Syracuse takes a huge leap up, everyone else mostly chills
In the latest SP+ rankings, Miami fell, Clemson continued to improve, and Syracuse took a huge jump up. Most of the rest of the ACC hung around the same spot.
NC State’s defensive performance was well rewarded by SP+ as that unit saw their rating improve by 2.8 points, resulting in a 14-spot improvement in the defense rankings. Unfortunately, the offense continues to suffer. The unit that failed to put up 200 yards of total offense saw its rating diminish by 1.3 points, correlating to a 5 spot drop in the offense rankings. All told, the Wolfpack’s overall rating improved by 1.8 points, but the ranking fell by 1 spot. Numbers, man.
Pittsburgh has improved 25 spots over the last two weeks, which is impressive work for the Panthers, especially considering they didn’t play last week.
Duke appears to be the conference’s most unbalanced team with a stout defense and an offense that apparently struggles to fight out of a wet paper bag.
Keeping an eye on State’s non-conference opponents, Tennessee checks in at #5, Northern Illinois at #92, and Louisiana Tech at #116. The Huskies loss to the Pack this week dropped them 7 spots and dinged their overall rating by 1.3 points. Their defense, however, checks in at #38, if you’re looking for some kind of justification for the Pack’s poor offensive output last week. Wake comes to town this week with their 96th ranked defense.