Six weeks into the college football season, we’ve established that NC State hasn’t taken a step back despite losing a lot of talent to graduation—in fact, NC State has gotten better. It’s just about the entire rest of the ACC Atlantic that’s been in reverse.
The unexpected result is that State finds itself alone on the second tier behind Clemson, ranked nearly 30 spots ahead of its nearest competition per S&P+. The Tigers are the same behemoth they ever were, but the rest of the division—and thus the schedule—is astoundingly favorable.
NC State needs to beat Clemson, in all likelihood, to have any chance at winning the division and taking a run at some massive history.