The latest edition of Power Rankings brings with it plenty of movement following a two-week break. Most notably, two new teams sit atop the rankings, teams who both happen to possess top-10 defenses. Coincidence? I think not. Defense is more important than ever in a world without fans, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that KenPom’s number eight and number two defensive teams come in as one and two after a couple weeks of ACC basketball. Here’s how the ACC stacks up after six weeks of hoops.
Tier 1
1) Virginia ▲1
The Hoos rebounded nicely from their big loss to Gonzaga, and with Carolina’s recent losses they retake the top spot. Kihei Clark is back to being the solid distributor and tough scorer that he was last year, and the defense has taken significant strides as well. Tony Bennett is still trying to fit all of the pieces together, but even so Virginia is the clear-cut favorite in the ACC.
2) Clemson ▲3
The football team may have taken a pounding in the Sugar Bowl, but Clemson basketball is better than it’s been in years. They have one of the best defenses in the country and an offense just good enough to ensure that they’ll win quite a bit. The Tigers were very impressive in their 10-point win over Florida State to start the week, and survived a trip to Miami to finish it. Clemson may struggle at times when shots aren’t falling, but their defense will keep them in games.
3) Duke –
With Krzyzewski stuck in quarantine and a matchup with FSU postponed, this Duke team has yet to find a sense of continuity. The Blue Devils have only been able to get five games in, losing to two Big Ten teams and winning twice over low-major opposition. The last game, a 10-point win over Notre Dame, was a good sign, but with no time to build off of it the growth of the team remains stagnant. Duke needs to play basketball games, simple as that, and until they do there’s not much to comment on.
4) Florida State –
The puzzling loss to UCF notwithstanding, Florida State has had a relatively solid start to the season. The loss to Clemson may have been disappointing, but that’s what great defenses do to you—the Noles coughed the ball up 17 times and shot 28% from three-point land. Clemson also caught fire in the second half, something that Leonard Hamilton’s group was powerless to stop. Scottie Barnes, MJ Walker and others make up a very good basketball team, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.
5) North Carolina ▼4
Carolina’s big men continue to be awe-inspiring, and faith remains that Carolina will get it together soon. But there’s no denying the problems that continue to cripple the Tar Heels. Three-point shooting was an issue for all of non-conference play and remains so, Caleb Love has been a disappointment, and R.J. Davis has been underwhelming. However with Day’Ron Sharpe’s recent emergence and the steadiness of the other bigs, Carolina should get there eventually.
Tier 2
6) NC State ▲1
The Wolfpack have won their last two ACC games, both by a score of 79-76. The win over UNC by that margin was impressive, the one over Boston College less so. Still, the last couple of weeks were the first test to see if NC State was the real deal, and they seem to have passed. The close game against BC was mostly due to the 23% the Pack shot from three, and given their season average of 37% it can mostly be viewed as an anomaly. Rarely will NC State struggle to score, but their defense may prove problematic at times.
7) Syracuse ▼1
It’s been over two weeks since the Orange last saw the floor, and they’re finally primed to return to the court on Wednesday. It will be their second ACC game of the season, coming nearly a month after they dropped 101 points on BC to open conference play with a 38-point win. Coming back against FSU after a long hiatus is not exactly favorable, but it will be interesting to see how things play out.
8) Virginia Tech ▲3
It’s finally time to acknowledge that the Hokies may not crash and burn like they did last year. I’ve been very hesitant to get behind this team, but after rattling off another string of wins—including a six-point victory over Clemson—it seems as if Virginia Tech might be capable of not falling apart. That said, there’s nobody else in this conference past those top seven that have shown anything to merit confidence, but Virginia Tech looks like the best of the rest right now. Keve Aluma has been magnificent, and the Hokies are decent enough at the other positions.
9) Louisville ▼1
There is something to be said for a 2-0 conference record, though wins over (a Justin Champagnie-less) Pittsburgh and Boston College don’t exactly inspire confidence. But Louisville has taken care of business thus far, the only blemish over their eight games being the 37-point blowout to Wisconsin. The Cardinals have a respectable core of players, but past that the rest of the group is unpredictable.
10) Georgia Tech –
While impressive, the win over Carolina was mostly due to a hot shooting night. It’s going to take more than that to sell anybody on a team that has losses to Mercer and Georgia State to its name. The loss to Florida State was probably more representative of Georgia Tech’s quality, in which FSU cruised to a 13-point victory. The Yellow Jackets do have a powerful forward in Moses Wright and some talented guards, but the defense isn’t nearly good enough at this point.
Tier 3
11) Notre Dame ▲2
It seems ridiculous to move Notre Dame up after starting 0-3 in ACC play—but only if you didn’t watch those three games. They came against Duke, UVA, and UNC, the Fighting Irish holding their own against three of the conference’s top teams. Nate Laszewski’s breakout performances in the latest two, where he scored 25 and 28 points, were a massive positive for Mike Brey, as were the limited turnovers. Defense is still the major problem, but Notre Dame has been impressive despite three early conference losses.
12) Miami ▼3
The return of Kameron McGusty helped what was supposed to be a very good Miami team take Clemson to the wire. But with McGusty’s hamstring injury and Chris Lykes’ ankle sprain, that team has been without its best two players for weeks. There’s still no return date for Lykes, though it is good news for the Hurricanes that McGusty is back playing. Miami has looked terrible in their recent 1-4 stretch, but when Lykes returns and Miami gets back to full strength they will once again be a very dangerous team.
13) Pittsburgh ▼1
Still without Justin Champagnie, Pitt is understandably moving in the wrong direction. Champagnie won’t be back until mid-February at the earliest, and without him their offense is experiencing major struggles. They only got to 54 points against Louisville, and while the defense remains decent, Xavier Johnson and Au’diese Toney can only do so much on the offensive end without Champagnie. Dark days are ahead for Jeff Capel and his program.
Tier 4
14) Boston College ▲1
The Eagles have meandered to a 2-7 record, most recently picking up losses to NC State and Louisville. They’re a mediocre team at best, capable of occasionally hanging with good teams but nearly always falling short. The biggest problem with Boston College is that they tend to let the other team dictate the game, always ceding control to their opponent. That’s not going to help win basketball games, nor is bad defense. BC is doing both right now.
15) Wake Forest ▼1
It’s one thing to not play a game for a month and come back rusty, a totally different thing to come back from that break and nearly lose to a Division II school. Wake didn’t look so bad in their first two games, but after losing Tariq Ingraham and Ian DuBose for the season, they’re a significantly worse team. Boston College may be mediocre, but with the loss of those two, Wake is downright bad.