We’re halfway through the season and the way I see it, there’s five tiers of talent amongst the ACC. The argument could be made for four tiers depending on how you choose to consolidate the meaty middle, but for the sake of this exercise, I’m contending that there’s five divides separating the levels of this conference, which are:
Tier 1: Clemson – clearly the .01%
Tier 2: Miami, NC State – the other Top 25 teams
Tier 3: Duke, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Boston College – The box of chocolates tier, you never know what you’re gonna get
Tier 4: Georgia Tech, Pitt, Wake Forest, Virginia – a narrow margin from tier 3 but a divide nonetheless
Tier 5: Florida State, North Carolina, Louisville – rock bottom
The league saw three teams on the bye and only one matchup versus a non-conference opponent (sort of) in Notre Dame, but everyone else was embroiled in ACC-play.