Miami Hurricanes, Notre Dame, UNC — each in the ACC — drop in polls after victories
Winning doesn’t always bring you happiness in the major football polls.
The University of Miami learned that lesson Sunday afternoon when the Hurricanes dropped one spot from No. 11 to No. 12 in the AP Top 25 Poll and also to No. 12 in the Amway Coaches Poll.
UM (5-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved down after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers for their second consecutive victory since losing to No. 1 Clemson. Miami had dropped six spots from No. 7 in the AP poll after the loss to the Tigers but had since inched its way up.
In the AP, taking UM’s former spot at No. 11 is Division IA independent Brigham Young (5-0). Wisconsin moved up from No. 14 to No. 9 after it overwhelmed Illinois 45-7 Friday night.
Other ACC teams dropped after wins as well. Former No. 3 Notre Dame, which crushed Pittsburgh and just for this season is being counted as an ACC member in the standings, fell to No. 4. And former No. 14 North Carolina also dropped a spot to No. 15 after defeating former No. 23 and now unranked North Carolina State.
The ACC’s former No. 19 Virgina Tech fell out of the rankings after losing to Wake Forest.
The Canes, who finished 6-7 last season, started the season unranked. The Canes rose to No. 17 before defeating Louisville, then leaped to No. 12 before dominating Florida State and rising to No. 8. They had a week off after FSU and rose to No. 7 in both major polls.
Miami now has started its second bye week, and will use it to heal players who were announced as unavailable for the Virginia game en route to what the Canes hope will be a spot in the ACC title game. It’s goal will be a tough one to achieve.
