The Coastal Division might be gone. But the chaos for which it was famous is still alive and well in the ACC.

Just 2 weeks ago, Florida State and North Carolina were both ranked among the nation’s top 10 and appeared to be on a collision course to meet for the conference championship in Charlotte on Dec. 2.

At least the Seminoles have held up their end of the bargain.

With the Tar Heels and fellow contender Duke both losing for the 2nd straight week, the new favorite to meet FSU for the league title is the winner of next week’s game between Louisville and Virginia Tech – teams that were picked to finish 8th and 11th in the preseason poll.

But then, with 4 weeks still remaining in the regular season, there’s no telling what kind of chaos is still to come.

While we wait to find out, here’s a look at everything we learned about each of the ACC’s 14 teams during an unpredictable Week 9:

Boston College

There’s something about UConn that brings out the worst in the Eagles. This year, though, Jeff Hafley’s team found a way to grind out a victory against the lowly Huskies. In the process, we learned that Thomas Castellanos, the league rusher in the nation among quarterbacks, isn’t BC’s only productive runner.

Western Kentucky transfer Kye Robichaux picked up 112 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground while sophomore Alex Broome added 80 more as the ACC’s best rushing team rolled up 242 in a closer-than-expected 21-14 win.

At 5-3 with 4 straight wins, the Eagles need only 1 more victory in their final 4 games to earn bowl eligibility. Only 1 of those remaining opponents, Miami, has a winning record.

Clemson

We learned a lot about the Tigers in their 24-17 loss at NC State.

We learned that their streak of consecutive double-digit wins seasons will end at 10. Even if they win out, the best they can do is 9 wins. They haven’t had that few since going 6-7 in 2011.

We learned that coupled with last week’s double-overtime defeat at Miami, Dabo Swinney’s team lost back-to-back games for the first time since falling to the Wolfpack and South Carolina in the final 2 games of the 2011 regular season.

In falling to 4-4 (2-5 ACC), we learned that this is the first time since that 2011 season Clemson has been at .500 overall and under .500 in the conference this late in a season. And because of it, we learned that the Tigers are suddenly in danger of missing out on a bowl for the 1st time since 2004.

One thing we didn’t need to learn is that Clemson is its own worst enemy. Turnovers and kicking problems had a direct result on its downfall, just as it did in its 3 previous losses.

Duke

We learned that the Blue Devils’ rash of injuries finally caught up to them. It’s more than just the ankle ailment that has limited the mobility and effectiveness of star quarterback Riley Leonard.

Of even greater impact on Duke’s decimated offense against Louisville on Saturday was the absence of left tackle Graham Barton – an almost certain NFL Draft pick – and tight end Nicky Dalmolin before the game and the loss of starting right guard Jacob Monk during it.

The result was a shutout loss in which the ACC’s top rushing team coming into the game to just 51 yards on the ground. The 4 sacks the Blue Devils allowed were 1 fewer than they’d given up in their 1st 7 games combined.

Florida State

There’s not a lot left to learn about the Seminoles. They’ve already shown us how good they are. And all their stars were shining Saturday at Wake Forest on Saturday.

Jordan Travis threw for 359 and 3 touchdowns, Keon Coleman scored twice, including yet another highlight-reel 1-handed catch in the end zone, Trey Benson ran for a touchdown and scored on an 80-yard screen pass while Jared Verse came back from getting a cut on his face stitched up to record a pair of sacks.

FSU’s 41-16 win is its 13th overall and 13th straight scoring at least 30 points. At 8-0, Mike Norvell’s team is ranked 4th in both major polls. But we’ll have to wait until Tuesday night to learn if it will also be in the top 4 of the 1st College Football Playoff rankings.

Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets are the most unpredictable team in the ACC. That is, unless they’re playing North Carolina. We learned Saturday that they still have the Tar Heels’ number. Their come-from-behind 46-42 victory was their 3rd straight against UNC and 11th in the past 13 meetings in Atlanta.

Tech scored all its points in the 2nd and 4th quarters for a win that puts it back into realistic bowl contention. But as we’ve already learned this season, there’s no guarantee that Brent Key’s team will be able to build on the momentum of Saturday’s win. The Yellow Jackets have alternated wins and losses in their 8 games on the way to its current 4-4 record.

Louisville

On Oct. 8, the Cardinals beat Notre Dame by 13 points. A week later, they lost to Pittsburgh by 17. Saturday, the Panthers got blown out by the Irish to the tune of 58-7. So what did we learn from all those results?

That college football is an unpredictable sport in which anything can happen.

There’s at least one certainty that can be gleaned from Louisville’s latest game, Saturday’s dominant 23-0 victory against Duke. It’s that the Cardinals’ offense is a lot more potent when Jawhar Jordan is healthy and carrying the ball. Jordan led the ACC in rushing before suffering a hamstring injury that limited him to 2 carries in the loss to Pitt. Against the Blue Devils, he ran for a career-high 163 yards and 2 touchdowns on 22 carries.

We also learned that the Cardinals are pretty good defensively, as well. They tallied 6 tackles for loss, 4 sacks – including 2 by Ashton Gillotte – and an interception in limiting Duke to 202 total yards on the way to their 1st-ever shutout of a ranked opponent.

Miami

I guess we learned why Mario Cristobal keeps playing for overtime at the end of tied games instead of taking shots to try and win in regulation. For the 2nd straight week, the strategy paid off in a victory. After taking 2 extra possessions to take down Clemson last week, The Hurricanes needed only 1 to secure Saturday’s win against Virginia.

Freshman Mark Fletcher, who missed the past 4 games with a foot injury, ended the game with an 11-yard touchdown, his 1st score since the season-opener. But Miami’s real hero was kicker Andy Borregales.

He converted 3 field goals, including kicks of 50 and 48 yards in the 4th quarter to get his team into overtime. It was the 2nd straight year in which Borregales had a hand – or should that be a foot? – in helping Miami beat the Cavaliers in overtime. He made 4 3-pointers in last year’s 4-overtime victory in Charlottesville.

North Carolina

Mack Brown and Chip Lindsey didn’t forget about Omarion Hampton and the running game this time, as they did last week against Virginia. The ACC’s leading rusher picked up 153 of the Tar Heels’ 267 yards on the ground. And yet, as we learned in the Tar Heels’ latest loss to Georgia Tech, it still didn’t prevent history from repeating itself.

UNC let a double-digit 4th-quarter lead slip away for the 2nd week in a row while losing its 3rd straight to the Yellow Jackets. All as a ranked team.

In doing so, we learned that UNC’s defensive improvement over the first half of the season was a mirage and that Gene Chizik’s unit has reverted to the 2022 form that saw it rank last in the ACC in virtually every statistical category. The Tar Heels surrendered 348 rushing yards and 635 total in a loss that put a severe crimp in their hopes for a return to the conference championship game.

NC State

The Wolfpack are still severely challenged offensively. But they do have at least one explosive playmaker in freshman receiver KC Concepcion. Because Dave Doeren and coordinator Robert Anae figured out during last week’s open date that it’s in their best interest to get the ball to Concepcion as much as possible in as many ways as possible, we learned their offense is good enough to beat Clemson.

Concepcion got his team off to a strong start with a 50-yard run before finishing the drive with the 1st of his 2 touchdown catches in the game. He also caught 5 passes for 83 yards to finish with 133 all-purpose yards and both of State’s touchdowns.

Of course, the Wolfpack defense also had a major impact on the 24-17 victory that gave Doeren his 77th win at State, tying him with Earle Edwards for the most in school history. Two interceptions, including a pick-6 by Payton Wilson, helped take the pressure off MJ Morris and the offense and bring the Textile Bowl trophy back to Raleigh for the 2nd time in 3 years.

Pittsburgh

We learned more about the Panthers after their 58-7 embarrassment at the hands of Notre Dame than we did during the game.

The lopsided result wasn’t much of a surprise considering that Notre Dame was coming off its best performance of the season and Pitt has yet to win on the road and is now 2-6 overall. What was unexpected was the way coach Pat Narduzzi threw his team under the bus.

“We lost a lot of good players last year,” he said in his postgame remarks. “We thought we’d replace them and we obviously didn’t do a good job with that.”

It’s almost a certainty that Narduzzi simply chose the wrong words to express his frustration. Or maybe he really is falling back on the time-tested “we coached them up the best we can, but they’re not any good” strategy.

Either way, several players retweeted the comment. It will be interesting to see how this affects whatever chemistry the Panthers have left.

Syracuse

It was easy to blame the Orange’s recent downturn on their schedule. They got no breaks from the ACC in having to play the top 3 teams in the league’s preseason poll – Clemson, Florida State and UNC – in succession to start conference play.

But that’s no excuse for what happened in Blacksburg on Thursday.

We learned that Dino Babers and his team have much more serious issues than just the company they’ve been keeping. Offensively, Syracuse is a mess. Of its 11 full possessions, 7 ended in 3-and-outs. And 1 of those that didn’t lasted 1 play and ended in a safety. The Orange ran only 43 plays and possessed the ball for just over 18 minutes. Eighty of its 137 total yards came on its only touchdown drive of the night, midway through the 3rd quarter.

The result of that ineptitude was that the Orange’s defense, which performed so well during the early noconference schedule, continues to get worn down. It has given up at least 31 points in each of its 4 ACC games, all lopsided losses.

Virginia

We learned that last week’s win at North Carolina wasn’t a fluke. The Cavaliers really are fully capable of playing on even terms with anyone on their schedule.

The problem is that for all the grit and heart they’ve displayed – especially over the past 3 games – they still haven’t figured out the trick to closing out games when they have the chance. This was the 3rd time this season in which Tony Elliott’s team has lost a game in which it led by at least 2 scores.

Virginia Tech

It’s tough to tell whether the Hokies were as good as they looked on Thursday or if Syracuse was simply that bad. Either way, we learned that Brent Pry’s team is on an upward trajectory and gaining momentum with each game it plays.

Kyron Drones, Bhayshul Tuten, Jaylin Lane and the Hokies’ steadily improving offense all continued to do their thing. Drones threw for 194 yards and a touchdown, Tuten rushed for 118 and Lane caught 6 passes for 72 yards. Running back Malachi Thomas also threw for a touchdown and receiver Da’Quan Felton scored twice in helping Tech roll up 528 yards and nearly 42 minutes of possession time.

But we also learned that the Hokies can play a little defense, too. Led by Florida transfer Antwaun Powell-Ryland, who had 2 of his team’s 8 sacks, Tech limited Syracuse to 0 yards rushing and 137 total while also contributing a safety in a performance that would make legendary former defensive coordinator Bud Foster proud.

Wake Forest

Mitch Griffis returned to the lineup after missing last week’s game with an undisclosed medical issue. But we learned that it really didn’t matter who played quarterback for the Deacons. Despite having won 3 straight against Florida State dating to 2018, we learned that this Wake team is no match for a group of Seminoles on the fast track to the College Football Playoff.

It took until the 2nd play of the 2nd quarter for Griffis to complete his 1st pass. He was just 1-of-8 for 19 yards of a 1st half in which Wake gained only 75 yards – 51 of which came on 1 run by Justice Ellison. Griffis’ final line was 6-of-16 for 82 yards. As a team, the Deacons were held to a season-low 210 yards, the 3rd time in the past 4 games they’ve been held to fewer than 300 yards.