No. 14 Louisville's home game against Cal, No. 12 Virginia's game against Wake Forest top ACC slate

Things to watch this week in the Atlantic Coast Conference:

Game of the week

California (5-4, 2-3 ACC) at No. 14 Louisville (7-1, 4-1), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

The ACC’s push for multiple College Football Playoff bids took a hit last week with then-No. 8 Georgia Tech and then-No. 10 Miami both losing. That leaves No. 12 Virginia as the lone unbeaten in the league standings, with the Cardinals among five one-loss teams behind them.

Louisville has won three straight since a home loss to Virginia, though coach Jeff Brohm said Isaac Brown, the league’s No. 2 rusher at 97.8 yards per game, will be out “for a while” due to injury.

California has lost two straight since getting within a win of becoming bowl eligible for the third straight season.

The undercard

Wake Forest (5-3, 2-3) at No. 12 Virginia (8-1, 5-0), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

The Cavaliers’ lone loss came against league foe N.C. State, but didn’t count in the ACC race since the game was a nonconference matchup added outside the league’s scheduling model. Otherwise, the Cavs have had every answer, including three wins in overtime or double overtime. The Demon Deacons remain a win from bowl eligibility under first-year coach Jake Dickert after last week’s 42-7 loss at Florida State.

Florida State (4-4, 1-4) at Clemson (3-5, 2-4), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network)

What looked like a marquee game before the season is now an afterthought. The preseason league favorite Tigers have a fight ahead to become bowl eligible after losing at home to Duke. The Seminoles followed a two-win season in 2024 by starting 0-4 in the league this year.

Impact players

— Duke QB Darian Mensah, who has thrown 13 touchdown passes with no interceptions in the Blue Devils’ current 4-1 stretch entering Saturday’s trip to UConn.

— SMU QB Kevin Jennings, who enters Saturday’s game at Boston College coming off a career-best 365 yards passing in a win over Miami.

Inside the numbers

The league has four teams in the AP Top 25 poll with No. 12 Virginia, No. 14 Louisville, No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 18 Miami. … The Hurricanes host Syracuse, which has lost five straight since winning at Clemson in a game that saw starting quarterback Steve Angeli lost to a season-ending injury. … After giving up at least 34 points in the first three games against power-conference foes, North Carolina has allowed 48 points in the three since. UNC hosts Stanford on Saturday looking for Bill Belichick’s second league win. … Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech have an open week.

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