Week 4 Primer
I'm traveling this week, so I'm putting all of my content for week 4 into one write up.
Week 3 was a pretty good week for the conference, even though Miami lost in the only big marquee matchup against Texas A&M, which means there will be a shake-up near the top of the power rankings. The rest of the conference (other than Georgia Tech) took care of business, though. NC State and Syracuse both knocked off Power 5 opponents, Clemson, Wake Forest, Pitt, Virginia Tech, UVA, Duke, and Boston College all picked up wins, and Florida State knocked off Louisville on the road in the only conference game of the week, even though Jordan Travis got knocked out of the game.
Week 4 is a much bigger week for the conference as a whole. We have 3 conference games this week, Miami and Georgia Tech look to bounce back against good Group of 5 teams, and Virginia Tech, Duke, and North Carolina are all facing off against Power 5 (and Notre Dame) teams. With 5 teams ranked this week, and 2 more just outside of the top 25, the conference has another good chance to continue to shine on a national level.
Week 4 Power Rankings
1) Clemson 3-0 (1-0)
Last Week: W 48-20 vs Louisiana Tech
This Week: @ Wake Forest
2) NC State 3-0 (0-0)
Last Week: W 27-14 vs Texas Tech
This Week: vs UConn
3) Wake Forest 3-0 (0-0)
Last Week: W 37-36 vs Liberty
This Week: vs Clemson
4) Florida State 3-0 (1-0)
Last Week: W 35-31 @ Louisville
This Week: vs Boston College
5) Miami 2-1 (0-0)
Last Week: L @ 9-17 @ Texas A&M
This Week: vs Middle Tennessee
6) Pitt 2-1 (0-0)
Last Week: W 34-13 @ Western Michigan
This Week: vs Rhode Island
7) Syracuse 3-0 (1-0)
Last Week: W 32-29 vs Purdue
This Week: vs Virginia
8) North Carolina 3-0 (0-0)
Last Week: Bye
This Week: vs Notre Dame
9) Duke 3-0 (0-0)
Last Week: W 49-20 vs NC A&T
This Week: @ Kansas
10) Virginia 2-1 (0-0)
Last Week: W 16-14 vs Old Dominion
This Week: @ Syracuse
11) Louisville 1-2 (0-2)
Last Week: L 31-35 vs Florida State
This Week: vs South Florida
12) Virginia Tech 2-1 (1-0)
Last Week: W 27-7 vs Wofford
This Week: vs West Virginia
13) Boston College 1-2 (0-1)
Last Week: W 38-17 vs Maine
This Week: @ Florida State
14) Georgia Tech 1-2 (0-1)
Last Week: L 42-0 vs Ole Miss
This Week: @ UCF
Week 4 Game Picks
We both got back on track in Week 3, each going 8-4, making our season totals much more respectable and separating us by only 2 games in the standings.
Last Week:
ACC Guru: 8-4
Woodrow's Winners: 8-4
Season Total:
ACC Guru: 19-17
Woodrow's Winners: 17-19
West Virginia at Virginia Tech (+2.5) Thursday 7:30 PM ESPN
ACC Guru: I was laughing at West Virginia after losing to Kansas last week, but it turns out Kansas might be pretty good, and WVU has definitely proved they can put up points (averaging 46 PPG). The Hokies on the other hand have proved that they have a good defense, but the offense… Not so much. I expect this to be a great game, but WVU gets a couple extra big plays and wins by a touchdown.
Woodrow's Winners: Losing to Kansas by double digits is definitely more funny than losing twice to ODU in recent memory. Tech's offense does worry me and like you said, Kansas isn't a bad football team (neither is Pitt). Head says WVU, heart says Hokies. HOME DOGS. WOOF WOOF. ML IT TOO!
Virginia at Syracuse (-10) Friday 7 PM ESPN
ACC Guru: My head and my eyes say that Syracuse wins this game by 20+. My heart says that UVA’s newly found defense and knowledge of Robert Anae’s powerful offense can keep this game close. Unfortunately, I have to go with my head. I don’t think UVA can score enough points in this one. The Orange roll.
Woodrow's Winners: Virginia is poo. Syracuse is above average. Double digit spreads that aren't held by Clemson or NC State this season in conference really worry me. It's a bigger number, but the Orange cover.
Clemson at Wake Forest (+7) Saturday 12 PM ABC
ACC Guru: I absolutely love this Wake Forest team. I know they barely squeaked by Liberty, but I think they may have been looking ahead to this one. Sure, Clemson has more talent at almost every position, but Wake has Sam Hartman. I think he has enough magic in him to keep this one close, and they just might pull off the upset. Go Deacs!
Woodrow's Winners: What was that from Wake last weekend? Clemson has their own struggles and going to Winston Salem for this one will be tough. Give me Clemson though, I think they start to figure it out his weekend and roll over the Deacs as they come back to earth a bit.
Rhode Island at Pitt Saturday 12 PM ACCN
There wasn't a line out for this one due to QB uncertainty, so we'll both lock in Pitt ML for this one.
Duke (+9) at Kansas Saturday 12 PM FS1
ACC Guru: Game of the week in Lawrence, Kansas where undefeated Kansas and Duke face off in a Blue Blood Battle. Wait, this is football??? What is happening?? Kansas can seriously put up some points, and Duke has been extremely efficient this year. I think Kansas wins this one, but Duke covers.
Woodrow's Winners: Duke's win at Northwestern is starting to make more sense. Kansas actually has a decent win in WVU to their resume. I think Kansas ROLLS. Rock Chalk and it feels like 2007 (checks notes and gets sad at that Orange Bowl)
South Florida at Louisville (-13.5) Saturday 12 PM ESPN3
ACC Guru: I thought South Florida was one of the worst football teams in the country, and then they almost upset Florida in the Swamp. I thought Louisville was having a down year, but then they looked much improved against Florida State. The Cards are already 0-2 in conference play and big time need wins if they want to even make a bowl. Louisville wins and covers this one, running away.
Woodrow's Winners: Cards are starting to figure it out a little bit. They have enough offensive firepower to open this one up. Give me Louisvillle.
Middle Tennessee at Miami (-25.5) Saturday 3:30 PM ACCN
ACC Guru: If you look at the stats instead of the scoreboard, Miami beat Texas A&M in every way. Unfortunately for them, that’s not what matters. Those drives that were ending in field goals and turnovers last week, turn into touchdowns this week. Miami steamrolls the Blue Raiders.
Woodrow's Winners: Middle Tennessee always seems to give P5s a good game (in the very limited amount of games I've actually watched them vs P5...this could be entirely wrong...I did not look it up!). Miami's offense was on the struggle bus last week...but they get back on track. Canes.
Notre Dame at North Carolina (+1) Saturday 3:30 PM ABC
ACC Guru: Notre Dame finally won a game! Barely. I haven’t seen anything from Notre Dame that suggests they should be favored against any Power 5 team on the road, especially one with as good of an offense as North Carolina. The Tar Heels win another high-scoring, exciting game to get to 4-0 heading into conference play.
.Woodrow's Winners: I have no idea what either of these teams actually are. I'm not buying North Carolina's start but the Notre Dame struggle has been real, but were respectable against Ohio State. I'd bet more that Carolina are frauds than Notre Dame are, so I'm taking the Irish.
Georgia Tech (+20.5) at UCF Saturday 4 PM ESPNU
ACC Guru: Georgia Tech is bad. Like they might be worst Power 5 team in the country (besides Colorado) bad. The Bounce House is not the place for a struggling team to try and right the ship. UCF big. Geoff Collins seat = 🔥🔥🔥
Woodrow's Winners: Last week I think I said Georgia Tech wasn't that bad...I take it back. They are v v v v bad. But I'll give them one more chance to cover before they are done for good. Jackets.
UConn at NC State (-38.5) Saturday 3:30 PM ESPN3
ACC Guru: Speaking of bad team, welcome UConn. They probably shouldn’t even be in the FBS anymore. They’ve lost 40 straight FBS games to teams not named UMass. State looks great, and as long as they aren’t looking ahead to Clemson, they’ll cover this number even though it’s massive.
Woodrow's Winners: Yeah it is massive...but also feels rather low? I'm taking State and a 60 burger.
Boston College at Florida Saturday 8 PM ACCN
ACC Guru: Jordan Travis is likely out for this game, but Tate Rodemaker looked GREAT in the 2nd half against Louisville. Florida State looks like a team that’s miles ahead of BC regardless of who’s the quarterback. Noles cover.
Woodrow's Winners: BC is hot garbo. FSU off a good win but losing their QB. Give me FSU but I'm not overly confident in it.
ACC Survivor Pool Update
3 people got eliminated during the first week, but everyone else has survived the last 2 weeks. Things will start getting more interesting in a couple weeks when we only have conference games on the slate.
