State in the 2010 conference championship game. Miami can put their non-conference games behind them and focus on Virginia and the ACC beginning on Thursday.