With four games remaining in the 2022 regular season, the Miami Hurricanes are currently 4-4 with a 2-2 ACC record. Though a long shot, working their way back into the Coastal division race depends on not just winning their remaining games, but on others losing theirs.

With North Carolina and Duke each ahead of Miami and owning tie-breakers, their games are important to watch. But who else should Hurricanes fans be rooting for in each week 10 match-up with ACC teams?

Friday, November 4

Duke @ Boston College; 7 p.m.

Even though they have the same conference record as Miami, the Duke Blue Devils are ahead in the standings due to the tie-breaker that is a win in head-to-head.

The Hurricanes need the Blue Devils to lose at least one of their remaining games. Dropping this one to a struggling Boston College team would be nice to get it out of the way. Duke also has games against Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest remaining, so it isn’t like it is all on this one.

But it is best if the Blue Devils lose more than one of the remaining games, so we should be rooting against them the rest of the way.

Saturday, November 5

North Carolina @ Virginia; Noon

Maybe the most important game of the week other than their own for Miami is at noon when North Carolina travels to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers.

Sitting at 4-0 in the ACC, the Tar Heels have a three-game lead over the Hurricanes thanks to the head-to-head win. They are currently in a position where they can easily win the Coastal Division by just winning at least two of their remaining four games.

It would go a long way for Miami’s chances at sneaking back into the race if North Carolina were to stumble this week. It may be futile since the Hurricanes still have to win games to close the season, but I’ll give up when it is officially over.

Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech; Noon

Neither of these teams is really in the race to win anything this season. If Virginia Tech loses, they will miss out on a bowl game while Georgia Tech would fall to six losses, one away from the same fate.

Though it is even more unlikely than the Hurricanes doing so, the Yellow Jackets still are technically alive for the Coastal with a few miracles taking place in their favor. The Hokies can spoil that and hopefully beat down Georgia Tech a week before Miami has to play them.

Syracuse @ Pittsburgh; 3:30 p.m.

The Syracuse Orange is the only team left to compete with Clemson for a spot in the ACC Championship Game from the Atlantic Division. After losing to the Tigers two weeks ago, they are back by two games. But if they win out and the Tigers drop two games, they could sneak past Clemson for the top spot.

The main issue is the Tigers’ two remaining ACC games are against Louisville and Miami. Asking for Clemson to lose even one of those is a tall order, but it would feel like divine intervention if they lost both. But still, I would rather root for the Orange over the Panthers.

Clemson @ Notre Dame; 7:30 p.m.

I would love to see the Tigers fall off a little bit as a program. But the team to hand them their first loss of the season should be someone other than Notre Dame. I can’t bring myself to root for the Irish unless it were incredibly important to the Hurricanes.

Notre Dame sits at 5-3 right now and if they were to move to 6-3 with a win over a top-five team would not be good for haters of that program. Meanwhile, it does nothing to just be happy they lose to an undefeated team and hope Clemson loses some other games to close out the season.

James Madison @ Louisville; 7:30 p.m.

The ACC has had some embarrassing showings against lower-level programs this season. James Madison has the chance to join Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Old Dominion, and Marshall as Sun Belt teams to win a game against Power Five opponents (if you include Notre Dame).

The conference doesn’t need another loss to a Sun Belt team, so I lean toward rooting for Louisville this week. It doesn’t affect Miami much though.

Wake Forest @ NC State; 8 p.m.

The only matchup between ranked opponents that include an ACC team in week 10, Wake Forest takes on NC State. The Demon Deacons lost to Louisville last week while the Wolfpack barely beat Virginia Tech, holding on by one point.

With each team at two conference losses and losing their game to Clemson, they are out of they are eliminated from contention for the ACC Championship game. In my opinion, this game comes down to personal preference. I lean toward Wake Forest when it comes to most matchups that feel even. They are a likable program that is easy to root for (I think I say this most weeks here).