With one week left, Virginia, SMU and Pitt share first place at 6-1 in ACC play, with Georgia Tech and Miami lurking a game back. The AP poll still has Miami as the conference's standard bearer at No. 13, with Virginia, Georgia Tech, Pitt and SMU also ranked. These power rankings are about who you would least want to see on a neutral field right now. Here is how the ACC stacks up heading into Week 14.
1. Miami (9-2, 5-2)
Miami keeps the top spot after another grown-up road win, this time 34-17 at Virginia Tech. The Hurricanes leaned on Carson Beck again and quietly strangled the Hokies' offense for most of the afternoon. They have now outscored Syracuse, NC State and Virginia Tech 113-34 over the last three weeks, winning all three by multiple scores.
Miami is the ACC's highest-ranked team in both the AP Top 25 and last week's CFP rankings, sitting at No. 13 in each. They do not control their path to Charlotte, but the combination of national respect and overall resume still gives the Hurricanes the highest ceiling of any ACC team. A showdown at Pitt on Saturday is their last chance to make a statement before the committee makes their final decision on Selection Sunday.
2. Virginia (9-2, 6-1)
Virginia got a breather after its 34-17 win at Duke and sits alone atop the ACC standings tiebreaker matrix. The Cavaliers are 6-1 in conference play, 9-2 overall and up to No. 17 in the new AP poll, with a home rivalry game against Virginia Tech standing between them and an ACC Championship berth.
Tony Elliott's team has stacked quality wins over Florida State and Duke and has generally handled business in one-score games. They do not have Miami's explosive ceiling, but the Hoos are the most stable outfit in the conference and the team most likely to still be standing in Charlotte if they simply take care of business this weekend.
3. SMU (8-3, 6-1)
SMU just delivered one of the most emphatic wins of the weekend, hammering Louisville 38-6 in Dallas. Rhett Lashlee's team is now 6-1 in the ACC, tied with Virginia and Pitt atop the standings, and has climbed into the AP poll at No. 25.
The Mustangs have leaned on a top-20 scoring offense and a defense that has allowed only 104 points in seven conference games. A trip to Cal is up next for SMU.
4. Pitt (8-3, 6-1)
Pitt authored the upset of the weekend, going into Bobby Dodd Stadium and knocking off Georgia Tech 42-28 to blow open the conference title race. The Panthers jumped out to a 28-0 lead, survived a Yellow Jackets rally and closed it out with a late score to keep their CFP hopes alive.
Pat Narduzzi's master plan seems to be working. Pitt will host Miami in one of the most important games of the national slate on Saturday.
5. Georgia Tech (9-2, 6-2)
After an 8-0 start, Georgia Tech has lost again. This time it was a 42-28 home loss to Pitt. Georgia Tech is still 9-2 overall and 6-2 in the ACC, but they can now pretty much kiss their CFP chances goodbye.
6. Wake Forest (8-3, 4-3)
Wake Forest keeps climbing and might be the quietest eight-win team in the country. The Demon Deacons did what you are supposed to do against Delaware, rolling to a 52-14 win that was never in doubt.
Wake Forest has already beaten Virginia and SMU and has the chance to play spoiler in Week 14. With Duke on deck, Wake has a legitimate shot at a nine-win regular season and the right to claim it was the ACC's best non-title-race story in 2025.
7. Duke (6-5, 5-2)
Duke stopped the bleeding with a 32-25 rivalry win over North Carolina. The Blue Devils are 5-2 in the ACC, own a head-to-head win at Clemson and remain very much alive for a strong bowl trip.
8. Clemson (6-5, 4-4)
Clemson cruised past Furman 45-10 at home to extend its late push. The Tigers have now beaten Florida State, Louisville and Furman to claw back above .500.
9. Louisville (7-4, 4-4)
Earlier this year, Louisville was a fringe playoff team after beating Miami in October. Since then, the Cardinals have dropped games to Cal, Clemson and SMU, capped by Saturday's 38-6 beatdown in Dallas.
Louisville is still 7-4 and bowl bound, but the late-season slide knocks the Cards out of the top half of the power rankings.
10. NC State (6-5, 3-4)
The Wolfpack followed a blowout loss at Miami with a 21-11 win over Florida State on Friday night. NC State has wins over Georgia Tech and FSU but also has a negative point differential in ACC play.
11. Stanford (4-7, 3-5)
Stanford takes a big jump after a complete 31-10 home win over Cal that probably felt as good as any victory for them this year. The Cardinal are only 4-7, yet three ACC wins and a noticeable uptick in competitiveness over the last month matter at this stage of the rankings.
12. Cal (6-5, 3-4)
The Golden Bears are bowl eligible, but the 31-10 loss to Stanford plus the decision to fire head coach Justin Wilcox on Sunday signal a program in transition more than contention.
A home game against SMU is a brutal spot for an interim staff, yet it is also a chance to play spoiler in the ACC title race.
13. Florida State (5-6, 2-6)
Florida State looked like it had turned a corner when it pummeled Wake Forest and Virginia Tech earlier this month. Then came a flat 21-11 loss at NC State that dropped the Seminoles to 2-6 in ACC play and left them fighting just to reach bowl eligibility.
The wild part is that FSU still owns one of the best non-conference wins after its Week 1 upset of Alabama.
14. North Carolina (4-7, 2-5)
The Tar Heels committed 12 penalties in a 32-25 loss to Duke that officially pushed them out of making a bowl game. A rivalry finale against NC State is all that is left to salvage anything from this year.
15. Virginia Tech (3-8, 2-5)
Virginia Tech ran into a buzzsaw in Miami's front seven and never really threatened in a 34-17 home loss. The Hokies have now dropped three of four and are locked into a losing season with Virginia still to come.
16. Syracuse (3-8, 1-6)
Syracuse just suffered one of the worst losses in program history, a 70-7 defeat at Notre Dame in which the Orange gave up 35 points in the first quarter alone. Injuries and quarterback instability have wrecked any chance of competing this season.
The only thing keeping Syracuse off the bottom is a conference win and the chance to add another against Boston College this week. Realistically, this is a team trying to get to the finish line healthy and reset in the offseason.
17. Boston College (1-10, 0-7)
Boston College remains winless in ACC play and sits alone in last place both in the standings and here. The Eagles nearly flipped the league on its head against Georgia Tech a week ago, but that's not good enough to rise in the power rankings
The upcoming matchup against Syracuse is the ACC toilet bowl and must-see-TV.