1. The ACC didn't do itself any favors in primetime. The depleted Tar Heels fell out of the polls after entering Saturday's Chick-Fil-A kickoff as the No. 18 team in the country, and a last-ditch comeback didn't seem to ease voters' concerns about the ongoing investigation surrounding North Carolina's program. No. 13 Virginia Tech also dropped out of the top 10 after giving up a game-winning touchdown drive in the final two minutes to No. 3 Boise State, even if Duke head coach David Cutcliffe wasn't too impressed with the Broncos. By losing its two high-profile matchups, the ACC finds itself--along with the Big East--outside of the top 10 at the start of the season.
2. The depth of the ACC is still impressive. The ACC has four ranked teams--the Hokies, No. 12 Miami, No. 15 Georgia Tech and No. 17 Florida State--which is behind only the SEC (seven). Three of those teams are on Duke's schedule, along with Alabama--who retained the preseason No. 1 ranking--meaning the Blue Devils will have some formidable opponents as the season progresses.
3. The pollsters had no difficulty dropping winning teams. Virginia Tech remained in the top 15 despite losing to Boise State, but the real surprise was seeing Florida, Oklahoma and USC fall in the rankings after winning. The No. 8 Gators dropped four spots after a sloppy opener to the John Brantley-era that included a whopping eight fumbles. The Sooners similarly struggled, winning by just seven at home, to fall from No. 7 to No. 10, and the Trojans fell two spots after allowing 33 points to a mediocre Hawaii team.
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