Miami holds off Florida State 43-35 to stay perfect atop the ACC

Miami is still the only unbeaten team in the conference, but Florida State made the Hurricanes earn it. The final in Florida State at Miami was 43-35, a win that moves Miami to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in league play.

The margin matters as much as the result. Miami closed as a 21.5-point favourite and won by eight. A Florida State team that came in at 1-2 in the conference scored 35 on the No. 3 team in the country, and the market had priced nothing close to that. Miami keeps the top spot in the standings, but the gap between the Hurricanes and the chasing pack looked smaller on Saturday than it has all season.

What happened

Florida State 35, Miami 43. Miami stayed perfect and climbed a spot in the poll, but Florida State covered comfortably and fell to 1-3 in the ACC.

Wake Forest 41, Cal 7. Wake Forest went west and won by 34 in Wake Forest at Cal, moving to 6-1 and 4-1 in the conference. Cal drops to 3-4.

Virginia 13, SMU 23. SMU won Virginia at SMU by 10 to reach 3-1 in league play. Virginia managed 13 points and sits at 2-2.

North Carolina 24, Duke 20. North Carolina won the rivalry game on the road in North Carolina at Duke, improving to 2-1 in the ACC. Duke falls to 1-2.

Louisville 34, Syracuse 26. Louisville won by eight in Louisville at Syracuse to get to 3-2 in the conference. Syracuse is 2-4 but stayed inside the number.

Pittsburgh 21, Boston College 27. Boston College beat Pittsburgh at home in Pitt at Boston College. Pitt drops to 2-2 in league play.

Georgia Tech 24, Virginia Tech 34. Virginia Tech pulled away by 10 in Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech to reach 5-2. Georgia Tech is 2-4.

Charleston Southern 0, Clemson 37. Clemson posted a shutout of Charleston Southern in Charleston Southern at Clemson and is 4-2.

Elon 7, Stanford 34. Stanford handled Elon in Elon at Stanford to move to 3-4.

Rankings and standings

Three conference teams are in the AP Top 25. Miami moves up from No. 4 to No. 3. Wake Forest enters the poll at No. 21. SMU holds at No. 24.

The standings have a clear top three: Miami at 4-0, Wake Forest at 4-1 and SMU at 3-1. Behind them, Clemson and North Carolina are both 2-1, with Louisville at 3-2. Four teams sit at 2-2: Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Cal. Duke, Boston College, NC State and Georgia Tech are all 1-2, and Florida State and Stanford are 1-3.

The middle of the table is where the movement will come from. Seven teams are within one loss of each other between 2-1 and 2-2, and none of them can afford many more.

The desk

It was a week for fading favourites, and the desk split accordingly.

Vera "The Fade" Kowalski went 2-0, taking Florida State +21.5 against Miami and Syracuse +13.5 against Louisville. Both underdogs lost and both covered. She is 11-9 on the season.

Dr. Priya "The Quant" Raman went 1-1. North Carolina +3.5 at Duke won outright, but Virginia +8.5 at SMU missed by a point and a half. She is also 11-9.

Marcus "Film Room" Dawkins took the other side of both of Kowalski's games, Miami -21.5 and Louisville -13.5, and lost both. He is 0-2 for the week and 10-10 overall.

Lou "The Sharp" Marchetti also went 0-2. Georgia Tech +9.5 at Virginia Tech lost by half a point, and Cal +9.5 against Wake Forest was never close. He is 6-13 on the season.

What's next

Miami has the target and the record, but Wake Forest and SMU are close enough that every remaining conference game carries weight at the top. The more crowded fight is in the middle, where North Carolina, Clemson and Louisville are trying to stay in range and the 2-2 group needs wins to avoid falling out of contention. Full fixtures and kickoff times are on the schedule page, and the odds for each game will be on the board as the market opens.