Clemson's 40-24 win over Florida State means the Tigers have to beat N.C. State, in Raleigh, and Virginia, at home, to win the Atlantic Division.

That's it and not even Tommy Bowden could screw that up (or only Tommy Bowden could screw that up).

Even if the spirit of Bowden possesses the Tigers, 4-2 in the ACC, and they lose once, they would still hold the tiebreaker over Boston College (3-2), which finishes with Virginia, UNC and Maryland.

Quick and dirty version of the JP Top 25 this week:

Editor's note: J.P. Giglio is one of 60 AP voters.

• JP Top 25 archive
• AP, USA Today polls
• Pollspeak (how everyone else voted)

Philosophical voting question: Should Southern California, with one loss, be ranked ahead of unbeaten teams such as Boise State, Cincinnati, TCU and Iowa?

You can see my answer below.

Deep thoughts to ponder while you try to forget about the two winless teams in the ACC:

Georgia Tech @ Virginia, noon

Circled this game in July as a loss for Georgia Tech. The 3-4's a problem for the option and Virginia inexplicably has a Boise-like home-field advantage, minus the weird turf.

But Virginia running back Mikell Simpson is not healthy and without him, UVa won't score enough points to beat a hot, yet weary, GT team.

Pick: GT

Editor's note: J.P. Giglio is one of 60 AP voters.

• JP Top 25 archive
• AP, USA Today polls
• Pollspeak (how everyone else voted)

1. Alabama
Record: 7-0
Last week: 2 (beat South Carolina, 20-6)
This week: Tennessee

Alabama the four years before Nick Saban got there: 4-9, 6-6, 10-2, 6-7.
Since: 7-6, 12-2, 7-0.

• Late Hits archive

Virginia: It's October and for the sports world at-large, that means an overdose of the insufferable Joe Buck from FOX. For Wahoo fans, it's time to bask in the full glory of Joe Sweatshirt.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Virginia Tech might have lost its shot at a national championship
on another doomed trip to Atlanta.

Josh Nesbitt rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns—the last of them tiptoeing down the sideline to finish off the fourth-ranked Hokies with 3 minutes left—as No. 19 Georgia Tech ran to a 28-23 win that threw the ACC race up for grabs while perhaps finishing off the league’s top contender in the national race.

Since you miss the Pick Six, and since it's an interesting weekend of football. With apologies to Jack Handey, Deep (football) Thoughts:

Wake @ Clemson, noon

In a normal conference, Wake wins, the Atlantic Division is theirs and Clemson fans scorch the Earth.

In the no-sense ACC, Clemson wins, everyone's a step closer to finishing 4-4 and the tiebreaker system exploding.

Editor's note: J.P. Giglio is one of 60 AP voters.

• JP Top 25 archive
• AP, USA Today polls
• Pollspeak (how everyone else voted)

1. Florida
Record: 5-0
Last week: 2 (won @ LSU, 13-3)
This week: Arkansas

Wake me up for the SEC title game.

Editor's note: J.P. Giglio is one of 60 AP voters.

• JP Top 25 archive
• AP, USA Today polls
• Pollspeak (how everyone else voted)

1. Texas
Record: 4-0
Last week: 1 (bye)
This week: Colorado

The Horns make a slight upgrade from the bye week to 1-3 Colorado.