ACC Power Rankings: 'Clemsoning'

Dabo Swinney has been the head coach at Clemson since 2008. In his six full seasons, the Tigers have played in six bowl games, and only finished under .500 in one year. Despite the success, Swinney and the Tigers have not been able to shake the term "Clemsoning."

"Clemsoning" is of unknown origins. It was first widely used after the end of Clemson's 2011 season, when the 3 1/2-point favorite Tigers lost to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl by a score of 70-33. Since then, "Clemsoning" has been used to describe Clemson's losses to weaker teams and its inability to be a contender late in the season. The term has even expanded beyond Clemson and now can be used to describe any underperformance by a college football team. As you could imagine, the Clemson camp is not too happy about it.

After the Tigers' 43-24 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday, Swinney was asked if the team had put aside "Clemsoning." Swinney was not happy with the question to say the least, and with good reason. His team is 5-0 and looking like a real playoff contender, but the Tigers will have to keep it going for a full season to get rid of "Clemsoning" for good.

Getting to the top 10 has never been the problem for Clemson; staying there is what the Tigers struggle with. With its jump to No. 6 in the polls last week, Clemson has been in the top 10 at some point in four of the last five seasons. The Tigers have only finished there in one of those years (we'll see where they end up this year).

Dabo and the Tigers will have plenty of opportunities to "C up," starting with this Saturday's game at home against Boston College, then traveling to Miami and NC State before heading back to Death Valley for what could be a huge game against Florida State. If Clemson comes out of the stretch undefeated, "Clemsoning" could be gone for good, and the Tigers could be headed to the College Football Playoff.

Here's a look at how the ACC shakes down after Week 6 with the conference power rankings:

ACC Atlantic Power Rankings

1. Clemson (last week: 1)
Clemson beat what now may be the best 2-4 team in the country in Georgia Tech. Deshaun Watson had arguably his best game of the season and absolutely his best game against an FBS team. The Tigers are clicking on all cylinders.

2. Florida State (last week: 2)

The offense got back on track for the Seminoles this week, with Dalvin Cook running for 222 yards and Everett Golson throwing for 291. Miami's Brad Kaaya threw for 405 yards, though, which is concerning for the defense to say the least.

3. Louisville (last week: 4)
The Cardinals got a needed bye week after struggling out of the gate. Bobby Petrino has to gameplan for Florida State next week, too, so the break comes at the perfect time.

4. Boston College (last week: 3)
Boston College was shut out by Wake Forest, who hadn’t won in the ACC all year. The Eagles are now 3-3 on the year after dropping their first three conference games.

5. NC State (last week: 5)
NC State's offense has been horrible. The Wolfpack are 92nd in the nation in passing yards per game, and rank only 58th in points per game despite putting up 63 and 49 in two of their non-conference games.

6. Wake Forest (last week: 7)

Wake Forest beat Boston College, which warrants a bump in the rankings. The Demon Deacons only managed 142 yards of offense, though, so only a small bump for this week.

7. Syracuse (last week: 6)
The Orange lost all the momentum it had going into this week with a miserable loss to USF. Nothing went right, and Syracuse will have to figure out how the wheels fell off before it gets back off the bottom of the rankings.

ACC Coastal Power Rankings

1. Duke (last week: 2)

Duke dismantled Army this week, only further proving to the rest of the conference that the Blue Devils aren’t messing around. The move into the top 25 solidifies their spot as a contender for the Coastal crown.

2. North Carolina (last week: 1)
The Tar Heels have a weak schedule coming out of the bye week, with games against Wake Forest and Virginia in the next two weeks. A record of 7-1 heading into the Duke game is a real possibility.

3. Pittsburgh (last week: 3)

Pitt only beat Virginia by a touchdown this week, but the offense played well and the Panthers are still 4-1 heading into the hardest stretch of their schedule. We'll know more about the Panthers after they play some higher quality teams.

4. Miami (last week: 4)
Let the "Fire Al Golden" chants begin. Miami lost its second straight game at the hands of Florida State and the defense wasn't any problem for Dalvin Cook. The Hurricanes still have Clemson and Duke after this week’s game against Virginia Tech, so Miami's stock is trending down.

5. Virginia Tech (last week: 6)
The Hokies won, and Brenden Motley had his best game as a starter with three touchdowns. If Motley can get comfortable in the offense, or Michael Brewer returns from injury and performs like he did against Ohio State, then Va. Tech has an outside shot at a decent bowl game.

6. Georgia Tech (last week: 5)
The Yellow Jackets dropped their fourth straight game to Clemson on Saturday. Enough said.

7. Virginia (last week: 7)
Virginia has been a few notches below the competition in more than one of its games this year, and despite a good effort, you can now add Pittsburgh to the Cavaliers growing list of losses.