With Ole Miss's convincing 43-24 win over Louisville on Monday night, Week 1 of the college football season is officially in the books.
And while there were plenty of good stories - Georgia's dominant win, UCLA, Alabama looking like Alabama - there was maybe one story that seemed to rise above all others: The ACC really, kind of stinks.
Now admittedly, the league played some legitimately tough games. And there's no shame in losing to Georgia (like Clemson did) or Alabama (which Miami did). But at the same time, you'd at least like to have seen some competitiveness from some of your teams in their marquee games, something that really only Florida State (and to a smaller degree, Clemson) were able to show.
Before we get to some stats, here are some of the notable results. The ACC team is boldened:
Georgia 10, Clemson 3
Alabama 44, Miami 13
Notre Dame 38, Florida State 35
Ole Miss 43, Louisville 24
So yes, the ACC was 0-4 in marquee games in Week 1, and here is some more context on just how bad Week 1 was for them.
The ACC entered Week 1 with three ranked teams. All three (Clemson, Miami, North Carolina) lost.
On top of the Week 1 losses to other Power 5 teams, the ACC also took two losses to non-Power 5 teams: Duke lost to Charlotte and Georgia Tech fell to Northern Illinois.
Not ideal.
Beyond that, here are the teams that ACC teams beat in Week 1 (outside of fellow ACC teams): Ohio, South Florida, UMass, Old Dominion and Colgate, William & Mary. That is a MAC team, an AAC team, two independents and two FCS teams, for those scoring at home.
With that said, the only win the ACC had against a Power 5 team was Virginia Tech's victory over North Carolina. Yes, an ACC team vs. another ACC team.
That also means that the Mountain West - where Utah State beat Washington State and Nevada beat Cal - had more Power 5 wins in Week 1 than the ACC did.
Want to take it to another level: The Big Sky, an FCS conference, had the same number of Power 5 wins (one) as the ACC did. That came when Montana beat Washington, matching Virginia Tech's victory over North Carolina.
In the end, it's fair to defend the ACC, by saying they challenged themselves in the out of conference. Three teams - Clemson, Miami and Florida State - played preseason Top 10 teams.
At the same time, you'd hope for a little better than this.
The good news: The ACC has a chance to bounce back this weekend, with Virginia hosting Illinois and Pitt traveling to Tennessee.
No pressure.
Just an entire league's reputation on the line.
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