With one week left in the regular season, ACC writers in the rivals.com network are almost all in agreement that Pitt is the top team in the conference.
The Panthers took 15 of 16 first-place votes in this week’s poll, the most by any one team since Wake Forest claimed every first-place vote in Week 10 after Pitt’s loss to Miami solidified the Deacons as the top team in the conference.
Since then, the votes have been split. Wake, Pitt and N.C. State had near-even shares of the first-place votes the next week, and the Deacons took 12 of 16 first-place votes last week.
But in the wake of Wake’s loss at Clemson and Pitt’s win over Virginia this past weekend, a near-unanimous vote emerged for the Panthers.
This is the first time this season that a team other than Wake Forest has been voted No. 1 since the poll started in Week 6.
Pitt moved up one spot to No. 1, but Clemson made a bigger jump, climbing two places from No. 4 to No. 2 after the win over Wake Forest. Miami also moved up two spots from No. 10 to No. 8 following the Hurricanes’ 12-point win against Virginia Tech.
On the flip side, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Boston College each dropped two spots. The Tar Heels beat FCS opponent Wofford by 20 on Saturday, while the Eagles lost to Florida State by three at home.
The bottom four of the conference - No. 11 Virginia Tech, No. 12 Syracuse, No. 13 Georgia Tech and No. 14 Duke - all held steady this week after each of those four teams lost over the weekend.