LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It could have lasted until the first week of the last month of the season, but the title race in the Atlantic Coast Conference became very clear this past weekend.

SMU smothered Pitt in the battle of undefeated teams in ACC play, then when you combine that with Clemson’s surprising loss to Louisville, there are now only two undefeated teams left in conference play: Miami and SMU.

Of course, a few teams are still vying to make it to Charlotte. Clemson, Louisville, Pitt and Virginia Tech aren’t mathematically eliminated yet, but the Hurricanes and Mustangs control their own destiny.

So where do things currently stand in the conference after 10 weeks of football? Check out our Week 11 ACC power rankings below:

This game was pretty much the biggest upset of the weekend, not just in the ACC but in college football as a whole. Miami’s electric offense, which finished the game on a 36-3 run after trailing by 11 points in the third quarter, is admirable, but their defense still carries many question marks. Will this cost the Canes?

It seems like last week’s game against Duke was a strange anomaly. Transforming into a wagon before our eyes with both its efficient offense and ever-improving defense, SMU is on the verge of advancing to the ACC Championship Game in its first year in the league. Credit to Rhett Lashlee for his coaching job with the Mustangs.

It’s hard to win in Death Valley. It’s even harder to completely dominate Clemson in their shoes, but that’s exactly what Louisville did. Whether it was offense, defense or special teams, what the Cardinals did to the Tigers was nothing short of an ass kick. Jeff Brohm remains the upset king of college football.

This game was a clear indication that Clemson’s dominant post-Georgia run had more to do with the competition faced than the Tigers. Clemson was bullied on the field and completely outplayed on the sidelines. Questions about Dabo Swinney continue in full force after the Georgia game.

Maybe Pitt’s performance against Syracuse was a fluke. The Panthers looked vulnerable in the weeks leading up to their matchup with the Orange before the SMU game, but the Panthers were completely exposed early in this game and had no real answers. Defense, Pat Narduzzi’s calling card, was sorely lacking against the Mustangs.

It’s one way to avoid being embarrassed by Pitt. Sure, Syracuse looked completely out of sorts for most of the game, and Kyle McCord was still up and down, but the Orange deserve serious credit for mounting an 18-point comeback to eventually win in overtime. They now have a good opportunity to finish the season strongly.

“What could have been” seems to be the theme of the year for Virginia Tech. The preseason ACC dark horse has struggled to close out games at times this season, and that reared its ugly head once again against Syracuse. The Hokies are full of potential, but have fallen well short of delivering on it this season.

After a pair of lackluster performances against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech, the bye week could have come at a better time for Georgia Tech. The rewards on the other side? I have an appointment in Miami. Good luck, Yellow Jackets!

Slowly but surely NC State is pulling themselves out of the pit of despair. While the Wolfpack’s defense is still a fluke, true freshman QB CJ Bailey is starting to find his footing at the college level and the offense is improving as a result. Maybe a bowl game is in the future for NC State.

Year one of the Manny Diaz era at Duke has been a rousing success so far. Sure, they took a late lead against Diaz’s former team, but the Blue Devils qualified for the bowl and nearly knocked off the top two teams in the ACC. No matter how the rest of the season turned out, it was a success.

Similar to Georgia Tech, the bye week comes at a great time for Boston College, considering they have lost three games in a row. Like the Yellow Jackets, the Eagles now take Syracuse, then SMU. It will be an uphill climb to reach a bowl.

Wake Forest hasn’t been impressive lately, but winning close games is better than losing close games. There are some winnable games for the Demon Deacons at the end of the regular season, but there are also some very loseable games.

Maybe Mack Brown isn’t heading into retirement at the end of the season. Of course, the rivalry isn’t very strong, but UNC has won its last two games by a combined 51 points. Credit to Omarion Hampton for his incredible five-touchdown performance even though it was against FSU.

Cal has been incredibly unlucky since ACC play began, losing all four games by less than a touchdown. Although a win over Oregon State followed by a bye week could create positive momentum heading into the final month of the season.

Virginia has been floundering for the last month, losing three straight after a 4-1 opener, and things aren’t going to get any easier. They eventually have to go to Pitt, go to Notre Dame, host SMU, and go to Virginia Tech for the Commonwealth Cup. Have fun with it.

Stanford continues to find new ways to express complete and utter incompetence. Giving up 527 yards of offense to an NC State team that ranked 98th in total offense entering the game is just the latest example. I’m not sure who the answer is for the Cardinal in this era of college football, but it’s starting to look like Troy Taylor isn’t.

I’ll just say this: Do you know how bad you have to be to just score 11 points against the UNC defense? Florida State finished its ACC slate of games with its worst mark in conference play in program history.

(Photo of Roderick Daniels Jr.: Jerome Miron – Imagn Images)

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