After the second weekend of ACC play, the order of the teams is becoming clearer. Duke, Florida State, and Louisville have established themselves as the undisputed top three, with nobody–at the moment–threatening to break into those ranks. That’s not to say that none of those teams are going to slip up at some point, though.
Duke nearly lost at Georgia Tech on Wednesday while FSU only pulled away late against Wake. Meanwhile, Louisville had no problem with Miami on Tuesday but won a nail-biter by three over Notre Dame Saturday. So it’s not as if the top 3 are invincible. They will lose to lesser teams throughout the season, especially if Virginia gets their act together. With that said, here are the updated ACC Power Rankings.
Tier 1
1. Duke (5-0)
Duke shot a ridiculous 47.8% from three against Wake Forest in their 31 point win over the weekend. For a team with an already-strong inside presence in Vernon Carey, staying hot from three could complicate matters for opponents in a big way.
2. Florida State (4-1)
The Seminoles were in a close one at Wake, but their solid shooting pulled them through. They’re a team with a lot of momentum, and get to play a wavering Virginia team at just the right time, with both their games against the Hoos in the next two weeks.
3. Louisville (4-1)
After two consecutive losses, the Cardinals turned in two complete performances with wins over Miami and Notre Dame this week. They’re back to their earlier form with a showdown against Duke looming large on Saturday.
Tier 2
4. Virginia (3-2)
The Hoos came crashing out of Tier 1 with two losses this week. The first loss came to a struggling Boston College team without their two best players, and the second to Syracuse on home court. To find the reasons for these losses, don’t look past Virginia’s 26.9% shooting from three.
5. Notre Dame (1-4)
Yes, Notre Dame is currently dead last in the ACC standings. But take a look at their four losses; @ Carolina (pre-Cole Anthony injury) by 11, Boston College by 1, @ NCST by 5, Louisville by 3. They’ve been in each and every one of their ACC games, but have simply been unable to close it out.
6. Clemson (2-3)
The talk of the conference over the weekend was Clemson breaking their eons-long away losing streak to North Carolina. Clemson’s won 2 out of three, with the loss coming to Miami in overtime. Clemson is steadily improving.
7. Miami (2-3)
Miami has been the victims of a rough ACC schedule thus far. Their three conference losses are all to the top three. With their schedule lightening up, it’ll be interesting to see what Miami can do.
8. Georgia Tech (3-3)
Almost beating Duke was impressive, and winning by 19 on the road against any ACC team is impressive. This is Josh Pastner’s best team yet.
9. Syracuse (2-3)
Winning at Virginia was a much needed confidence booster for the Orange. They’ve made massive steps since conference play started, and with a strong backcourt could make something happen going forward.
10. Virginia Tech (3-2)
It was a solid two-win week for the Hokies. If they manage to knock off both Syracuse and North Carolina this week they could find themselves near the top of the ACC.
Tier 3
11. North Carolina State (2-3)
For reasons unbeknownst to the college basketball community, NC State jacked up 30 threes against a Virginia Tech team without a real big man. They only made 6 of them so, unsurprisingly, lost the game.
12. North Carolina (1-4)
If somebody had said that UNC was going to be a team on the NIT bubble at the beginning of the season, many would have laughed. Alas, the Tar Heels are 8-8 overall, 1-4 in conference, and will be lucky to get into the NIT.
13. Boston College (3-2)
The win over Virginia was stunning, but in the end, it was an anomaly. The Eagles showed who they really are with a 19 point home loss to Georgia Tech.
14. Pittsburgh Panthers (2-3)
Under normal circumstances, winning at Carolina would be impressive, but then again, everyone seems to be doing that nowadays. Pitt is better than they were in the past, but that’s a pretty low bar to begin with.
15. Wake Forest (1-4)
It was actually a somewhat impressive week for Wake, keeping it close with Florida State before inevitably being blown out by Duke. With that said, Wake is is for a long season.