If there is one thing that we have learned nearly halfway through the 2026 college football season is that Miami is the clear-cut ACC favorite, and nobody wants to stake a claim to be the second-best team in the conference—literally nobody.
Well, maybe one team is emerging as that team as he hit the midway point of the season for some teams. With that said, here are the latest ACC Power Rankings after another week of upsets and stunning results throughout the conference.
Week 7 ACC Football Power Rankings
It's been tough the last two games for the Cardinal. They have given up 50-plus points in both games and lost this past weekend to Notre Dame, 58-3.
Fran Brown had his team ready to play in Charlottesville, and it looked like they were going to pull off an upset, but they lost 28-25 to Virginia. A tough loss for the Orange.
The Eagles were on a much-needed bye and will return to Alumni Stadium this weekend to host Pittsburgh, who suffered a bad loss on Saturday to North Carolina.
One step forward, two steps backwards for Mike Norvell and the Seminoles. They had a great start at Louisville on Friday night, but a bad ending. Next up, a trip to South Florida and the Hurricanes.
When are we going to discuss Dave Doeren being on the hot seat more than we do now? Another bad loss at home, this time to Wake Forest. The loss was bad; it was how it happened.
Credit to Cal for taking down the Hokies on Saturday. Undermanned, they smashed a flat team with a lot of NFL talent on it to pick up a big win. This still is not a good football team and will struggle to extend their season past Thanksgiving Weekend.
Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals started slowly, but finished strong against FSU. Out of all the teams in the ACC, Louisville is the hardest to figure out. They have an interesting game this upcoming weekend at Syracuse.
After a bad loss at Stanford a couple of weeks ago, credit goes to Brent Key for getting his team ready to stun Duke at home on Saturday. They will be in Blacksburg this weekend and have to like their chances after the last two games by the Hokies.
Is there a bigger wild card in the ACC than the Cavaliers? They struggled at home against Syracuse before pulling out a win. It compounds even more that last year was a fluke. Win at SMU this upcoming weekend and maybe the narrative changes.
Bill Beichick and the Tar Heels went on the road and took down 25th-ranked Pittsburgh with an impressive performance. Things are trending upward in Chapel Hill.
Imagine being Pat Narduzzi today? What an embarrassing week. You go ballistic that your team isn't ranked, then you get ranked 25th, call out Penn State because they are living rent-free in your head, and you go out and lay an egg against UNC? Pitt fans should have seen this coming. Once Narduzzi hits 5-0 in a season, that's his Super Bowl. Pittsburgh fans should never wonder why nobody ever takes Narduzzi and Pitt seriously.
A week off for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers with a non-conference game at home this weekend against Charleston Southern.
Who didn't see this coming? A trip out West to a beat-up Cal team, and as a double-digit favorite. You can complain about the officiating all you want; there was no excuse for that game to have ever been in that position to begin with. It's on the coaches and players, not the officials.
Virginia Tech fans know the pain Duke fans are feeling this weekend. Missed field goals are painful.
There was no big winner in the ACC with a bye this past weekend that the Mustangs. Can they take advantage of it and beat Virginia this weekend at home?
The Demon Deacons have positioned themselves as the clear No. 2 behind Miami. What a statement at North Carolina State. Jake Dickert is going to be a name that is coveted this coaching cycle.
It was a bye week for the Hurricanes with Florida State visiting on Saturday night.
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