Miami, Clemson and Louisville emerge as clear contenders

Week 4 of the ACC campaign is in the books.

Miami, Clemson and Louisville all had big wins and continue to stand out as top contenders in the ACC. Meanwhile, teams like North Carolina and NC State both dropped down the rankings this week after suffering embarrassing losses.

Here are the updated ACC Week 4 power rankings from Saturday Down South:

17. Wake Forest (Formerly: 17)

Wake Forest had no activity this week.

16. NC State (formerly: 8)

NC State got crushed by Clemson on Saturday. The Tigers probably could have scored 100 points if they hadn’t given up in the second half. This is one of the worst power conference teams in the country.

15. Virginia Tech (formerly: 11)

The Hokies lost another power conference game on Saturday, this time to Rutgers. What could have been a special season under Brent Pry quickly turns out to be a major disappointment.

14. Duke (Formerly: 13)

Duke drops a spot this week, but it’s not because of anything they’ve done. The Blue Devils played well against Middle Tennessee in Week 4. Duke hosts a UNC team in sudden crisis next week.

13. Virginia (Formerly: 14)

Virginia crushed Coastal Carolina at home. Those kinds of results were far from a given as the night began, so kudos to Tony Elliott and his staff for delivering a great performance from this team. Virginia hosts BC next weekend.

12. Florida State (Formerly: 16)

FSU moves up 4 spots this week after earning its first win of the season. However, the Noles were once again not great on offense. Postseason play is far from assured.

11. Georgia Tech (formerly: 9)

Georgia Tech now has 2 ACC losses, with their lone win coming against a mediocre Florida State team at best. I still have some faith in the Yellow Jackets, but it hasn’t been a great month overall.

10. Stanford (Formerly: 15)

Stanford has bounced back nicely from their Week 1 loss to TCU. Big win over Syracuse this weekend. It’s not too hard to see a path to 6 wins, although next week against Clemson is certainly a tough matchup for the Cardinal.

9. SMU (formerly 12)

Good news: SMU scored 66 points in the Iron Skillet. Bad news: the Mustangs only managed 375 yards. They scored 2 defensive touchdowns and had a special teams score. I’m not sure how sustainable that is, but rivalry wins last forever.

8. North Carolina (formerly: 3)

Carolina probably deserves to drop further than this after giving up 70 points to James Madison, but there aren’t many teams that have a good argument for rising to this spot. Carolina’s defense has been solid through the first 3 games of the season, so maybe all is not lost.

7. Cal (formerly: 7)

Great performance by Cal in Tallahassee. There’s an argument to be made that Cal deserved to win that game — it outgained FSU by over 100 yards and tied the turnover battle. Tough result, but an admirable performance for Cal, so I’m keeping Justin Wilcox’s team at No. 7.

6. Syracuse (Formerly: 6)

Syracuse lost to Stanford on Friday night, but the Orange remain at No. 6 for now. If Kyle McCord plays turnover-free football, Syracuse can be really good.

5. Boston College (formerly: 10)

The ACC upper middle was in total chaos this week, so Boston College moves up 5 spots after its Red Bandana Game win over Michigan State.

4. Pitt (Formerly: 5)

I’m not completely sold on Pitt yet, but the Panthers move up a spot this week after beating Youngstown State in Week 4.

3. Louisville (Formerly: 4)

Great win for Louisville against Georgia Tech. The Tyler Shough experiment is working beautifully to start the year — he just needs to stay healthy. If he can do that, I think the Cardinals are legitimate contenders for an ACC title. They play both Clemson and Miami this season, so the chance is there.

2. Clemson (Formerly: 2)

Clemson’s blowout win over App State wasn’t enough — it wanted more. The Tigers got revenge for last year’s “Tyler from Spartanburg” game with a 59-35 victory over NC State. The Wolfpack scored 21 points in garbage time and still lost by three straight scores. The Tigers look elite on both sides of the ball.

1. Miami (Formerly: 1)

Miami had no trouble with South Florida on Saturday, beating the Bulls 50-15 in what was billed as a “pitfall game.” Mario Cristobal’s Canes are 4-0 and appear to be the clear best team in the ACC.