Five weeks into the season, there are enough data points and observations to start having a better idea of how the ACC's pecking order is shaking out.

Yet again, in the 2021 version of ACC football, things will look very different by the end of October than they do now at the beginning of the month.

Rivals.com's ACC publishers got together to compile an ACC Power Rankings for the network. You will find those results below, but first we reveal how The Wolfpacker has them ranked, as of Oct. 5.

1. Pittsburgh (4-1, 1-0 ACC) — Yes, we know. They had a bad loss on paper to Western Michigan, but if you look at WMU closer it's quite possible they could be a MAC favorite at the moment.

Furthermore, who has a better out of conference win that the Panthers' victory at Tennessee? It should be noted the Vols drubbed Missouri 62-24 this past weekend on the road, so that victory is holding up well.

Further enhancing Pitt for us: they probably have the best quarterback in the ACC right now in Kenny Pickett, and he is leading an offense that has scored at least 41 points in all five games it has played, including a 52-21 stomping of Georgia Tech on the road this past weekend in the Panthers' ACC opener.

2. Wake Forest (5-0, 3-0 ACC) — The Deacons have become the trendy pick to have at the top of power rankings for the ACC that you'll see out there, but we still have to ask: who have they beaten?

It's not Wake Forest's fault, but neither Old Dominion or Norfolk State played football last year. ACC wins at home over Florida State and Louisville and on the road at Virginia are not exactly against the league's cream of the crops. The 3-point win aided by some controversial officiating against Louisville this past weekend may be the best of the lot.

3. NC State (4-1, 1-0 ACC) — The loss at Mississippi State has a chance to hold up better than first anticipated after the Bulldogs defeated Texas A&M over the weekend. The win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday was not impressive on the scoreboard, but LaTech's three losses have been by a combined 10 points to a pair of top-25 teams in the Pack and undefeated SMU and also at Mississippi State, who received votes in this week's polls.

The Wolfpack though has a challenging road ahead, and while it''s defense has looked the part thus far, other than Louisiana Tech is has not faced prolific offenses. That is about to change.

4. Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC) — The offense stinks at the moment and is unlikely to get much better before year's end. That's the reality that is becoming crystal clear in Clemson.

However, it still has a great defense, even with its injuries, and that was a nice home win over a good Boston College team on Saturday. Its two losses were both away from Clemson and against top-25 teams by a combined 13 points, one of which went into double overtime.

More attention has been focused on close calls in its wins rather than its losses, however.

It only needs a little more offense to be in a good position against most of the rest of its schedule.

5. Boston College (4-1, 0-1 ACC) — This was a close call between Boston College and Virginia Tech. Ultimately, we gave the Eagles the edge for nearly pulling it out this past Saturday at Clemson and also owning a home win over Missouri from the SEC.

That said, Missouri did not do BC favors when it went out and got demolished at home by Tennessee last weekend.

6. Virginia Tech (3-1, 1-0 ACC) — The excitement of the season-opening win over UNC has lost its luster, and Virginia Tech did not look that great in a 21-10 home win over Richmond from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

That said, it should be undefeated. A goal line stand by West Virginia in what was a road game for the Hokies is all that stands in the way of that from happening. Virginia Tech has two big games ahead to prove itself — and both are in Blacksburg. This Saturday is against Notre Dame in primetime and then the following week it'll host Pittsburgh.

7. Louisville (3-2, 1-1 ACC) — After getting beaten soundly by a good Ole Miss team on a neutral field in the opener, Louisville has responded well. It knocked off Central Florida at home, hung on for a road win at Florida State and nearly upset Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.

The negative in those results however are that UCF this past weekend lost to previously winless Navy, FSU is not that good and there are questions about what Wake Forest really is.

8. Georgia Tech (2-3, 1-2 ACC) — This shows how bad the Coastal Division has looked early in the season that Georgia Tech is rated here, and in reality we may be ranking them too high on the list.

The Yellow Jackets though looked competitive in its loss at Clemson and then stomped UNC.

But, it also has two bad losses with how it performed in a 31-point stomping to Pittsburgh, and also losing to a Northern Illinois team in the opener, the same NIU squad that lost by 53 points at Michigan two weeks later.

9. North Carolina (3-2, 2-2 ACC) — One of few blatantly overrated teams in the preseason, UNC has been a Jekyll and Hyde in the ACC — really good at home and really bad when not.

It does have the quarterback in Sam Howell, who even if he is not playing as well as the Heisman hype he received preseason can still produce. If there is a team near the bottom of the power rankings that could rise up, UNC is the strongest candidate.

10. Virginia (3-2, 1-2 ACC) — The Cavs dodged a bullet when Miami missed a game-winning field goal try off the upright last week in Florida.

However, losing by 20 points in back-to-back ACC games, one of which was at home to Wake Forest, was not a good development.

11. Miami (2-3, 0-1 ACC) — Losing to Alabama is no shame, even if the Hurricanes looked utterly uncompetitive in the process. Losing by three touchdowns to Michigan State at home is not good, but the Spartans at least are knocking on the door, surprisingly, to top 10 status in the polls.

Falling in what seemed like a must-win game at home to Virginia though is costly, though. Miami now has three tough games in a row — at UNC, hosting NC State and at Pittsburgh, to try to turn around its season.

12. Florida State (1-4, 1-2 ACC) — It has one of the worst losses thus far of any ACC team in falling to FCS Jacksonville State on the last play of the game, but it did beat Syracuse this past week and played well at home in an overtime loss to a ranked Notre Dame team.

It also rallied from down 31-7 at home to Louisville to have two chances to potentially tie the game in the fourth quarter.

13. Syracuse (3-2, 0-1 ACC) — The Orange has looked better than we thought they'd be. It was competitive in losses to Rutgers and at Florida State, and it also knocked off a good and previously undefeated Liberty team at home.

Then again, Rutgers has gone winless in two lopsided Big Ten defeats, and FSU had not won a game until it hosted Syracuse.

14. Duke (3-2, 0-1 ACC) — A pair of Power Five wins got Duke some feel-good weeks, but let's be real. They beat a Northwestern team that that this past Saturday lost by 49 points to Nebraska on the road and started the season with a 17-point home defeat to Michigan State.

Duke also beat a Kansas squad that has lost by 27 points at Coastal Carolina, 38 points at home to Baylor and 52 points at Iowa State.

Duke itself lost at Charlotte in its opener and looked uncompetitive last weekend in a 38-7 setback at UNC.

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