All-Carolina Poll: Wake Forest looks almost unstoppable as the best team in NC and SC
And welcome, already, to October. The month that will separate — prepare for incoming cliche — the contenders from the pretenders in the Carolinas and beyond. The 2021 college football season feels young yet, and at five weeks old it still kind of is. Kind of.
And yet, as these things go, it will mature in a hurry. The midway point of the regular season will be here in a blink and will arrive this weekend for those teams without an off week. For the others, it’s coming soon enough.
Why, it seems like just yesterday when everyone had Clemson locked in for another ACC Championship Game appearance, or when North Carolina was just about the consensus pick to play against the Tigers in Charlotte in early December. What’s it say that the two highest-ranked teams from the Carolinas in the preseason both find themselves unranked in early October?
It says, again, that more often than not we can expect the unexpected when it comes to college football around here. Maybe not all the time. Clemson’s high-level success, after all, has been pretty predictable for a good while. At least it was, until now.
And so what will October bring? The good news for the 10 FBS teams in the Carolinas: Most can still feel a reasonable level of optimism about their place in their various conference races. For some, that’s likely to fade quickly. In the meantime, Week 5 of the All-Carolina College Football Poll comes with the best-case scenario for each of these teams over the next month.
Good vibes only, and onto the poll:
1. Wake Forest (5-0, 3-0 ACC)
Previous ranking: 2
Last week: W 37-34 vs. Louisville
Up next: at Syracuse, Saturday
Best-case October: It has already been a best-case kind of season for the Demon Deacons, who are 5-0 for the first time since ... 2019. OK, so not that long ago. But this one feels a little different, no? And tell me, with a remaining October slate of playing at Syracuse, at Army and at home against Duke, what’s stopping Wake from entering November 8-0? The answer: nothing.
2. N.C. State (4-1, 1-0 ACC)
Previous ranking: 1
Last week: W 34-27 vs. Louisiana Tech
Up next: at Boston College, Oct. 16
Best-case October: Two upcoming road games, at Boston College and at Miami, look formidable yet winnable for the Wolfpack. Victories in those games are the sort of thing that separate the great seasons from the merely good wins, and State needs them if it’s to win the Atlantic Division. And so best case: A 3-0 October and entering November in command of the division.
3. Coastal Carolina (5-0, 1-0 Sun Belt)
Previous ranking: 3
Last week: W 59-6 vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Up next: at Arkansas State, Thursday
Best-case October: It all comes down to Oct. 20 in Boone. The setting should be gorgeous. The weather crisp and lovely. The stakes high. Is Coastal at Appalachian State the game of the year in the Carolinas? A compelling argument can be made. Win this, and Coastal is looking at back-to-back undefeated regular seasons.
4. Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC)
Previous ranking: 4
Last week: W 19-13 vs. Boston College
Up next: at Syracuse, Oct. 15
Best-case October: In homage to Third Eye Blind, the Tigers put the (recent) past away and inspire a spoiled legion of fans to step back from that ledge, my friend. Would a 3-0 October warrant such a return to sanity? It’s within reach, if the Tigers can escape Pitt with a victory Oct. 23.
5. North Carolina (3-2, 2-2 ACC)
Previous ranking: 6
Last week: W 38-7 vs. Duke
Up next: vs. Florida State, Saturday
Best-case October: Go ahead, Tar Heels fans. Dream the undefeated October dream. UNC has winnable games against one-win Florida State and perennially disappointing Miami. And then: at Notre Dame on Oct. 30. How much would a win there, and entering November 6-2, go toward undoing the bad mojo of UNC’s not-so-great 2-2 start?
6. Appalachian State (4-1, 1-0 Sun Belt)
Previous ranking: 5
Last week: W 45-16 at Georgia State
Up next: at Louisiana-Lafayette, Oct. 12
Best-case October: See above comment for Coastal Carolina. Assuming App handles Louisiana-Lafayette on the road, everything will be set up for a monumental Mountains vs. Sea battle Oct. 20. Epic poems were written about such things. The best case for the Mountaineers, then, would be to reclaim their hold of the Sun Belt. Won’t be easy.
7. South Carolina (3-2, 0-2 SEC)
Previous ranking: 7
Last week: W 23-14 vs. Troy
Up next: at Tennessee, Saturday
Best-case October: Insert the ol’ grimace emoji here. You know the one: It almost looks like a smile, but instead of connoting happiness, there’s only pain. Such is life in the SEC for a first-year head coach in the midst of a massive rebuild. The Gamecocks have Vanderbilt at home on Oct. 16. Road victories at Tennessee or Texas A&M, meanwhile, seem a bit much to expect, even in fantasyland.
8. ECU (3-2, 1-0 American)
Previous ranking: 10
Last week: W 52-29 vs. Tulane
Up next: at UCF, Saturday
Best-case October: The goal for Holton Ahlers and Co. from the start has been to get back to a bowl game for the first time since 2014. After a rocky start, that seems more possible now in Greenville. Two upcoming road games loom large, at UCF and Houston, and the Pirates would have to feel a lot better about things if they can steal one in Orlando. It’s hardly out of the realm.
9. Duke (3-2 ,0-1 ACC)
Previous ranking: 8
Last week: L 38-7 at North Carolina
Up next: vs. Georgia Tech, Saturday
Best-case October: It’s the Coastal Division, folks, and anything can happen. Might the Blue Devils get run off the field against Georgia Tech and Virginia, their next two opponents? That could happen. Could they win one of those games? Sure. A split there and enter a Halloween-eve road game at Wake Forest in hopes of playing spoiler? Why not.
10. Charlotte (3-2, 1-0 Conference USA)
Previous ranking: 9
Last week: L 24-14 at Illinois
Up next: at FIU, Friday
Best-case October: The 49ers are wily and spunky, and we at The Poll appreciate such things. After a respectable 10-point road loss at Illinois, Charlotte should be 2-0 in Conference USA after Friday. The October schedule becomes more difficult from there, against FAU and at Western Kentucky, but split one of those and the 49ers will enter November in the thick of things in the C-USA East.
