Well, we're back to Florida State and a bunch of long shots. Wouldn't it have been nice if, at the end of September, the ACC still had at least as many playoff hopefuls as the SEC West?

Where the ACC stands: Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the middle of the pack in the ACC is dragging the conference down yet again. The ACC tumbled again in ESPN’s conference power rankings, with just two teams ranked in the top 35 of our Football Power Index. The other four major conferences have at least five apiece. Pitt’s home loss to Akron ended the Panthers' chances, according to our Playoff Eliminator, leaving just five ACC teams still in the mix with two months of games left to be played.

According to the Playoff Eliminator, here's how the conferences stack up:

ACC: 5 teams (4 "on the fence," 1 "in contention")

Big Ten: 9 teams (8, 1)

Big 12: 5 teams (3, 2)

Pac-12: 9 teams (6, 3)

SEC: 12 teams (7, 5)

Other: 3 teams (2, 1)

Of course, there was one big positive for the ACC -- and particularly FSU -- to come from the playoff committee this week: It doesn't sound like overall conference strength will be a major factor when deciding the top four teams.

Top playoff contenders: Florida State (No. 1 AP, No. 5 FPI), Louisville (No. 41 FPI), Georgia Tech (No. 52 FPI).

Nonconference record: 34-13 overall (2-3 last week), 20-10 vs. FBS, 4-6 vs. Power 5 (plus Notre Dame)

Week 5 recap: Syracuse fell to Notre Dame in New York, and that was expected. Boston College couldn’t close out a game at home against Colorado State, and that qualified as a minor upset. Akron upended Pitt at home, and that was just a slap in the face for the ACC.

There were bright spots, including the return of Jameis Winston, who threw for four TDs, and the arrival of Deshaun Watson, who tossed six against the overwhelmed North Carolina secondary. NC State earned some attention in a loss, too, with Jacoby Brissett's standout performance against the nation's top-ranked team. But overall, it was another bad week for the conference.

In the last two weeks, the ACC is just 7-8 in nonconference play, while the once-vilified Big Ten is 16-1.

The end result: Even after a come-from-behind win in which it scored 56 points, Florida State is already teetering on the edge of many playoff predictions right now.

Week 6 preview: Georgia Tech is barely on the playoff radar at the moment, but with a perfect 4-0 record and dates with Georgia and (potentially) FSU to end the year, the Yellow Jackets have plenty of time to make up ground, but that has to start with this week’s game against resurgent Miami. Another win for Tech would put it squarely in the driver’s seat in the Coastal, and it might force pollsters to start taking notice.

Still, it’s probably time the ACC shifts its focus from an internal discussion of playoff contenders to some extra scoreboard watching that may help the league’s overall profile.

Florida State remains the league’s most viable candidate for a playoff bid, and it should have an easy time against Wake Forest on Saturday. But outside the conference, the Seminoles can gain some ground.

If Notre Dame can upend Stanford to remain unbeaten in time for its Oct. 18 trip to Tallahassee, Florida State will have a shot to earn one of the signature wins of the season. There are 14 Power 5 conference teams still unbeaten (plus the Irish and BYU), but only UCLA, Texas A&M and Florida State have multiple wins over top-30 opponents. FSU’s strength of schedule could still wind up looking impressive, regardless of the ACC’s image problems.

Meanwhile, Alabama, Oregon, Texas A&M and Oklahoma — four of the FPI’s top six — take on undefeated opposition this week, while Auburn (No. 3 in FPI) gets LSU. Losses for the Seminoles’ top competition would be a nice bonus, even if it’s still early in the year.

And don’t ignore the Michigan State-Nebraska game either. If it comes down to a Big Ten vs. ACC debate for the No. 4 spot in the playoffs at year’s end, it’s likely it will be one of these two teams the Seminoles will be battling. It’s a coin flip as to which team FSU should be rooting for, however, and both have just one remaining ranked foe on their schedules after Saturday.