CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Miami has clearly established itself as the class of the ACC, in Tier 1 by itself. 

Losses this weekend by Duke and Pittsburgh leave Wake Forest as a fairly clear-cut No. 2, though a host of other teams, including Virginia, Clemson and SMU, will still have plenty to say about that. 

If that group includes some of the conference’s top pleasant surprises, who belongs on the flipside of that list?

Who has been the biggest disappointment in the ACC so far this season? Here are five worthy contenders for title.

Louisville certainly has a strong case for that dubious distinction. Picked to finish third in the conference in the preseason, the Cardinals actually upped excitement around their team despite losing their opener. The 31-28 setback against Ole Miss had people talking about the Cardinals as an ACC contender. Their 31-21 win over SMU seemed to cement that. But back-to-back 3-point losses to Wake Forest and North Carolina State earned Louisville the rap of a team that doesn’t consistently play to its potential.

Which brings us to North Carolina State. The Wolfpack had high hopes going into this season, but a 34-8 whupping in Week 0 at Virginia – a game in which Dave Doeren’s club looked unprepared – muted much of that excitement. State seems intent on giving away any momentum it starts to build. It bizarrely blew a game against Vanderbilt, fumbling in the end zone in the final seconds while trying to take a safety. And Saturday, it went down in a non-competitive 38-14 home loss to Wake Forest. 

Georgia Tech is another team that wasted no time showing its fans this wouldn’t be a season to remember. The Yellow Jackets opened up 1-3, including losing its ACC opener at Stanford. Of course, just when it looked like time to tune out Tech, Brent Key’s club surprised Duke on Saturday.

Following Florida State this season has been a similarly vexing up-and-down affair. The Seminoles seemed headed for disaster opening 1-2, including a home, ACC loss to SMU. But then Mike Norvell’s club found life by whipping Virginia, 38-7 in Tallahassee on Oct. 3. That had people turning down the heat on Norvell’s coaching seat. So what did FSU do from there? It got blasted 44-20 by Louisville.  

Finally, there’s Clemson. The Tigers may very well end up in Charlotte for the ACC title game. They don’t face a team in the second half of the season that currently has a winning record in league play. But Dabo Swiney’s bunch belongs on this list because there was a hope it could return to national relevance this season. Blowout losses at LSU, in the opener, and at home against Miami – by a combined 92-23 margin – showed quickly that’s not the case.

From that look at big picture disappointments, let’s take a glimpse at who was up and who was down in the ACC this past week:

Who’s Up?

Wake Forest: Jake Dickert’s team finally – finally – did enough to be recognized by AP voters. Following the Demon Deacons’ decisive 38-14 win at North Carolina State, they cracked the Top 25 poll at No. 21. Wake may very well be favored in all six of its remaining games, so don’t expect it to be leaving the rankings any time soon.

Isaac Brown, RB, Louisville: The preseason All-ACC pick seems to be getting in gear after a slow start. Brown, who rushed for 196 yards in his first four games, followed up a 125-yard game at North Carolina State with Saturday’s career-best 235-yard outing against Florida State. He scored a pair of touchdowns. 

Trelain Maddox, RB, Georgia Tech: Maddox came into the year buried on the depth chart. Through four games, he got all of 15 carries. But Saturday, in a 28-25 upset of Duke, the third-year Yellow Jacket and Georgia native, carried Tech to victory. He ran for 81 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning score with 54 seconds to play.

Who’s Down?

Duke: The Blue Devils were making a strong case to be the ACC’s second-best team behind Miami. But in reality, at 4-0, outside of a gritty road win at Illinois, Manny Diaz’s club really was a big question mark. Saturday’s 28-25 loss at Georgia Tech has Duke looking much more like a middle-of-the-pack team. 

Pitt’s QB play: Holden Geriner’s first start in place of the injured Mason Heintschel was anything but encouraging. Geriner, who transferred to Pitt after playing sparingly in three years at Auburn and one at Texas State, looked out of his depth during Saturday’s 21-17 loss to North Carolina. The 23-year-old, making his first college start, went 27 for 44 passing for 219 yards with no touchdown passes and two interceptions. Still, Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi this week indicated he was sticking with Geriner behind center. 

The James Franklin hype: A week after suffering a heart-breaking home loss to Pitt in a battle of unbeatens, a game that only added to the narrative that neither Franklin nor the Hokies are capable of getting up for big games, Tech went west and laid an egg at Cal. The formula for Franklin to have a big first year in Blacksburg was clear – and it involved winning five or six games in the first half of the season, before the schedule ratcheted up its degree of difficulty. Now, back-to-back losses mean Franklin and co. must take care of business against Georgia Tech or even making a bowl game could be a tough proposition.