Mark Schlabach (ESPN) – Miami vs. Louisville
Brad Edwards (ESPN) – Virginia Tech vs. Louisville
Scout.com/CollegeFootballNews.com – Virginia Tech vs. Louisville
Jerry Palm – Miami vs. Louisville
ESPN ACC – Virginia Tech
SB Nation– Miami vs. Louisville
Athlon Sports– Clemson vs. Louisville
Sporting News– Virginia Tech vs. Louisville
Orlando Sentinel– Clemson vs. Louisville
Louisville (7-1, 3-1 AAC) remains the only team to appear in projections out of the American Athletic Conference for the second straight week, while in the ACC it appears that it will be a battle between the top two teams in the Coastal Division, Miami (7-0, 3-0 ACC) and Virginia Tech (6-2, 3-1 ACC), for the right to head to Orlando for this year’s Russell Athletic Bowl.
Louisville rebounded from a tough 38-35 loss to UCF with a convincing 34-3 win this past weekend over USF. Teddy Bridgewater led the Cardinals with 344 passing yards for three touchdowns. The Louisville defense limited the Bulls to just 133 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers, including a 70 yard interception return for a touchdown by sophomore cornerback Charles Gaines. The Cardinals are idle this weekend before heading to Storrs for a Friday night matchup with Connecticut (0-7, 0-3 AAC).
Miami was included in one additional projection this week thanks in part to a 24-21 come from behind win over Wake Forest (4-4, 2-3 ACC). Sophomore running back Duke Johnson ran for 168 yards and two touchdowns, including 50 yards and a touchdown on what would ultimately be the game-winning drive. The Hurricanes will head north to face in-state rivals Florida State (7-0, 5-0 ACC) in a battle between the two remaining undefeated teams in the ACC, with ESPN’s College GameDay in attendance.
Virginia Tech fell to Duke (6-2, 2-2 ACC), 13-10, this weekend, snapping a six game winning streak for the Hokies. Logan Thomas threw for 214 yards and added 101 yards and a touchdown on the ground, but threw four interceptions including two in the redzone in the defeat. The Hokies still control their own destiny with a trip to Miami looming on November 9th, but first Virginia Tech has to travel to Boston College (3-4, 1-3 ACC) this weekend.
Clemson (7-1, 5-1 ACC) rebounded from its first loss of the season with a convincing 40-27 win over Maryland in week nine. Wide receiver Sammy Watkins set the Tiger single game record with 14 receptions in the win to go along with 163 yards. This was Watkins 12th game with at least 100 yards receiving in his career which ties the Clemson mark previously held by DeAndre Hopkins. The Tigers return to the mid-Atlantic this weekend to face Virginia (2-6, 0-4 ACC).
