The 2023 First-Half ACC Football Power Rankings

Florida State has lived up to the preseason hype, but upstart Louisville potentially awaits in the ACC Championship.

We’re halfway through the 2023 season, at least as far as Virginia Tech is concerned. ACC teams have played either five or six games, giving us a solid sample size as we move into the second half.

The Hokies have six ACC opponents remaining on their schedule, so let’s take a look at the entire conference and get a better idea of who’s left for Virginia Tech.

1. Florida State (5-0, 3-0)

Best Win: 45-24 vs. LSU

The preseason favorite to win the ACC has answered all expectations. Florida State is loaded for bear on offense and has enough game wreckers on defense to be dynamic on that side of the ball. LSU has fallen to 22nd in the AP Top 25, but that’s still an impressive win.

To cement themselves in the College Football Playoff, Florida State must run the table. Otherwise, the ACC could easily be left out yet again. The ‘Noles have tough tests against Duke, Miami and Florida remaining.

2. Louisville (6-0, 3-0)

Best Win: 33-20 vs. Notre Dame

The Cardinals arguably own the most impressive win in the conference. Nobody gave Louisville a chance to knock off Notre Dame last weekend, but that’s exactly what happened.

Louisville has been impressive on both sides of the ball in Jeff Brohm’s first year. They’re holding opposing offenses to 17.7 points per game and Jawhar Jordan is nearing 1,000 yards from scrimmage already.

The Cardinals’ ACC schedule looks pretty manageable as of now. Duke and Miami lay ahead, but so do Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and Virginia. The season finale vs. Kentucky should be a lot of fun.

3. North Carolina (5-0, 2-0)

Best Win: 40-7 vs. Syracuse

North Carolina has played an easy schedule thus far, but their 33-point drubbing of Syracuse opened my eyes a bit.

This looks like the best defense the Tar Heels have fielded under Mack Brown, as they’ve been rock solid since allowing 34 to Appalachian State in early September. Drake Maye hasn’t played to his potential yet and Carolina needs him to get going. Miami comes into town this weekend, while road trips to Atlanta, Clemson and Raleigh could pose some stiff challenges.

4. Duke (4-1, 1-0)

Best Win: 28-7 vs. Clemson

Duke’s season-opening win over the Tigers is far less impressive now than it was at the time. Riley Leonard is hurt, and Duke is coming off a bye week where they got to contemplate their last-minute loss to Notre Dame even further.

The Blue Devils are in a tenuous position in the power rankings. They have a head-to-head win over Clemson, but the Tigers seem to be slowly flipping the switch. Should Duke struggle this weekend against NC State, they’ll tumble towards the middle and bottom of the pack.

Fortunately for Mike Elko, his defense remains productive. They’ll need it in a couple weeks when they travel to Florida state.

5. Clemson (4-2, 2-2)

Best Win: 31-14 at Syracuse

Even with the overtime loss to Florida State, Clemson has played much better football over the last five weeks. The defense has played well all season, allowing more than 30 points just once.

Scoring 17 points against Wake Forest is worrisome. Then again, the Demon Deacons’ defense is the team’s best unit. If Will Shipley stays healthy, he and Cade Klubnik should score enough points to support a stout defense.

Clemson has a tough road ahead of them after the open date this weekend. Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina and South Carolina represent a pretty tough stretch of football.

6. Miami (4-1, 0-1)

Best Win: 48-33 vs. Texas A&M

The Hurricanes would be a lot higher on this list if Mario Cristobal didn’t take the Madden approach to the end of Miami’s game against Georgia Tech.

Miami’s win over the Aggies is solid, but the ‘Canes have otherwise played a soft schedule thus far. Tyler Van Dyke is having a resurgent season, powered by the return of Xavier Restrepo.

The defense is a bit of an unknown. They’ll be put to the test this Saturday against North Carolina.

7. NC State (4-2, 1-1)

Best Win: 48-41 vs. Marshall

The reunion of Brennan Armstrong and Robert Anae has plagued the Wolfpack all season, resulting in Armstrong losing his job as the starting quarterback.

MJ Morris opened up the offense by scoring four touchdowns vs. Marshall last weekend, but he also turned it over three times. NC State’s reliable defense struggled against the Thundering Herd, raising questions about the unit for the remainder of the season.

NC State is lucky that Riley Leonard is banged up, meaning they’ve got at least a puncher’s chance this weekend at Duke.

8. Syracuse (4-2, 0-2)

Best Win: 35-20 at Purdue

Consecutive blowout losses at the hands of Clemson and North Carolina have derailed Syracuse’s 4-0 start. Things won’t get much better this weekend, when the Orange travel to Florida State.

Garrett Schrader and LeQuint Allen have combined to score 21 touchdowns, giving Syracuse one of the most lethal quarterback-running back combinations in the conference.

After a likely loss to Florida State this weekend, Syracuse’s schedule gets much easier — at Virginia Tech, vs. Boston College, vs. Pittsburgh, at Georgia Tech and vs. Wake Forest.

9. Georgia Tech (3-3, 2-1)

Best Win: 30-16 at Wake Forest

Miami’s last-minute blunder has the Yellow Jackets sitting as the top one-loss team in the ACC standings. Despite winning the game, Georgia Tech gets little credit in my power rankings.

Haynes King is a lot of fun to watch (16 touchdowns, six interceptions) and his offense moves the football, but the Yellow Jackets’ defense ranks 117th in yards allowed per game and 91st in scoring.

Losing to Bowling Green leads me to believe Georgia Tech will struggle down the stretch — they get North Carolina in two weeks, travel to Clemson on Nov. 11 and have to play Syracuse and Georgia to finish the season.

10. Wake Forest (3-2, 0-2)

Best Win: 36-20 vs. Vanderbilt

The Demon Deacons lost a lot of talent on offense this offseason and those departures are showing up in the win-loss column.

Wake has scored just 28 points in their last two games. Mitch Griffis is barely completing 60 percent of his passes and ranks 14th in the ACC in ESPN’s QBR. For reference, that’s worse than Brennan Armstrong and Phil Jurkovec, both of whom lost their starting jobs.

Saturday’s game against the Hokies should be an omen for the remainder of Wake’s season. Virginia Tech is far from one of the toughest challenges left on the schedule — the Demon Deacons still have to play Florida State, Duke, Notre Dame and Syracuse.

11. Boston College (3-3, 1-2)

Best Win: 27-24 vs. Army

Left for dead after a near-loss to Holy Cross and actual losses to Florida State and Louisville, Boston College took advantage of an easier schedule to pick up consecutive wins over Virginia and Army.

Thomas Castellanos is leading the way, taking the starting quarterback job and literally running with it. He leads the Eagles in rush attempts (98), rush yards (500) and rush touchdowns (seven). He’s also thrown for 10 touchdowns, carrying an offense that lacks depth across the board.

Given their remaining schedule, Boston College could easily find themselves bowl-eligible this December. Georgia Tech, Connecticut, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh are all winnable games. Jeff Hafley should be able to find three wins in there.

12. Virginia Tech (2-4, 1-1)

Best Win: 38-21 vs. Pittsburgh

The Hokies reside in the bottom tier of the conference, but they can work themselves towards the middle with a win over Wake Forest.

Tech’s momentum generated from the sterling win over Pittsburgh faded in Tallahassee. The same issues that plagued Virginia Tech in Week 1 plague them now — the run defense gives up big plays consistently, the offensive line struggles to control the line of scrimmage and they’ve yet to find consistent play at quarterback.

Outside of the Nov. 4 game in Louisville, every game on the schedule is eminently winnable. But the Hokies need to find some consistency before thinking of bowl eligibility.

13. Virginia (1-5, 0-2)

Best Win: 27-13 vs. William and Mary

If I had penned this column last week, I wouldn’t be able to fill out Virginia’s best win because they didn’t have a win. Still, a two-score victory over the Tribe is in no way impressive.

Tony Elliott has abandoned the Anthony Colandrea experiment, at least for now. Tony Muskett is far less entertaining than Colandrea, but he’s taken better care of the football. Still, Virginia doesn’t have much talent on offense to support whoever is playing quarterback.

I’d like to complement Virginia’s defense for three straight games of allowing 24 or fewer points, but Boston College is the best offense they’ve played during that stretch. It won’t get any easier with North Carolina, Miami and Louisville left on the schedule.

14. Pittsburgh (1-4, 0-2)

Best Win: 45-7 vs. Wofford

Like Virginia, Pittsburgh’s only win this season is against an FCS team. Not exactly the Pitt we’re used to, eh?

Phil Jurkovec not only got benched, but he’s reportedly taking snaps at tight end. The Panthers gave up 38 points to Virginia Tech, which is a dastardly offense.

Pitt is bad all the way around. They’re staring another loss in the face this weekend vs. Louisville and still have to play Notre Dame, Florida State, Syracuse and Duke. The Panthers will likely be underdogs in each of their remaining contests and will be fighting with Virginia for the rest of the season to stay out of the ACC cellar.