Syracuse Football: Four ACC teams ranked in top 10 of latest major polls

As Syracuse football gears up for Duke this Saturday afternoon, ACC squads are making moves in the new top-25 ballots.

Syracuse football picked up its inaugural victory of the 2020 campaign on Sept. 26, an encouraging 37-20 dismantling of Georgia Tech inside the newly renovated Carrier Dome.

Now sitting at 1-2 and coming off of its first bye week of the fall term, the Orange is preparing to host fellow Atlantic Coast Conference foe Duke this Saturday at 12:30 pm on the Hill.

As the ‘Cuse sat idle this past weekend, some of its ACC peers shuffled around in the most-recent Associated Press and Coaches top-25 polls.

In both ballots, there are five league crews rated within the top 25, including four in the top 10 of each poll. That’s not too shabby for the conference!

Starting with the AP top-25 poll, Clemson is No. 1, followed by Notre Dame at No. 5, Miami at No. 7, North Carolina at No. 8 and Virginia Tech at No. 19.

Turning to the Coaches top-25 ballot, the Tigers are again at No. 1, along with the Fighting Irish at No. 5, the Hurricanes at No. 7, the Tar Heels at No. 9 and the Hokies at No. 18.

Syracuse football opponents, both previous and future ones, changed around their placements a bit in the major polls.

Pittsburgh, at No. 24 in the AP poll and No. 25 in the Coaches ballot a week ago, dropped out of both rankings after the Panthers suffered their initial setback of the 2020 stanza.

Pitt, which had knocked off Syracuse football at home last month in relatively dominating fashion, got bested on its own turf by N.C. State in a thrilling contest, 30-29.

Pertaining to ACC groups presently in the top-25 polls, the Orange has already fallen to UNC, and the ‘Cuse goes on the road to battle Clemson and Notre Dame later in the fall campaign.

N.C. State, Pittsburgh and Virginia are in the “others receiving votes” category of the AP top-25 poll. On the Coaches side, they are included in that department as well, along with Boston College and Syracuse football non-conference adversary Liberty.