ACC power rankings after Week 0: Georgia Tech soars while FSU, SMU tumble (2024)

Week 0 of ACC action is in the books.

Three teams from the ACC were in action this weekend, including 2 who faced off in Florida State and Georgia Tech. The result of that game is reflected in these rankings, as is SMU’s 29-24 win over Nevada.

Some of the team blurbs below are brief, as not much has changed for the majority of ACC teams since our preseason ACC rankings were published on Friday. However, there is a little bit of movement in the rankings (due to some offseason news) even beyond Florida State, Georgia Tech and SMU.

Without further adieu, here are Saturday Down South’s ACC power rankings ahead of Week 1 of the 2024 season:

17. Duke (Previously: 17)

Duke sticks at No. 17 this week.

16. Wake Forest (Previously: 16)

Nothing to add on Wake Forest.

15. Stanford (Previously: 14)

Stanford slides back a spot to make room for Virginia’s rise, but the outlook is largely unchanged for the Cardinal.

14. Virginia (Previously: 15)

Moved Virginia up one spot after it named Anthony Colandrea its starting quarterback on Saturday. I’m a big believer in Colandrea’s upside, even if he can be a bit erratic.

13. Boston College (Previously: 13)

Boston College will open its season against Florida State on the road in Week 1. The Eagles played FSU as well as anyone in the ACC last season, nearly pulling off a major upset. Thomas Castallenos proved to be an issue for FSU last season and very well could be again Week 1.

12. Pitt (Previously: 12)

Pitt stays at No. 12, although I continue to be intrigued by Pat Narduzzi’s comments his program’s offense heading into the year. “Don’t go get another beer or some popcorn or a sausage,” Narduzzi told reporters this week. “It’s gonna go fast.” That’s not a surprise given that Narduzzi hired former Western Carolina OC Kade Bell this offseason. However, it would be a pretty big departure from what Pitt has run offensively over the past couple of seasons. Very interested to see how this plays out in the early part of the year.

11. Cal (Previously: 11)

No change for Cal.

10. Syracuse (Previously: 10)

Syracuse sticks at No. 10 for this week.

9. SMU (Previously 7)

That was too close, SMU. The Mustangs prevailed over Nevada with a last-minute touchdown on Saturday night. A loss would have been catastrophic for SMU — it was a 28-point favorite over the Wolfpack. For context, no underdogs of 28 points or more won a FBS game last season.

It was scary, but SMU’s peripherals from this game actually look OK. Nevada’s offense ended up being pretty inefficient on the night (except on 3rd down) with a success rate of just 37%.

Offensively, I’m much more concerned about the Mustangs. They don’t seem to have a ton of faith in Preston Stone, as they rotated Kevin Jennings in for much of the first half (Stone ended up out-snapping Jennings 60 to 15). Stone and Brashard Smith were the only SMU players who had decent rushing outputs. The rest of the team combined for 31 yards on 15 carries. That’s something to note moving forward, as stiffer competition is certainly coming for SMU.

8. North Carolina (Previously: 9)

UNC moves up 1 spot after SMU’s close call against Nevada.

7. Louisville (Previously: 7)

No change for Louisville this week.

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6. Florida State (Previously: 2)

Look, that was an absolute disaster of a week for Florida State. The Noles were out-muscled on both sides of the ball and DJ Uiagalelei struggled to throw accurate passes beyond the line of scrimmage. Yes, it was a close game on the score board, but peripherals like EPA and success rate show that FSU got smashed by a much larger amount than the 24-21 final score would indicate.

Offensively, Florida State couldn’t run the ball at all. Defensively, the Noles had nothing for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets went on 3 scoring drives of 6+ minutes, including the game-winner — that’s enough to make a service academy blush. FSU has some major issues to figure out before it faces Boston College next week.

5. NC State (Previously: 5)

NC State holds firm at No. 5, sneaking in 1 spot above the 0-1 Seminoles.

4. Virginia Tech (Previously: 4)

No change for the Hokies, but they have to love seeing Florida State pick up an early loss. Virginia Tech is a contender to reach the title game if things break its way — and FSU dropping games as a double-digit favorite certainly qualifies.

3. Georgia Tech (Previously: 8)

What a start for the Ramblin’ Wreck! Georgia Tech moves up to No. 3 this week after an extremely impressive performance vs. Florida State. It’s not justthatGeorgia Tech upset the Noles, it’showthe Yellow Jackets pulled it off.

There were no flukey turnovers. Florida State went 100% in the red zone. Georgia Tech just crushed FSU in the trenches on both sides of the ball. It produced a success rate of 58% on offense — an elite number, especially considering the circ*mstances. It also held FSU to a success rate of just 40% on the other side.

Everything about this win felt sustainable and repeatable — Brent Key has something serious brewing at Georgia Tech.

2. Miami (Previously: 3)

Miami moves up a spot with Florida State dropping down the rankings.

1. Clemson (Previously: 1)

No change for Clemson this week from a power ratings perspective. However, it’s worth noting that the Tigers moved from +350 to +290 to win the ACC over at FanDuel as a result of Florida State’s Week 0 loss.