ACC Coastal Division Power Rankings: Week 10

Nov 7, 2015; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels fans react in the second quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Dear College Football Playoff Committee,

Today I want to talk about why UNC wasn’t ranked in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. I know you have problems with the ACC. Yes, undefeated Clemson was ranked number 1, but the ACC was the only Power 5 conference to not have at least three teams in the initial ranking. I understand that the SEC is your favorite, with the Big 10 coming in second, but why is it that you continue to disrespect the ACC and UNC? Speaking on behalf of the Tar Heels here, our offense is one of the best in the country — UNC ranks second in the nation at 7.6 yards per play. We also rank 6th overall in offensive efficiency, making us the only Power 5 school ranked in the top seven not in your rankings either.

I understand defense matters and that we do give up a lot of yards on the ground. However we are tied for second in the nation on yards through the air. We are 22nd overall in points per game, which is only a few points per game more than Clemson, Alabama, and Ohio State. So even though we give up some yards here and there we are keeping teams out of the end zone.

I know we have a bad loss as South Carolina isn’t exactly tearing it up this year, but if you re-watch that game you can tell we were the better team and we just had a few bad breaks. How is that any different from what Ohio State did last year losing early to Virginia Tech? At least our loss was at a neutral location, theirs was at home. How is that loss worse than two losses to anybody? UCLA was blown out by a 4-5 Arizona State team. Mississippi State lost to an A&M team that just lost to Auburn. A&M, before the Auburn loss, couldn’t score a TD against an Ole Miss team that just loss to a mediocre Arkansas in OT. Do you know how many times this year we have failed to score a TD? Zero.

We also haven’t been beaten by more than four points all year. Michigan can’t claim that. Nor can SEC darlings LSU, Alabama, or Florida. Sure our schedule hasn’t been as strong as others, but we aren’t struggling against it. We have four wins against teams with winning record and won all eight of our games by at least a TD. Stanford needed a late missed FG to beat Washington State (who opened the season with a  loss to Portland State). Florida beat Vanderbilt by two. Even Bama needed a late pick to hold off Tennessee by four.

I understand a lot has changed this week as 11 undefeateds became six. I know your rankings are fluid and that teams move sometimes with no real explanation at all (cue all the TCU fans nodding at once). It has crossed my mind that UNC might just make your top 25 this week. While Iowa was fighting off Indiana and Northwestern was beating their second team by all of two points, don’t forget about the Tar Heels down in Chapel Hill, who were dropping 66 on a pretty good Duke team. It may be a little early for basketball but we are still pumped up for a championship run and would like very much to be considered for a top-tier bowl.

Sincerely,

The KIH Rankings Guru

With all that said, it is time for this week’s edition of the ACC Coastal Division Power Rankings.

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