Streaking the Lawn’s ACC Men’s Basketball Power Rankings - 2/8/19

After a tie last week, our writers were able to separate the top two ACC squads again in our rankings. Was Duke’s second half dismantling of BC more impressive than UVa getting past a visiting Miami squad? Find out a couple centimeters below!

1. Duke Blue Devils (20-2, 8-1 - Last Week: 1)

The Blue Devils outscored the visiting Eagles by 27 (!) points in their second half domination Tuesday. The rematch against UVa should be a great one - and one that solidifies the winner at the top of our rankings (for a day or two, at least). Having a healthy Tre Jones will make it a much different match up than the game in Durham was.

2. Virginia Cavaliers (20-1, 8-1 - Last Week: 1)

The Hoos have had a week off after last Saturday’s win against Miami - some shooting woes and an uncharacteristically large amount of turnovers have some UVa fans worried the team is in a bit of a rut. Will Gameday and the top 3 match up in Charlottesville tomorrow be what shakes them out of it?

3. North Carolina Tar Heels (18-4, 8-1 - Last Week: 3)

UNC has been on a complete tear since their embarrassing loss earlier to Louisville. The run of six straight wins not only includes blowouts over VT, NCSU, and a clear win in the Louisville rematch, but also has shown the team has probably turned the corner in how Roy wants to approach the lineup and game flow strategy. Duke gets all the headlines with their frosh - but the first year Tar Heels are going to make some noise through February and March.

4. Louisville Cardinals (17-6, 8-2 - Last Week: 4)

The Cardinals had a bit of a dip in their surprising run of dominant wins in dropping their rematch against Carolina at home - they responded with a tough win against an undermanned VT team on the road. With games against Duke, FSU, UVA (x2), and a road trip to Syracuse remaining, the road to a top 4 ACC seed is no sure thing for Coach Mack’s team.

5. Virginia Tech Hokies (18-4, 7-3 - Last Week: 5)

BUZZ WILLIAMS INSPIRATIONAL TWEET OF THE WEEK:

Your guess is as good as mine, folks.

6. Florida State Seminoles (17-5, 5-4 - Last Week: 8)

WWWW.

FSU’s four game stretch of wins has helped them leap back into ACCT double-bye contention. It hasn’t been against the premiere conference teams, but by beating the teams that they should beat (including a really convincing win at the Carrier Dome), the Noles look like they should be back in the top 4 discussion.

7. North Carolina State Wolfpack (16-7, 4-6 - Last Week: 6)

Where my State fans at this week? Holler at me in the comments about how Keatts is a good coach, please.

8. Syracuse Orange (16-7, 7-3 - Last Week: 7)

After the huge win against Duke earlier in the season, Cuse has fallen back into a normal routine of losing to good teams and beating bad teams. They get Louisville, Duke, and UVa at home still this year so there are more chances to pick up another marquee win, make the NCAAT as a 10 seed, and advance to at least the Elite 8 assuredly.

9. Clemson Tigers (14-8, 4-5 - Last Week: 9)

Three straight wins over the ACC basement dwellers have the Tigers with some momentum to put them past that NCSU buzzer-beater freethrow fiasco. A home game tomorrow vs VT could go a long way to keeping them in bubble contention.

10. Miami Hurricanes (10-12, 2-8 - Last Week: 12)

So this is where the cliff drops off in the conference. While difficult to rank, the king of the bad teams is probably Miami, who lack in depth but do not lack in Chris Lykes, who is awesome.

11. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-12, 3-7 - Last Week: 11)

GT hasn’t really been competitive since their win over Notre Dame...it’s been a rough stretch of losses to Duke, UNC, FSU, and CU. But, good news! They play Notre Dame next!

12. Pittsburgh Panthers (12-11, 2-8 - Last Week: 10)

Pitt has lost 6 straight games including an OT THRILLER against WAKE FOREST. First year coach growing pains for sure for the Panthers.

13. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-11, 2-8 - Last Week: 14)

A bummer of a season for the Irish did include a win over their rivals in Catholicism on the road - but they followed it with a convincing loss in Miami.

14. Boston College Eagles (11-10, 2-7 - Last Week: 13)

The Eagles had the lead in Durham at the half!

It was awesome!

The second half was not.

15. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-13, 2-8 - Last Week: 15)

No longer shall we look at Danny Manning’s team and proclaim “ew you only have one ACC win!”