Week eight: Ranking the Carolinas

1. North Carolina

Record: 5-1

Last week: Won vs. Notre Dame, 29-24

UNC beat Notre Dame despite its best player, Brandon Tate, not playing for most of the game. Tate hurt his knee on a punt return in the first quarter, but fellow receiver Hakeem Nicks and quarterback Cam Sexton willed the Heels to yet another win. They will have to get used to playing without Tate, however, as the senior's career is now over with a torn MCL and ACL. UNC will get tested now, as the ACC's best player will be on the sidelines watching the rest of the season. That test starts this week with Virginia, a team we all know is hitting on all cylinders right now.

2. South Carolina

Record: 5-2

Last week: Won at Kentucky, 24-17

South Carolina is about as quiet as a 5-2 football team can be. After losing to Vanderbilt and Georgia in back-to-back weeks last month, USC has ripped off three straight wins-including two straight SEC wins on the road. Quarterback Stephen Garcia led USC's comeback win at Kentucky despite not starting. The talented freshman replaced Chris Smelley in the third quarter and finished the game 10-of-14 for 169 yards and one touchdown. Keeping that momentum will be tough this week when LSU comes to town, however. The Tigers, fresh off a beating from Florida, should be playing with revenge on their minds-not good, Gamecock fans.

3. Wake Forest

Record: 4-1

Last week: Won vs. Clemson, 12-7

All the talk about the Clemson-Wake Forest debacle last Thursday has been about Tommy Bowden-and rightfully so. The Tigers' loss was so bad that Bowden stepped down as the head coach Monday afternoon and wide receivers coach Dabo Swinney will be the interim coach for the rest of the season. The Deacons' win over Clemson looks less credible now, as it is evident that the Clemson's players were not willing to fight for Bowden's job, which showed in their game against Wake. With that said, Wake did its job and won the game. It will have to continue to do that on the road now, as it plays at Maryland and at Miami the next two weeks.

4. Duke

Record: 3-2

Last week: bye week

The top-3 teams in this poll are pretty equal. There's a pretty big drop-off after that, however. The Blue Devils had a bye week last week, and they needed it. After getting stomped by Georgia Tech 27-0 in its first road game of the season, Duke will have to change its ways on the road if it wants a bowl berth this season. After hosting Miami Saturday, the Blue Devils play four of their final six games on the road. Given the schedule, Duke needs to beat Miami this week, because home games will be few and far between from here on out.

5. N.C. State

Record: 2-4

Last week: bye week

N.C. State enters the rankings this week because, well, somebody has to be ranked fifth. Clemson simply doesn't deserve any type of ranking after what happened with its program in the last week, and ECU needs to record a win before it creeps back in. The good news for the Wolfpack is that they play Florida State tonight, which is still N.C. State's Superbowl. You can expect an all-out effort from N.C. State tonight, because the roster is still littered with enough of Chuck Amato's players. The bad news for N.C. State is it might not matter, because Florida State is so much better than the Wolfpack this year that even a maximum effort by N.C. State will not guarantee a win.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.