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Duke football nearly breaks into the top five of the USA TODAY Sports ACC power rankings

The Blue Devils moved well within the top half of the ACC in the latest USA TODAY Sports power rankings after their win over FSU.

The Duke Blue Devils moved to 6-1 for the season and 2-1 in conference play after defeating the Florida State Seminoles on Friday night, and it seems like head coach Manny Diaz and his team are being taken more seriously as major players in the ACC.

USA TODAY Sports’ Craig Meyer updated his conference power rankings on Monday, and he bumped the Blue Devils up four spots to sixth.

The Miami Hurricanes and Clemson Tigers remain in their own zip code atop the ACC, and the Pittsburgh Panthers, SMU Mustangs, and Syracuse Orange all remained in place at third, fourth, and fifth.

The Mustangs came to Durham for a conference battle on Saturday night, and while the Blue Devils enter the week as heavy underdogs, a win would launch Duke hype into a different stratosphere. It’ll be a game of strength-on-strength with Duke bringing the nation’s fourth-best defense (4.29 yards per play) against an SMU offense averaging 40.7 points per game.

The North Carolina Tar Heels, still winless against conference opponents amid a four-game losing skid, finished second-to-last on Meyer’s list.

Pair of ACC teams in top ten of latest FBS re-rank

Clemson and Miami remain in the top ten of the latest re-rank of all 134 FBS college football teams ahead of Week 9.

The college football season is past the halfway point, with a handful of teams already securing bowl eligibility a full ten days before Halloween.

The expanded 12-team College Football Playoff has created a more exciting finish to the regular season, with upwards of 25 teams still realistic candidates to contend for a national championship – including at least four teams from the ACC.

This past week saw the ACC’s two strongest programs, the Clemson Tigers and Miami Hurricanes, each secure victories to remain in the projected College Football Playoff picture.

Elsewhere around the conference, the Florida State Seminoles lost to the Duke Blue Devils for the first time ever, continuing to plummet down Paul Myerberg’s latest re-rank of every FBS team.

Here is a look at where Clemson, Miami, Florida State, and the 14 other ACC teams fell in Myerberg’s re-rank ahead of Week 9 of the college season:

FBS Re-Ranking for each ACC team

Overall	ACC Rank	Team	Record	Movement
5	1	Miami Hurricanes	7-0	0
8	2	Clemson Tigers	6-1	+1
18	3	SMU Mustangs	6-1	+3
22	4	Pitt Panthers	6-0	-2
26	5	Syracuse Orange	5-1	-1
28	6	Duke Blue Devils	6-1	+9
33	7	Louisville Cardinals	4-3	-1
38	8	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	5-3	0
50	9	Virginia Tech Hokies	4-3	+10
54	10	Virginia Cavaliers	4-3	-12
57	11	Boston College Eagles	5-3	-13
61	12	Cal Golden Bears	3-4	-11
74	13	NC State Wolfpack	4-4	+7
79	14	North Carolina Tar Heels	3-4	0
82	15	Wake Forest Demon Deacons	3-4	+4
101	16	Stanford Cardinal	2-5	-9
105	17	Florida State Seminoles	1-6	-7

Duke receives a few votes in the US LBM Coaches Poll after Florida State win

With the Blue Devils secured in the college football bowl schedule, Duke received more than a half-dozen votes in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

For the second time in four weeks, the Duke Blue Devils made an appearance on the US LBM Coaches Poll.

USA TODAY Sports released the updated rankings on Sunday, and while head coach Manny Diaz and his team didn’t break into the top 25, the Blue Devils did receive seven votes after beating the Florida State Seminoles for the first time. The number unofficially puts Duke 29th in the rankings.

The Miami Hurricanes, one of two remaining undefeated teams in the ACC, defeated the Louisville Cardinals 52-45 for a seventh straight win. Head coach Mario Cristobal and his team now only trail the Oregon Ducks, Georgia Bulldogs, Penn State Nittany Lions, and Ohio State Buckeyes in the standings.

The Clemson Tigers (ninth) remain in position for an at-large bid in the College Football Playoff at the end of the season, and the Pittsburgh Panthers (20th) stayed undefeated with a week off. The SMU Mustangs (22nd) continue to impress in their first season as members of the ACC, beating Stanford 40-10 for a fourth straight conference victory.

Check out the complete Coaches Poll below.

Rank	Team	Record	Points
1	Oregon	7-0	1,323 (51)
2	Georgia	6-1	1,238 (2)
3	Penn State	6-0	1,197
4	Ohio State	5-1	1,107
5	Miami (FL)	7-0	1,087
6	Texas	6-1	1,082
7	LSU	6-1	946
8	Tennessee	6-1	916
9	Clemson	6-1	907
10	Iowa State	7-0	829
11	Notre Dame	6-1	809
12	BYU	7-0	740
13	Indiana	7-0	651
14	Texas A&M	6-1	641
15	Alabama	5-2	554
16	Kansas State	6-1	488
17	Missouri	6-1	486
18	Ole Miss	5-2	444
19	Boise State	5-1	379
20	Pittsburgh	6-0	359
21	Illinois	6-1	347
22	SMU	6-1	249
23	Army	7-0	185
24	Navy	6-0	115
25	Vanderbilt	5-2	37

Dropped Out

No. 22 Michigan; No. 25 Nebraska

Receiving Votes

UNLV 28; Syracuse 27; Washington State 25; Duke 7; Memphis 6; Liberty 6; Wisconsin 3; Tulane 3; Cincinnati 2; Nebraska 1; Arizona State 1

Mike Noonan earns 400th win as No. 8 Clemson downs Queens, 4-2

Mike Noonan earned his 400th career victory as Clemson soccer defeated Queens University of Charlotte, 4-2, on Tuesday.

The Clemson Tigers men’s soccer team defeated Queens, 4-2, Tuesday. This is a press release from Clemson Athletic Communications.

Clemson, S.C. – Behind three first-half goals, No. 8 Clemson downed Queens University of Charlotte, 4-2. The win moves Clemson to 8-2-2 on the season and gives Head Coach Mike Noonan his 400th career victory.

With the win, Noonan became the 27th head coach in NCAA history to earn 400 wins and is the 5th all-time winningest coach among active head coaches.

Queens jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 26:02 mark, but less than 30 seconds later, Wahabu Musah tied the match off an assist from Antonio Illuminato. Queens regained the lead with 31:23 on the clock, but for the second game in a row, Clemson scored three unanswered goals to put the match away.

Ransford Gyan scored for the second-straight game to tie the game at 2 with 10:00 remaining in the first half, before Alex Meinhard put one in the back of the net to give Clemson a 3-2 lead heading into halftime. In the 65′, Tyler Trimnal scored on an assist from Arthur Duquenne to give Clemson the two goal win.

Up next, the Tigers host Upstate on Tuesday, October 22, in a 7:00 p.m. match at Historic Riggs Field.

—via Clemson Athletic Communications

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Clemson and Miami pace the ACC in latest bowl game projections

11 ACC teams are projected to play in bowl games this season, including two in the College Football Playoff.

College football has reached the halfway mark of the season, giving fans and analysts enough substance to start projecting which 12 teams will be part of the inaugural expanded College Football Playoff this winter.

While the ACC has made headlines primarily for the complete disaster that has been the Florida State Seminoles, the conference does in fact have two teams projected among the 12 CFP programs in the latest projections from Erick Smith at USA TODAY.

The SEC has three teams (Texas, Georgia, and LSU) which is tied with the Big Ten (Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State) for the most. The Big 12 also has two teams – Iowa State and Kansas State – while the other two spots go to Notre Dame and Boise State.

Here is a look at which two ACC teams made the latest College Football Playoff projections from USA TODAY, as well as nine other ACC teams with bowl projections ahead of Week 8 of the season.

Two ACC teams in CFP

With Clemson picking up the ACC’s automatic bid and getting a bye into the quarterfinals, Miami is projected to face the LSU Tigers on the road in a battle of No. 8 vs. No. 9. The winner – projected by Smith to be LSU – gets the unenviable task of then facing the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns in the Sugar Bowl.

Dabo Swinney’s club is the No. 3 overall seed ahead of Big 12 winner Iowa State, and they await the winner between the No. 6 Oregon Ducks and No. 11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The winner of that game would face Clemson in the Peach Bowl on January 1st. USA TODAY projects Oregon to defeat Notre Dame and to defeat Clemson, setting up a rematch against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl with the winner facing Texas in the National Championship.

Other Bowl Projections

The lone ACC team removed from the bowl projections from last week is Dave Doeren’s NC State Wolfpack, who are now 3-4 overall and 0-3 in league play after falling to Syracuse in Week 7.

Otherwise the projections look pretty similar, with five of the exact same projected matchups and a few others where only the opponent changed.

Here is a look at the other nine bowl projections for the ACC:

Louisville Cardinals vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (Duke’s Mayo Bowl)

SMU Mustangs vs. Texas A&M Aggies (Gator Bowl)

Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Oregon State Beavers (Sun Bowl)

Virginia Cavaliers vs. Memphis Tigers (Military Bowl)

Pitt Panthers vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Pop-Tarts Bowl)

Syracuse Orange vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers (Pinstripe Bowl)

Boston College Eagles vs. Tulane Green Wave (Fenway Bowl)

Duke Blue Devils vs. Utah Utes (Holiday Bowl)

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (Birmingham Bowl)

With quite a few high profile matchups in the ACC this week, including Notre Dame at Georgia Tech, Virginia at Clemson, and Miami at Louisville, significant changes could be coming to the bowl projections ahead of Week 9.

Notre Dame has found its 2025 quarterback, flipping a Clemson commit

It’s been quite the day for Notre Dame recruiting

When Deuce Knight flipped his verbal commitment from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the Auburn Tigers, it left Marcus Freeman in a difficult position.

Many of the top quarterbacks had already made their decisions, so the Irish needed to go after a committed player if they wanted to fill that need in the 2025 class. On Monday, it was mission accomplished, as [autotag]Blake Hebert[/autotag] flipped from the Clemson Tigers to Notre Dame.

At 6-foot, 3-inches and 205-pounds, he has the frame that you are looking for in a quarterback. Hebert is ranked as the nation’s No. 400 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

This move was a complete surprise, as there had not been any smoke between the two parties. Either way, it’s a welcome one as the Irish sorely needed to add a quarterback in this class, and while he’s not as highly ranked as Knight, Hebert wanted to be Irish.

He becomes the second flip of the day for Notre Dame, as earlier in-state offensive lineman Cameron Herron decided against Iowa and joined the Irish.

What resonates in your mind after the Irish’s big win over A&M? — Aug 31, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts in the fourth quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

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What experts are saying about Clemson in College Football Playoff projections after Week 7

Where college football analysts see Clemson in the College Football Playoff field after Week 7.

With five straight wins, the Clemson Tigers have climbed into the Top 10 of both the US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll after Week 7. The Tigers have also risen or held firm in updated College Football Playoff projection models at the halfway point of the season.

Clemson (5-1) moved up two spots to No. 9 in this week’s Coaches Poll following Week 7’s 49-14 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday in Winston-Salem. The Tigers stayed at No. 10 in the AP poll.

Dabo Swinney’s team rose one spot to No. 8 in Heather Dinich’s top 12 team projections ($) for ESPN. Clemson also stayed at No. 8 in ESPN’s weekly Power Rankings with Andrea Adelson noting:

“The Tigers rolled through another opponent this past weekend, beating Wake Forest 49-14, the fourth time they scored 40 or more points this season. The offense has found a nice balance with Cade Klubnik (No. 5 in the nation in total QBR) and Phil Mafah (6.9 yards per rush), and the defense has held its past three opponents to two touchdowns or less.

“Suddenly, Clemson looks like a favorite to make it back to the ACC championship game. There are some obstacles ahead — including Louisville and back-to-back road trips at Virginia Tech and Pitt. But if Clemson keeps playing consistently, the Tigers will control their destiny.”

At On3, veteran college football guru Andy Staples kept Clemson as his pick to win the ACC, as well as the No. 3 seed in his 12-team playoff projections — the third week in a row that Staples has favored the Tigers over the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC race.

Staples sees Penn State (projected No. 6) and Texas A&M (No. 11) meeting in the first round as at-large teams with the winner advancing to play Clemson in the Peach Bowl.

Over at 247Sports, Brad Crawford is imagining Clemson vs. Alabama Round V in the playoff. Crawford sees the Crimson Tide and Tigers meeting in the Peach Bowl — after Clemson wins the ACC to secure an automatic playoff berth and Alabama, as a No. 11 seed, defeats Miami in a first-round game at Hard Rock Stadium.

Crawford isn’t the only analyst who’s picturing a Clemson-Alabama matchup in the playoffs. In his new playoff projections ($) for The Athletic, Stewart Mandel has the Tigers hosting the Crimson Tide in Death Valley in a first-round, No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed game.

Over at CBS Sports, Clemson stayed a projected No. 10 seed in analyst Jerry Palm’s updated playoff projections. Palm still sees the Tigers facing the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium in Athens in a first-round, No. 10 vs. No. 7 seed matchup.

With the exception of Staples, the Texas Longhorns were the projected No. 1 overall seed in all of these playoff predictions.

Next Up

Clemson hosts the Virginia Cavaliers in a noon ET kickoff Saturday in Death Valley. The game will be televised on ACC Network.

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Cade Klubnik headlines college football’s ‘Good, Bad & Ugly’ during Week 7

Clemson QB Cade Klubnik headlines Week 7’s recap in our “Good, Bad & Ugly”.

Week 7 across the college football landscape brought plenty of candidates for this week’s “Good, Bad & Ugly.” From the ACC to the SEC and everywhere in between, College Sports Wire has three deserving nominees in each category.

While the College Football Playoff appears to becoming more clear by the day, the conference races are heating up. Nothing is set in stone this early but Week 7 and Week 8 will create some separation from the contenders and pretenders to the crown in 2024.

We will dive into the conference’s races at another time, for now we present the “Good, Bad & Ugly” from college football in Week 7.

The Good: Cade Klubnik’s turnaround

After the opening weekend against the Georgia Bulldogs, we were left with more questions than answers regarding the Clemson Tigers and more importantly quarterback Cade Klubnik. On that day Klubnik completely just 18 of 29 attempts for 142 yards with one interception and two sacks. The Klubnik we have seen since Week 1 has been anything but that same player.

The Tigers have won five straight games and are once again among the top 10 teams in college football. Over the last five games, Klub has thrown for 17 touchdowns with just one interception. Against Wake Forest, the Texas native threw for over 300 yards with three touchdowns as Clemson blasted the Demon Deacons 49-14 on the road.

The Tigers remained perfect in ACC play.

The Bad: The Oklahoma Sooners offense in the Red River Rivalry

SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

For the second time in three seasons under Brent Venables, the Oklahoma Sooners were held to three or fewer points by the Texas Longhorns defense in the Red River Rivalry game. The first time it came under the guidance of former offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, who is now the head coach at Mississippi State. This time around it was co-offensive coordinator Seth Littrell calling the plays.

After taking an early 3-0 lead in the closing minutes of the first quarter, the Texas Longhorns dominated the next three quarterbacks en route to the 34-3 victory. OU’s offense never really found their footing with six punts. Of the team’s 13 drives, the Sooners saw nine ended via a punt, fumble, or turnover on downs.

After their showing for most of the Auburn game and how they looked on the field against Texas, the Sooners have a lot of soul-searching to do on that side of the ball.

The Ugly: Time Management by the Ohio State Buckeyes

It was a great matchup between the then-ranked No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes and No. 3 Oregon Ducks on Saturday night. Down by one with just 1:47 left in the game, Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard was ready to lead his team down the field for the opportunity to steal this win away from the Ducks’ hands.

The only problem is that the time management shown by Ohio State ruined any opportunity to set up the game-winning field goal attempt. With just 10 seconds left in the game, Oregon was called for 12 men on the field but it burned some time off. On the next play, Howard rushed upfield as time ran out.

What might be the most frustrating aspect of this whole sequence to end the game is that Ohio State finished the game with a timeout in their pockets.

Where does Clemson rank in new AP Top 25 Poll after Saturday?

Take a look at where Clemson is ranked in the new AP Top 25 College Football Poll following Week 7.

The Clemson Tigers’ impressive 49-14 road win over Wake Forest in ACC play Saturday didn’t have any effect on their standing in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll, released Sunday.

Clemson stayed at No. 10 in this week’s AP poll, while two teams jumped ahead of Dabo Swinney’s Tigers. The LSU Tigers (5-1) moved up five spots to No. 8 in this week’s poll after their 29-26 overtime victory against rival Ole Miss in Baton Rouge, while the unbeaten Iowa State Cyclones (6-0) moved up two spots to No. 9.

Clemson moved ahead of the Tennessee Volunteers (No. 11) in the rankings after the Vols needed overtime to get past the Florida Gators 23-17. The Tigers also remained ranked ahead of Notre Dame (No. 12) and a surging BYU Cougars (6-0, No. 13) team from the Big 12.

For the second straight week, the Texas Longhorns (6-0) were No. 1 in the AP poll. The Oregon Ducks (6-0) rose to No. 2 after their thrilling 32-31 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1) at Autzen Stadium. Penn State (6-0) rose one spot to No. 3 while Ohio State dropped two spots to No. 4. The Georgia Bulldogs (5-1) rounded out the top five.

The Miami Hurricanes (6-0) stayed at No. 6 following their Week 7 bye. The ‘Canes will head to Louisville this weekend to take on the Louisville Cardinals.

Elsewhere in the ACC, the Pitt Panthers (6-0) moved up two spots to No. 20, and the SMU Mustangs (5-1) rose four spots to No. 21.

Clemson hosts Virginia this Saturday in a noon ET kickoff in Death Valley. The game will be televised on ACC Network.

AP Top 25 Poll Week 7

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Change
1	Texas	6-0	1544 (56)	+1
2	Oregon	6-0	1493 (6)	+1
3	Penn State	6-0	1380	+0
4	Ohio State	5-1	1357	-2
5	Georgia	5-1	1300	–
6	Miami (FL)	6-0	1232	–
7	Alabama	5-1	1127	–
8	LSU	5-1	994	+5
9	Iowa State	6-0	982	+2
10	Clemson	5-1	980	–
11	Tennessee	5-1	959	-3
12	Notre Dame	5-1	914	-1
13	BYU	6-0	889	+1
14	TAMU	5-1	744	+1
15	Boise State	5-1	597	+2
16	Indiana	6-0	580	+2
17	Kansas State	5-1	567	+1
18	Ole Miss	5-2	511	-9
19	Missouri	5-1	409	+2
20	Pitt	6-0	397	+2
21	SMU	5-1	260	+4
22	Illinois	5-1	249	+1
23	Army	6-0	137	–
24	Michigan	4-2	133	–
25	Navy	5-0	84	–

Others Receiving Votes:

Vanderbilt 68, Nebraska 62, Arizona St. 39, Oklahoma 36, Washington St. 32, Iowa 29, Texas Tech 18, Syracuse 13, Arkansas 13, Utah 7, Louisville 6, Southern Cal 5, Liberty 2, UNLV 1.

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Latest US LBM Coaches Poll includes two ACC teams in the top 10

The Miami Hurricanes and Clemson Tigers remain the cream of the crop in the ACC in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll.

The Duke Blue Devils didn’t make up any ground in the voting with their bye week, but four other ACC football teams kept themselves inside the top 25 of the US LBM Coaches Poll.

USA TODAY Sports released the updated rankings on Sunday, and the undefeated Miami Hurricanes and one-loss Clemson Tigers kept themselves at the forefront of the conference.

The Hurricanes got a needed bye week after fourth-quarter comebacks over Virginia Tech and California, remaining at the No. 6 spot in the rankings. The Tigers jumped two spots to ninth after a 49-14 victory over Wake Forest, anchored by a 309-yard, three-touchdown game from quarterback Cade Klubnik.

The Pittsburgh Panthers remained undefeated with a 17-15 victory over the Golden Bears thanks to 120 yards and two touchdowns from running back Desmond Reid. After breaking into the rankings for the first time last week, the Panthers rose to 20th in Sunday’s rankings.

Check out the complete US LBM Coaches Poll below:

Ranking	Team	Record	Points
1	Texas Longhorns	6-0	1,373 (53)
2	Oregon Ducks	6-0	1,322 (2)
3	Penn State Nittany Lions	6-0	1,220
4	Georgia Bulldogs	5-1	1,189
5	Ohio State Buckeyes	5-1	1,141
6	Miami Hurricanes	6-0	1,105
7	Alabama Crimson Tide	5-1	1,010
8	LSU Tigers	5-1	914
9	Clemson Tigers	5-1	904
10	Tennessee Vols	5-1	891
11	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	5-1	838
12	Iowa State Cyclones	6-0	823
13	BYU Cougars	6-0	686
14	Texas A&M Aggies	5-1	636
15	Ole Miss Rebels	5-2	524
16	Missouri Tigers	5-1	521
17	Kansas State Wildcats	5-1	472
18	Indiana Hoosiers	6-0	462
19	Boise State Broncos	5-1	373
20	Pittsburgh Panthers	6-0	340
21	Illinois Fighting Illini	5-1	231
22	Michigan Wolverines	4-2	223
23	SMU Mustangs	5-1	183
24	Army Knights	6-0	104
25	Nebraska Cornhuskers	5-1	90

Dropped Out

No. 16 Oklahoma; No. 17 Utah

Receiving Votes

Oklahoma 81; Arizona State 49; Navy 37; Utah 31; Vanderbilt 26; Syracuse 13; UNLV 12; Iowa 12; Texas Tech 9; Liberty 9; Washington State 8; Memphis 4; Louisville 4; James Madison 3; Tulane 2