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It’s that time of the football season where everyone asks one question: Is every team in the ACC great or is everyone terrible?
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The conference entered the week with three ranked teams: Miami, SMU and Pittsburgh. Duke and Wake Forest received votes and finished just outside last week’s AP Top 25 poll. After Week 6, the league will see a shakeup in the rankings.
Neither No. 4 Miami nor No. 24 SMU played this week. The Hurricanes host Florida State next Saturday, while the Mustangs return to the field against Virginia.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, did not have the performance of a ranked team that beat an undefeated Virginia Tech team a week prior. And the Hokies, who were Top 25 hopefuls, lost their second straight game — this time to California — to push themselves outside ranking contention and make the Panthers’ win look less impressive.
Duke, which also received votes the past two weeks, didn’t help itself. The reigning ACC champs lost to a struggling Georgia Tech on the road.
Wake Forest was the only ACC team in the ranking conversation that picked up a win. (Louisville beat Florida State, sure, but that same Cardinals team also lost to N.C. State.)
At this point, the ACC is nearing a complete transitive property circle. You know, a “Virginia who beat N.C. State who beat Louisville who beat Florida State who beat Virginia” type thing. The conference isn’t there yet, we’re not far enough into the season and Miami has yet to lose, but it feels like the league might get there before November.
In yet another chaotic college football weekend, this is how the ACC performed. (Spoiler: it was weird.)
No. 25 Pittsburgh fell to North Carolina at home, 21-17, losing its first game of the season after one week in the Top 25.
The Panthers (5-1) led the Tar Heels (3-2), 17-14, after scoring a touchdown to open the fourth quarter, gaining 40 yards on a pass from backup quarterback Holden Geriner to Malik Knight. Starting QB Mason Heintschel was out with an injury.
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UNC’s defense forced a punt and three straight turnovers on downs. Two drives ended on incompletions. Geriner completed 27 of 44 passes (61.3%) and threw a pair of interceptions. La’Vell Wright rushed for both touchdowns.
The Tar Heels earned their first ranked win under head coach Bill Belichick, while the Panthers continue to prove the second spot for the ACC remains wide open.
Maybe Wake Forest should have been ranked. The Demon Deacons (5-1) defeated N.C. State, 38-14, on the road after scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half.
Quarterback Gio Lopez completed 26 of 33 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns, while Carlos Hernandez and Jack Foley accounted for the majority of receiving yards. Foley led all players with a career-high 156 yards, while Hernandez added 117 yards. Both scored one touchdown each.
Additionally, the Deacs’ defense held the Wolfpack (3-3) to 63 total yards in the second half. This is the same team that held Louisville to 28 total points a week prior.
Jake Dickert’s squad remains undefeated on the road, and its lone loss came against top-5 Miami. It was the smallest margin of victory for the Hurricanes, and the Deacs held them to their lowest scoring total of the season.
The Blue Devils snapped their perfect record on Saturday, losing their first game of the season to Georgia Tech (2-3) on the road, 28-25.
Duke (4-1) gave up a late touchdown with 54 seconds remaining, which allowed the Yellow Jackets to take a three-point lead. It still had an opportunity to win, but kicker Gavin Strange missed a 33-yard field goal with five seconds left.
Nate Sheppard did everything he could for Duke, but his 99 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns and 91 receiving yards weren’t enough to lift his team to a win or into the rankings.
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This story was originally published October 11, 2026 at 8:00 AM.