UNDATED (AP) — Lousiville’s trip to North Carolina State headlines the Week 9 schedule for the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Wolfpack fell out of the AP Top 25 after a loss at Miami. But Dave Doeren’s team still controls its own destiny in the Atlantic Division. The Cardinals have two league losses and are trying to stay in a race led by No. 13 Wake Forest. The schedule includes Florida State visiting Clemson after last year’s meeting was called off due to COVID-19 concerns. In addition, Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett and North Carolina receiver Josh Downs are top players to watch this weekend.

UNDATED (AP) — Villanova’s Collin Gillespie is ready to make the most of his second chance at a senior season. Gillespie was the co-Big East player of the year last season but tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during a victory over Creighton that enabled Villanova to clinch the Big East regular-season championship.  The injury ended his senior season early and prevented him from participating in the NCAA Tournament. Gillespie now is back as a fifth-year senior and feeling healthy again.  

BOSTON (AP) — Atlantic Coast Conference football teams have been lighting up scoreboards lately. Wake Forest beat Army 70-56 last week, and Florida State put up 59 on UMass. Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said after the 48-40 win over Georgia Tech that he’d rather win 13-6. But there aren’t too many of those these days. Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said his team had a near-complete offensive performance and joked that his offensive coordinator should drop the mic and retire.

UNDATED (AP) — No. 5 North Carolina State and No. 6 Louisville headline the Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball race heading into the season. The Wolfpack won a second straight ACC Tournament title last year. Wes Moore’s team is the league favorite by returning its top eight scorers. That list of returnees includes preseason player of the year Elissa Cunane. The Cardinals have won at least a share of the regular-season title for four straight seasons. The league race also includes No. 16 Florida State, No. 17 Georgia Tech and No. 24 Virginia Tech. 

UNDATED (AP) — The Big Ten is in the spotlight before the College Football Playoff releases its first rankings next week. No. 20 Penn State is at No. 5 Ohio State, which features the nation’s best offense at 49.3 points per game. No. 6 Michigan and No. 8 Michigan State are both 7-0 heading into their first top-10 matchup since 1964. No. 9 Iowa is at Wisconsin in a matchup of two of the country’s best defenses. Elsewhere, No. 1 Georgia is a two-touchdown favorite over Florida in their annual rivalry game.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Tailback Sean Tucker and dual-threat quarterback Garrett Shrader have given Syracuse a big offensive jolt. A year after losing 10 games, the Orange are two wins from reaching eligibility to play in the postseason. Tucker has 1,060 yards rushing, the only player in FBS this year to reach 1,000, his 1,298 all-purpose yards also leads the nation, and his six straight 100-yard games is a program record. In the five games he’s started, Shrader has rushed for 548 yards, passed for 814 and been responsible for 16 touchdowns in five games as the starter.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Patrick Baldwin could have signed with just about any college basketball program in the country as one of the nation’s top-10 prospects in his class. He opted to stay home and play for his father at Milwaukee. His choice instantly made the Horizon League school one of the nation’s most interesting stories in this college basketball season. Baldwin was ranked seventh in his class according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports. He’s 6-foot-9 and can play multiple positions.

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