Led by Florida State win, ACC trying to prove it belongs with big boys

The Atlantic Coast Conference, by and large, has gotten off to a solid start in the early stage of the 2025 season.

Heading into two games later on Sunday, and then one on Monday, the ACC is 11-3 overall. Some of those triumphs came against inferior opponents, which is frequently the case in non-conference contests to commence a campaign.

The ACC also threw up a dud in several high-profile, non-conference encounters. But overall, the ACC is kicking off 2025 in a positive way.

Of course, the ACC has a long way to go before it is on the same level as the top two conferences, the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten Conference.

At the same time, the ACC did pick up a massive win over an SEC powerhouse, along with a terrific road victory over Deion Sanders' program.

Undeniably, the headliner for the ACC so far in Week 1 is Florida State, beating No. 8 Alabama, 31-17. FSU quarterback Thomas Castellanos, a transfer from Boston College, talked a bit of smack toward the Crimson Tide in the offseason, and he backed it up on Saturday in Tallahassee.

On Friday evening in Boulder, Colo., Georgia Tech, a sleeper to win the ACC crown in 2025, stunned the Buffaloes on the road, 27-20. The Yellow Jackets need to clean things up in the turnover department, although quarterback Haynes King displayed his stellar running skills. Georgia Tech will be a player in the ACC this season.

Conversely, two other high-profile battles for the ACC didn't go well. On Saturday afternoon, Syracuse hung around for a while but didn't put too big a scare into No. 24 Tennessee. In Atlanta, the Volunteers knocked off the Orange, 45-26. Syracuse simply couldn't stop the Vols' impressive offense.

In prime time on Saturday, No. 9 LSU, which likely needs to get to the College Football Playoff in 2025 to keep head coach Brian Kelly off the hot seat, scored a huge victory when it invaded No. 4 Clemson and came away with a 17-10 win.

This setback for Clemson doesn't knock those Tigers out of the CFP discussion because Clemson is still very much in the race to win the ACC. Plus, the CFP selection committee isn't penalizing teams for losing games against high-quality foes.

Many of the other triumphs by ACC schools in Week 1 came against weak opponents. On Sunday, though, Virginia Tech faces No. 13 South Carolina at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, while No. 10 Miami will host No. 6 Notre Dame, the national runner-up from a season ago.

On Monday evening, head coach Bill Belichick and North Carolina will welcome TCU to Chapel Hill, N.C. If the ACC goes 2-1 or even 3-0 in those non-conference affairs, then the first full weekend of games will have gone pretty well for a conference that is trying to prove it belongs with the giants in the sport.