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:

BCS bowl projections:

National championship: Florida vs. Texas
Rose: Iowa vs. Oregon
Orange: Georgia Tech vs. Penn State
Sugar: Alabama vs. Cincinnati
Fiesta: USC vs. TCU

North Carolina's win, and USC's loss, cost the ACC a real shot at $4.5 million.

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.

GREENSBORO -- Miami coach Frank Haith believes the ACC is a young basketball conference this season with many "unknowns" among teams and players.

Haith, headed into his sixth season, talked with the media at the ACC's Operation Basketball media event on Sunday. He said his team finally has perimeter players who can attack the basket.

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.

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.

The stats kept by the ACC and NCAA don't make any attempt to differentiate the level of competition. A game against Murray State counts the same as Alabama.

You can see the flaw in that book-keeping. With all due respect to Richmond, William and Mary, the CAA at-large and the powers of the Southern Conference, a statistical database that only included Division I-A teams against Division I-A teams would give a more accurate portrayal of a team's strengths and weaknesses. (Yes, I know Army and Alabama aren't equal either but at least we're comparing widgets to
widgets.)