2026 ACC Football Power Rankings: Who’s Rising After Week 0?

College football has arrived, and despite all the nonsense surrounding the sport, it’s still the best form of entertainment there is. This is our second edition of these power rankings, so you’ll see each team’s preseason ranking in parentheses. Five ACC teams played in Week 0, and I’ll focus on them and won’t be shy about overreacting to early results. After all, overreacting to a little data is better than speculating with none.

17. Boston College (Prev 17): Boston College opens the season at Cincinnati before a trip to Rutgers where they’ll face their starting QB from last year, Dylan Lonergan. I have major doubts about Coach O’Brien and Boston College athletics, but these first two weeks will be extremely telling.

16. NC State (Prev 11): Last week I noted that NC State has “a steady veteran in CJ Bailey at QB, but they lost RB Hollywood Smothers (Texas), WR Terrell Anderson (USC), and Jacarrius Peak (U of SC) in the portal.” In a 34-8 loss at Virginia, it looked like they really missed those pieces. They were badly beaten in the trenches while lacking explosive ability from playmakers. CJ Bailey is competent but potentially overhyped by ACC media. He’ll still probably post a good stat line against the likes of Richmond, App State, Stanford, Duke, Syracuse, and FSU, but I’m not sure he can elevate against good defenses or carry a struggling team.

15. Florida State (Prev 14): FSU was able to control the ground game, outrushing New Mexico State by 170 yards in their 34-17 win. Nevertheless, they gave up 272 through the air and were only up by 7 points in the third quarter. I’m not saying they’re hopeless, but I do think it could get ugly against SMU on Labor Day. They get an open date after that before going to Tuscaloosa to play the Crimson Tide. If they’re 1-2, you wonder about the quit factor that this program has shown in the past.

14. Stanford (Prev 16): I won’t overreact to a home win over Hawaii, but they lost at Hawaii last season and certainly looked a bit more competent. They trailed against Hawaii late in the fourth quarter, but put together a stellar game-winning drive and followed it up by a pick-six to win by 10. QB Davis Warren threw for 310 yards. Again, it is against Hawaii, but I had doubts they could pass that well against any FBS opponent so this is a good sign.

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13. Duke (Prev 13): After I placed Duke at in last week’s Power Rankings, at least one Duke fan was aghast at the disrespect. I admit, it’s true: Manny Diaz has the Blue Devils consistently punching above their talent level and they actually won more regular season games with QB Maalik Murphy two years ago than Darien Mensah last year. Perhaps they can overcome the loss of Mensah and WR Cooper Barkate. Even if they do play above their talent level, it may be tough to see it with road trips to Illinois, Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Miami on the schedule. Still, it wouldn’t be shocking if they matched last year’s 7-win regular season, just without the postseason fanfare.

12. Syracuse (Prev 12): I remain high on QB Steve Angeli returning from the Achilles injury. They start with New Hampshire and then get Cal at home Week 2. That will be a pivotal game for both teams.

11. North Carolina (Prev 15): QB Billy Edwards Jr. wasn’t a dynamic gamechanger, but he looked like the steady veteran Coach Belichick needs. The defense looks dramatically improved as they beat TCU at the point of attack and won the most critical plays. Reaching six wins will likely require winning several ACC road games since their home schedule includes Notre Dame, Miami, and Louisville, but for now they deserve this leap in the rankings.

10. Wake Forest (Prev 10): I assume Wake Forest is going to win more games than they probably should, but Gio Lopez was so bad at UNC I’m struggling to see how they win games like Miami, at Louisville, at Cal, Virginia, at SMU, or at Georgia Tech.

9. Pittsburgh (Prev 9): I believe in Mason Heintschel more than most QBs in the conference, but after seeing NC State struggle after getting raided in the transfer portal, my worries are growing. The Panthers lost DT Francis Brewu (Notre Dame), LB Rasheem Biles (Texas), and Kenny Johnson (Texas Tech).

8. Georgia Tech (Prev 8): I fully expect Georgia Tech’s offensive line and star-studded RB room to grind teams down. Can they win with their defense or when they need a big pass play? I may be too low on them as the way they floundered at the end of last season is stuck in my mind.

7. California (Prev 7): Cal begins the season playing a home game vs. UCLA at 10:30pm Eastern Time, which is exactly the reason the ACC brought them into the conference. If they win that, they turn around and go to Syracuse with a chance to start 2-0. With Wagner to follow, they’d likely reach 3-0, setting up a Friday night showdown against Clemson.

6. Virginia Tech (Prev 6): The Hokies have a lot of new pieces and will have some time to integrate them together as their schedule is heavily backloaded. They begin with VMI, Old Dominion, and Maryland.

5. Clemson (Prev 5): Clemson’s season opener vs. LSU got a little extra juice as Lane Kiffin reportedly encouraged NFL players to sue the NCAA for an injunction that would allow them to return to college. Once his ploy worked, he signed them. He wasn’t just participating in the breakdown of college football; he was actively causing it. The conference offices may put a stop to it, which would be helpful for Clemson.

Meanwhile, Coach Swinney was uncharacteristically negative after their “worst practice” and it sounds like Tait Reynolds was legitimately in the QB race for quite a while despite missing most of his senior year with a hamstring injury. I’m growing bullish on Clemson’s revamped secondary and pass rush, but concerns remain about an inexperienced QB behind a potentially porous offensive line.

4. Louisville (Prev 3): The Cardinals have earned the hype they’re receiving by consistently being near the top of the conference. They start the season with Ole Miss, Villanova, and SMU. If they’re 3-0, they could legitimately move to in these rankings. They could also be 1-2 and still a decent team. It’s an interesting start before a softer middle of the schedule.

3. Virginia (Prev 4): Virginia brought in two transfer portal QBs — Beau Pribula (Missouri) and Eli Holstein (Pittsburgh). Pribula is an excellent runner, and I had suspected having a strong backup in Holstein would give them the confidence to cut Pribula loose. He ran for 110 yards as the offense ran the ball 57 times while only passing it 11 times. They are strong on the offensive line and will lean on it. With an especially weak schedule that has only one daunting game (@SMU), reaching double-digit wins is reasonable. I won’t reward them for a weak schedule, but if they keep winning, they are unlikely to drop from here.

2. SMU (Prev 2): A Labor Day night game at FSU will send the Mustangs’ and Seminoles’ seasons in opposite directions. I put a lot of trust in Coach Lashlee and QB Kevin Jennings to give SMU a very high ceiling.

1. Miami (Prev 1): The Hurricanes start their season on Friday against the already 1-0 Stanford Cardinal. I expect their passing attack to shred them and the Hurricanes to cruise through their first four games with their first test coming at Clemson on Oct. 3.