ACC power(less) rankings, Week 10

So here we are, getting ready for the stretch run of the ACC divisional races as the calendar turns to November.

And Clemson is basically an Atlantic Division afterthought, needing some unlikely events to occur to have a shot at repeating as division champs.

The sight of the division standings has to make you folks sick to your stomachs:

1. Florida State 4-1
2. Maryland 3-1
3. N.C. State 3-1
4. Clemson 2-3
5. Boston College 1-4
6. Wake Forest 1-4

Even if the Tigers somehow manage to win the next two Saturdays at home against N.C. State and at Florida State -- without their best player on offense, and with their confidence shaken tremendously after last week's debacle at Boston College -- they would need some help.

Will North Carolina win Saturday in Tallahassee? Surely the Tar Heels are still seething from squandering that 18-point second-half lead last year in Chapel Hill. But the Seminoles have to be pretty ticked themselves after completely giving away the game at N.C. State last week.

Can Florida State lose at Maryland? Stranger things have happened, and the Terps' defense figures to give the Seminoles some problems.

Here's N.C. State's remaining schedule: at Clemson, Wake Forest, at North Carolina, at Maryland.

And Maryland's: at Miami, at Virginia, Florida State, N.C. State.

Bottom line is that we probably shouldn't be analyzing Clemson's chances of winning the division until the Tigers give us some reason to.

So far, they haven't.

On the other side of the conference, Virginia Tech is in the driver's seat after Miami's loss at Virginia.

1. Virginia Tech 4-0
2. Miami 3-2
3. Georgia Tech 3-2
4. North Carolina 2-2
5. Virginia 1-3
6. Duke 0-4

Here's this week's rankings:

1. Virginia Tech (last week-2)--Still have some questions about the Hokies' defense, but not sure those questions are going to get exposed enough to deny them their fourth division title.

2. Florida State (LW-1)--Yes, the Seminoles are still better than N.C. State even after losing to the Wolfpack.

3. N.C. State (LW-5)--Wolfpack moves up two spots after dramatic win in Raleigh.

4. Miami (LW-3)--It's at this point in the rankings where you realize the ACC is just not ... very ... good.

5. Clemson (LW-4)--Loss of Andre Ellington puts this team squarely on the bowl bubble.

6. North Carolina (LW-6)--Tar Heels almost slipped against William & Mary.

7. Georgia Tech (LW-7)--Jackets haven't lost back-to-back games under Paul Johnson.

8. Maryland (LW-8)--Danny O'Brien is in strong contention for ACC rookie of the year honors.

9. Boston College (LW-9)--No upgrade on the Eagles' ranking, even after the upset of Clemson.

10. Virginia (LW-10)--No upgrade here, either. Just call me Scrooge.

11. Duke (LW-12)--Wow ... never saw the win at Navy coming. Sean Renfree's 28-of-30 stat line was incredible.

12. Wake Forest (LW-11)--Deacons are giving up 43.4 points per game in ACC play, and 53.2 points per road game.

On to some Tuesday linkage...

Heather Dinich gives her power rankings here, and she places Clemson sixth. Can't disagree with that.

Rob Daniels of The ACC Sports Journal presents his pecking order, and he has Clemson eighth. Can't disagree with that, either.

Also at The ACC Sports Journal, Jim Young takes stock of the ACC and says he would not want to be Dabo Swinney.

Clemson fans are actually a more patient lot than they’re reputed to be. After all, they gave Tommy Bowden 10 years before they finally got tired of waiting for their expectations to be met.

That said, there’s plenty of grumbling in Tigertown these days about Dabo Swinney. He earned himself points with the fans with last year’s run to the Atlantic Division title, but now it appears Clemson has taken a step back from its 2009 form. Swinney’s honeymoon period is officially over.

My friend Dan Collins, the longtime Wake Forest beat writer, is stunned that the Deacons are this bad.

Here's more on Renfree's record day.

"He was accurate laying the ball off," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. "Great job. Our screens are part of our running game, too. He did a great job getting the ball accurately to people who can run the ball. I'm really proud that he took care of the ball. I could tell you going in he was going to do that."

In addition to tying Bryant's record for consecutive passes completed, Renfree established a Duke single-game record by completing 93.3 percent of his throws. Spence Fischer held the previous mark of 85.2 percent (23 of 27), set against Navy in 1994.

In the AJC, Paul Johnson says he's seen sicker children get well.

“We’re still talking about [winning the ACC] until we’re mathematically eliminated,” Johnson said. And then, a bit later: ” We’re still in the conference race. I’ve learned in this profession that people jump on and off the bandwagon really fast. Put a couple of wins together and they’ll be right back on.”

The Wolfpack has three November road games for the first time since 1973, and they seem wary of the environment at Death Valley.

Ever since he was a small boy, N.C. State defensive end David Akinniyi said, he has heard about the intimidating environment at Clemson's Death Valley.

This ACC writer hands out grades for the conference's teams, and he gives a D to Clemson.

And in closing, my man Cam Newton is so good he can dress up as the tooth fairy and look cool doing it.

Maybe Newton should leave a dollar under Kyle Parker's pillow for missing that throw to Jaron Brown on Sept. 18.



LW