The big story around Week 9 of the ACC football season featured the continuing downward spiral at Florida State and the return of Clemson as both a league and national title contender.
The Seminoles suffered a humiliating 35-3 in prime-time on Friday night to Boston College, leaving Jimbo Fisher and his club scrambling and on life-support to continue a 35-year streak of qualifying for a bowl game.
Meanwhile in Death Valley, the defending national champion Tigers thrived in the spotlight. The Clemson defense returned to form, silencing Georgia Tech’s vaunted triple option attack and picking up a 24-10 victory.
Another ACC contender, though, fell, as NC State was bested on the road at Notre Dame. While the Irish are not technically league members, the defeat did hurt the Wolfpack in their hopes of quietly moving up the national rankings.
Miami withstood a challenge from North Carolina, Virginia Tech took care of business vs. Duke, Wake Forest won a thriller vs. Louisville and Pittsburgh kept Virginia reeling.
Week 10 will feature two key divisional battles, as Clemson heads to Raleigh to face NC State, with Miami welcoming Virginia Tech in the Saturday night prime-time affair.
As we head into the first weekend of November, here’s a look at the ACC power rankings from worst to first: