ACC Power Rankings After Week 6

Florida State's convincing win over previous ACC number one Miami earns them the top spot in this week's ACC Power Rankings.

1. Florida State Seminoles

The beat down the 'Noles delivered to rival Miami on Saturday sent a strong message to the rest of the conference as to who was the team to beat in the Atlantic Division. Now with their toughest conference game behind them, Florida State is in a great position to not only win the ACC, but climb their way through the national rankings as the season progresses.

2. Miami Hurricanes

Ouch! Miami was absolutely embarrassed by rival Florida State, luckily for them the Coastal Division title still has to go through them as this was their first conference loss.

3. Virginia Tech Hokies

The Hokies continue to roll since their shocking 0-2 start. There's no reason why they shouldn't win the next four games leading up to their November 20 showdown at Miami. The win over Central Michigan did nothing but continue to show that the Hokies are focused and have put the James Madison loss behind them.

4. NC State Wolfpack

The Pack bounced back nicely from their loss to Virginia Tech by demolishing Atlantic Division foe Boston College on Saturday. Russell Wilson threw an uncharacteristic two interceptions again- that's six in the last three conference games, but he managed to throw three touchdown passes for the fourth straight week, and the Pack continued to stay hot. If State continues to play at a high level, then their nationally televised game against Florida State on October 28 could determine the winner of the Atlantic Division.

5. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

It certainly wasn't pretty, but Georgia Tech did improve to 3-1 in conference play by beating Virginia on Saturday. The Jackets should beat Middle Tennessee State this weekend, then head to Death Valley to take on Clemson the following weekend where we'll learn if this team has a chance at repeating as ACC champions.

6. North Carolina Tar Heels

Love them or hate them, it is hard not to admire what the Tar Heels are doing on the field this season. Running back Johnny White had a masterful day against Clemson, and three straight wins show the Tar Heels are starting to get it together no matter who they throw out on the field. Without 15 players on Saturday and all of the chaos surrounding the program, they still got it done.

7. Clemson Tigers

Three straight losses have sent Coach Dabo's Tigers from a team that looked like it would win the Atlantic to searching the schedule for four possible wins just to steal a bowl game to end the season. Kyle Parker may be regretting passing up playing professional baseball for the Rockies for this.

8. Maryland Terrapins

The Terps sat on their bye week and watched three Atlantic Division teams receive losses. Maryland is quietly 4-1, and had they won at West Virginia they'd be receiving some serious press. They have a great opportunity to really send a message to the Atlantic Division in the next two weeks. They'll play at Clemson, a team they usually play really well against and then travel to take on Boston College in a winnable game.

9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

It is hard to imagine that the Demon Deacons would lose to Navy a week after seeing the option offense against Georgia Tech. And while the Wake defense kept both games very close, they lost both of them. it looks like their four game losing streak is going to swell to five when they take on Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium this Saturday.

10. Boston College Eagles

The Eagles failed to beat former coach Tom O'Brien for the first time since he left Boston College and headed to NC State. The Pack embarrassed the Eagles and chased quarterback Dave Shinskie out of the game early on Saturday. Often the team ranked 99th in points per game fails to win at a high rate- such is the case for the Eagles this season. First year coach Frank Spaziani is looking at a long final seven games of the season.

11. Virginia Cavaliers

No doubt about it, Mike London was a great choice to lead Virginia, but instant results just don't happen for teams who need rebuilding. This team is heading in the right direction, but will have to pull multiple upsets to get to a bowl game.

12. Duke Blue Devils

Where to begin for the 1-4 Blue Devils? Maybe they've lost four in a row because their offense is just too young, but that's not the reason their struggling. Something has got to give for this defense, they are giving up nearly 40 points per game (and only scoring 27 points per game) and are 113th in the country in that category. Luckily, a bye week keeps the losing streak from extending.