ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Conference Play is Here!

Tonight’s the night, Wahoos. ACC play starts on the road against a really strong Louisville team. As the conference games begin, let’s take a look at how our writers see the league shaking out:

1) Duke (12-1) Last Week: 1

The Blue Devils squeaked past Elon, despite another Grayson Allen trip and crybaby temper tantrum. He’s now suspended for the foreseeable future - a cynic might expect him to play in the second half tomorrow.

2) Louisville (11-1) Last Week: 4

Beating Kentucky is surely enough to move the Cardinals up a couple of spots in our rankings - with a huge game tonight against the visiting Wahoos. The Fightin’ Pitinos won a game UNC couldn’t and are clearly a contender for the ACC title.

3) North Carolina (11-2) Last Week: 2

The Heels blew out UNI after the close loss to Kentucky. Their talent alone (sounds like most Roy Williams teams, AMIRITE?) will keep them in the ACC title conversation - and potentially a repeat Final Four appearance.

4) Virginia (10-1) Last Week: 3

The road win at Cal should be huge for the Wahoos in the seeding process for the NCAA tournament. Tonight’s game will be a rough one, but if the Hoos hold serve on the should-win ACC games, they’ll be great shape to play on the second weekend again - and potentially challenge for the ACC title.

5) Florida State (12-1) Last Week: 5

FSU keeps beating bad teams, which may continue with their first ACC game against Wake. A road test at UVa on New Year’s Eve will be much more telling towards the Noles’ conference standing.

6) Notre Dame (10-2) Last Week: 6

The Irish look more like an upper-middle ACC squad so far - more a team that should score a few upsets and finish outside the top 4 than a real contender. Nonetheless, I can see Notre Dame finishing above UVa and FSU if a few games go their way.

7) Virginia Tech (10-1) Last Week: 7

I could use this space to talk about the Hokies being 10-2 or I could show you this:

8) Clemson (9-2) Last Week: 9

Winning at South Carolina on the road is going to be a really nice part of the Tiger’s resume in March. They’ve done enough to be one of the 12 billion ACC teams to make the tournament this year - but will need to keep it up in conference play.

9) Miami (9-2) Last Week: 8

Miami’s overall OOC resume might be the most confusing in the ACC. They lost to a couple of okay teams...and beat a couple of okay teams...who knows where the Canes will end up in the ACC? (Probably right about #9).

10) Pittsburgh (10-2) Last Week: 11

Starting conference play by hosting Notre Dame will let Pitt easily recover from their two less-than-impressive losses. It’s not a must-win for their tournament chances, obviously, but it’s a big opportunity to make a statement about their quality.

11) Wake Forest (9-3) Last Week: 12

Wake Forest beat the crap out of LSU this week - which shows just how much better the ACC is than the rest of the world. Could Wake Forest beat the 76ers?

12) NC State (10-2) Last Week: 13

Alright, Wolfpack. Beating a bunch of JV middle school teams and losing to a couple of decent teams means your NCAAT chances are in tact. Time to play some real competition! Let’s see how that works out...

13) Syracuse (8-5) Last Week: 10

Syracuse continued their garbage run of playing Big East friends by getting absolutely murked by St. Johns. But don’t worry, Sportscenter told me this morning that the win over 3-8 Cornell was a “big win” in a “rebound game.” ESPN sucks.

14) Georgia Tech (7-4) Last Week: 14

Who in the ACC is going to have an embarrassing L to the Jackets this year? Someone is, for sure. Nice win over Wofford, Josh!

15) Boston College (7-6) Last Week: 15

Losing to Fairfield and beating Providence? Just another zany week for the Eagles!

Who voted for whom: