The events at Heinz Field on Saturday impacted Pitt’s chances for the Coastal Division championship, and they definitely had an effect on the Week Ten ACC poll.
For the 16 conference reporters in the rivals.com network who participate in the weekly poll, Pitt’s 38-34 loss to Miami did two things:
It gave the Hurricanes a boost of five spots, from 11 to 6. And it solidified Wake Forest’s position as the No. 1 team in the league.
Last week, Pitt received four first-place votes out of a possible 14; this week, Wake Forest was No. 1 on every ballot.
A week ago, the Panthers were no lower than No. 2 on any ballot, but this week, they saw a bigger spread of votes. Eight of the 16 ballots at Pitt at No. 2, six had the Panthers at No. 3 and two voters put Pitt at No. 4.
Naturally, Miami made the biggest jump of any team in the conference, although there was some variance in opinion on the Hurricanes. Most voters had Miami in the 6-8 range (11 of 16 ballots), but three voters put the Hurricanes at No. 10 and one had them at No. 9, while one ballot listed Miami at No. 2.
Syracuse also made a jump from No. 10 to No. 7, as 12 of 16 ballots had the Orange in the top nine.