This week brought no surprises throughout the top of the ACC, as all four teams expected to contend for the title remained unbeaten in mostly convincing fashion. As such, it should come of no surprise that Louisville retains their No. 1 ranking. Louisville has arguably the best player in the league in Jordan Nwora, who has continued his top form from last season–as anybody who watched the ACC a year ago would have expected–averaging 21.7 points per game to go with 7.7 rebounds. Perhaps more important than having the best player in the ACC is having veteran leadership. Seniors Ryan McMahon, Dwayne Sutton, and Steven Enoch are all back for their fourth season and will play a crucial role in the success of this team, especially come March. Something to look out for, however, is depth. The Cardinals currently have seven players averaging over twenty minutes per game. The next most? Less than 10. Once they hit the gauntlet of ACC play, this could well be a problem for Louisville. It’ll be up to Chris Mack in his second year at Louisville to make sure he’s doing what’s best for his guys. Mack has a few games to get his guys ready before their three game stretch against Michigan, Pitt, and 11th ranked Texas Tech.
1. Louisville Cardinals
Louisville had two cupcake games this week, winning by 29 in each against Indiana State and North Carolina Central. Through four games, the Cardinals have been shooting a scary 43.1% from deep. If they can maintain that number… No, I don’t even want to think about it. Let’s just say it will be a lot of wins for Chris Mack in his second year at Louisville and a lot of terrified ACC teams.
2. Duke Blue Devils
This year, as opposed to last year, Duke doesn’t have a walking, talking, headline on the court with a four foot vertical… Which could actually turn out to be a good thing for Mike Krzyzewski’s squad. The Blue Devils have a much more balanced team this year, and a team not so laden with stars could give Coach K a chance to actually coach instead of just handing his team over to the stars. Maybe Duke will look more like Krzyzewski’s teams of old when the young coach stunned everybody. It seems weird to say, but it’s almost as if Duke is somewhat under the radar this year.
3. North Carolina Tar Heels
Cole Anthony has been better than advertised. That almost seems impossible. But it’s true. Anthony has been a one-man team, averaging 27.3 PPG. Anthony has attempted 65 out of Carolina’s 188 shots this year. To say that he has put the team on his back might be something of an understatement. Anthony has had help from Garrison Brooks and Justin Pierce, but there is no doubt that this is Anthony’s team. It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens when Anthony inevitably has a bad game. Already, there are flashes that Carolina fans are not pleased to see; If Cole sits for five minutes, that is five minutes of looking desperately for a shot, of winding the shot clock down and, ultimately, losing that mini-stretch. Games against No. 16 Ohio State, No. 9 UVA, and No. 8 Gonzaga in a two-week stretch in early December should expose the Tar Heels for what they really are.
4. Virginia Cavaliers
There were a lot of angry Virginia fans after the Cavaliers allowed Columbia to score 42 points on Saturday, 8 more than the prior season average. Tony Bennett has some serious problems on his hands. I mean, 42 points?! Unacceptable. All jokes aside though, this might be Tony Bennett’s best defensive team. And that is scary. Holding opponents to an average of 36.7 PPG is no mean feat, and there is every sign that the Hoos can keep this up. On top of that Mamadi Diakite and Kihei Clark have lived up to expectations so far, and Jay Huff is emerging as a rising star. Two time national coach of the year Tony Bennett has an underrated team that could wreak havoc in the ACC this year.
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame officially earns the title of “The Best of the Rest,” meaning the best out of the ACC excluding the four teams currently ranked in the top 7 of the AP Poll. While it may come as somewhat of a surprise to some, Notre Dame looks the best out of a group of decidedly shaky-looking teams through the first two weeks. They opened the season by keeping it close at UNC, only losing by 11, before preceding to win their next three games by double-digits. John Mooney, in his 4(,000)th season at Notre Dame is averaging a double-double, while fellow Senior TJ Gibbs has looked good as well. A spot of worry for Irish fans, however, is Rex Pflueger. Although he missed all of last season with a knee injury, he was still expected to average more than his current totals of 5 points and 3.5 rebounds. Still, the Irish will be a good team as they challenge for that fifth spot.
6. Florida State Seminoles
Florida State hangs on to their 6th place ranking… By a hair. The Seminoles, everybody’s preseason sleeper pick to challenge for the top four, opened the season with a loss at Pitt. Not so bad, you think to yourself. Losing to an ACC opponent on the road? Understandable. But three days later the Panthers lost at home to Nicholls State, and the loss that everybody waved off as early season mishaps suddenly looked a lot worse. FSU’s reputation was saved by waltzing into Gainesville and defeating the then-No. 6 ranked Gators… Who then lost a second game, at UConn. While the transitive property should certainly not be applied to college basketball, these results are scary. Hopefully, Leonard Hamilton will get his team together and they will live up to the preseason expectations.
7. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
On opening night, Georgia Tech traveled to Raleigh and won a game that nobody expected them to win. Yes, it took a colossal error from the Wolfpack to do so, but a win is a win, and that’s what the yellow jackets took home. Jose Alvarado and Michael Devoe lead perhaps the most underrated backcourt in the ACC, and James Banks III is certainly no slouch in the frontcourt, either. Josh Pastner likely needs a better year to keep his job, and this is a team with the potential to do it.
8. Miami Hurricanes
Many expected Chris Lykes, Miami’s 5′ 7″ junior point guard, to be stuffing stat sheets already. Surprisingly, Miami is taking a much more balanced approach. With four players averaging double-digits, the Canes are looking like a good team this year. With that said, it would arguably be Jim Larranaga’s best coaching job at Miami if he is able to get them into the NCAA tournament one year removed from winning five conference games.
9. North Carolina State Wolfpack
Picked sixth in the preseason poll, the Wolfpack lost their opening game at home to Georgia Tech. Since then, NC State has won their last three against weak opposition, and their talented backcourt has looked good in that period. For NC State to live up to expectations this year, that backcourt, consisting of CJ Bryce, Devon Daniels, and Braxton Beverly, needs to continue their good play. We all know what happened last year, when State failed to make the NCAA tournament due to their nonconference slate being 353rd–dead last–in strength of schedule. Nobody can accuse them of that this year, as they face 16th ranked Memphis, 19th ranked Auburn, and Wisconsin before they get into the thick of the ACC. Those games will give us an opportunity to see what this team is really made of.
10. Syracuse Orange
Syracuse is something of an intriguing team this year. Opening the season by only putting up 34 against UVA is understandable, albeit concerning, especially since James Madison scored the same amount on Virginia’s home floor a few days later. Regardless, the Orange have a pretty solid team, and traveling to the Carrier Dome will always be intimidating. Grizzled veteran Jim Boeheim has a few weeks before the next test, and Syracuse will likely improve in that time.
11. Virginia Tech Hokies
When Virginia Tech was picked second to last in the preseason poll, nobody was surprised. They were a team in turmoil, who had just lost their head coach and best players. But then they stunned everyone by walking out of Little Caesar’s Arena with a win, and suddenly it looks like the Hokies could be the surprise of the season.
12. Boston College Eagles
This week, Boston College held High Point to 33 points, winning by 26… And then promptly allowed Belmont to score 100. I think it’s fair to say that BC is just a little bit inconsistent. A team that has looked shaky already will like;y continue that trend. Their chances won’t be helped in part because they play both Duke and Virginia twice, but also because they play them back-to-back on one occasion, and have Louisville, UNC and Duke one after another in a brutal three-game stretch in early February.
13. Clemson Tigers
Clemson’s numbers thus far are deceiving. Although they average about 77 points per game, it is just difficult to see where points are going to come from, especially once they reach the gauntlet of ACC play. The Tigers look out of place on offense, and their defensive numbers, while decent thus far, come against very weak opposition. Clemson fans could be in for a long season.
14. Pittsburgh Panthers
After an impressive win over Florida State, the Panthers have fallen into disarray, losing to Nicholls State and West Virginia. Trey McGowens has been a damp spark in a torrential downpour, and will need to shoulder the load for Pitt to be successful. The only good news for Pitt is that it can’t get any worse than last year.
15. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Last place in the ACC thus far goes to Wake. They’ve lost to BC and Charlotte and beat Columbia by virtue of a game winning shot in the final seconds. Even worse is that Wake’s two best players are a senior and a junior, so it’s not as if there’s something to look forward to. There’s no getting around it: It’s going to be a rough ride for the North Carolina’s fourth best ACC team.