Carolina's College Football Power Rankings

-Dawson Haywood

Last Week's Standings

#1: Clemson (1-1) (13 Points)
#2: App State (1-1) (10 Points)
#3: North Carolina (8 Points)
#4: Coastal Carolina (2-0) (7 Points)
#5: NC State (1-1) (6 Points)
#6: South Carolina (2-0) (5 Points)
#7: Charlotte (2-0) (4 Points)
#8: Wake Forest (2-0) (3 Points)
#9: Duke (1-1) (2 Points)
#10: East Carolina (0-2) (1 Point)

Current Standings

#1: Clemson (2-1) (13+13=26 Points)
Previous: vs Georgia Tech (W 14-8)
Upcoming: @ #6 NC State
Summary: Clemson is heading down what could be a very slippery slope. Though they won, it was against Georgia State. Clemson's offence has got to get the ball rolling before long otherwise they are going to struggle in more ACC games. Their performance against NC State this coming week is going set the tone for the rest of the season. North Carolina or any other ACC team knocking Clemson off the ACC throne this year is looking more and more like a reality.

#2 (+1): North Carolina (2-1) (8+10=18 Points)
Previous: vs Virginia (W 59-39)
Upcoming: vs Georgia Tech
Summary: Defense is going to be what kills this Carolina team. Sam Howell and that offence are electric, obviously, they put up 59 points for the second week in a row. Is it possible that their week one performance against Virginia Tech was a fluke? Absolutely. The Carolina team that showed up this weekend was a Carolina team that could win the ACC this year. 

#3 (+1): Coastal Carolina (3-0) (7+8=15 Points)
Previous: @ Buffalo (W 28-25)
Upcoming: vs UMass
​Summary: The Buffalo Bulls are not a bad team by any means. They likely deserve a better conference than the MAC, and could probably even run with some of the lower teams of the Big 10, but we will not get into that. This was a quality win by Coastal Carolina and because of that they will sit at #3 this week. 

#4 (-2): App State (2-1) (10+7=17 Points)
Previous: vs Elon (W 44-10)
Upcoming: vs Marshall
Summary: App State and Coastal Carolina are likely going to be neck and neck all season long, like they do in Sun Belt Conference play. App State could be the #3 or even the #2 team in these power rankings. Elon is what brings them down this week. Not a quality win, but a win is a win. 

#5 (+3) Wake Forest (3-0) (3+6=9 Points) 
Previous: vs Florida State (W 35-14)
Upcoming: @ Virginia
Summary: Is Wake Forest Good or is Florida State a hoax? Last week I mentioned that Wake is just a that is always just "there" and this week they proved that maybe we should keep an eye out. This win defiantly puts them on the map especially winning by as much as they did. They did not keep this game close. Once they went up by two possessions, they stayed up by two possessions. They even managed to shut out the Seminoles in the second half. 

#6 (-1): NC State (2-1) (6+5=11 Points)
Previous: vs Furman (W 45-7)
Upcoming: vs #1 Clemson
Summary: This is a big week for NC State as a win against Clemson could tap NC State into being one of the top teams in the state. A win this week would shake the entire NCAA to it's core. It has been since October 13, 2017 since Clemson lost to an ACC opponent (Syracuse: 27-24). After Clemson's close call against Georgia Tech it is speculated that the Wolfpack could be the second ACC team in 5 years to take down the Tigers. 

#7 (-1): South Carolina (2-1) (5+4=9 Points)
Previous: @ Georgia (L 40-13)
Upcoming: vs Kentucky
Summary: Like Clemson a few weeks ago, we did not dock South Carolina because they lost to Georgia. The reason South Carolina is down this week is simply because of Wake Forest. South Carolina has a stretch of very winnable games until they have to play Texas Tech. South Carolina will have to win these next few weeks against Kentucky, Troy, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt and hope that some other team on this list falls off before they have a chance at moving up. South Carolina does have the opportunity to be the #1 team on this list due to four of the last five games being ranked SEC opponents and Clemson. 

#8 (+2): East Carolina (1-2) (1+3=4 Points)
Previous: @ Marshall (W 42-38)
Upcoming: vs Charleston Southern
​Summary: East Carolina, I guess we have to put some respect on their names this week. Marshall is a quality opponent, but their other two losses against #4 App State and #7 South Carolina prevent us from moving East Carolina any higher than what they currently are. 

#9 (-2): Charlotte (2-1) (4+2=6 Points)
Previous: @ Georgia State (L 20-9)
Upcoming: vs Middle Tennessee
Summary: We had high hopes for Charlotte this year, and maybe like Carolina, this could be a hoax game. Not many teams ever go undefeated so it is possible that this is Charlotte's one to lose. 

#10 (-1): Duke (2-1) (2+1=3 Points)
Previous: vs Northwestern (W 30-23)
Upcoming: vs Kansas
Summary: Duke still lost to Charlotte so we cannot rank them any higher. 

All Time Standings
#1: Clemson: 26 Points
#2: North Carolina: 18 Points
#3: App State: 17 Points
#4: Coastal Carolina: 15 Points
#5: NC State: 11 Points
#T6: Wake Forest: 9 Points
#T6: South Carolina: 9 Points
#8: Charlotte: 6 Points
#9: East Carolina: 4 Points
#10: Duke: 3 Points