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ACC Power Rankings: Week of 2/23/15

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Team Record (ACC) STL Ranking Last week KenPom Rank RPI Rank (ESPN)
Virginia 25-1 (13-1) 1 1 2 3
Duke 24-3 (11-3) 2 2 8 4
Notre Dame 24-4 (12-3) 3 5 16 27
North Carolina 19-8 (9-5) 4 4 15 13
Louisville 21-6 (9-5) 5 3 19 17
Pittsburgh 18-10 (7-7) 6 7 74 37
NC State 16-11 (7-7) 7 9 40 46
Miami 17-10 (7-7) 8 6 57 65
Syracuse 17-10 (8-6) 9 10 63 74
Florida State 15-13 (7-8) 10 11 102 110
Clemson 15-12 (7-8) 11 8 86 81
Wake Forest 12-15 (4-10) 12 14 95 124
Georgia Tech 12-15 (3-12) 13 13 79 107
Virginia Tech 10-17 (2-12) 14 12 185 216
Boston College 9-17 (1-13) 15 15 150 161

Games of the Week:

Mid-week: Syracuse @ Notre Dame, UNC vs. NC State

Weekend: Syracuse @ Duke, UNC @ Miami

Tier 1:

1. Virginia (Last Week: W vs. Pittsburgh, W vs. FSU  Next: Wednesday @ Wake Forest, Saturday vs. Virginia Tech)

2. Duke (Last Week:  W vs. UNC, W vs. Clemson.  Next: Wednesday @ VT, Saturday vs. Syracuse)

UVA and Duke continue to prove themselves as the class of the ACC. Still, we know that UVA hasn't played its best basketball lately, and 3 of Duke's last 4 wins have been by single-digits as well. In each team's respective last 4 games, UVA failed to score over a point per possession, and the Blue Devils haven't held an opponent under a point per possession either.  All that matters is that both keep finding ways to win.

Tier 2:

3. Notre Dame (Last Week: W vs Wake Forest, W @ Boston College. Next: Tuesday vs. Syracuse)

4. North Carolina (Last Week: L @ Duke, W vs. Georgia Tech  Next: Tuesday vs. NC St. Saturday @ Miami)

5. Louisville (Last Week:  L @ Syracuse, W vs. Miami. Next:  Monday @ Georgia Tech, Saturday @ FSU)

"Tier 2," while safely in the NCAA field have been hurting their seeding over the past couple weeks. BracketMatrix has all 3 as 3 or 4 seeds, but they have combined to go 9-9 in each's last 6 games. And Louisville took an even bigger hit when Chris Jones was dismissed from the team - the Cardinals will badly miss his play-making on offense, where he led the team in assists.

Tier 3:

6. Pittsburgh (Last Week: L @ Virginia, W @ Syracuse. Next: Tuesday vs. BC. Sunday @ Wake Forest)

7. NC State (Last Week: W vs. Virginia Tech. Next: Tuesday @ UNC. Saturday @ BC)

8. Miami (Last Week: W vs. Virginia Tech. L @ Louisville. Next: Wednesday vs. Florida State. Saturday vs. North Carolina)

Beyond the aforementioned five squads, Pitt, NC State, and Miami are the ACC's only other shots at NCAA berths. All have strong spots to their resumes, but serious holes as well. The Panthers have plenty of momentum, as they've won 4 of their last 6 (including victories over UNC and Notre Dame), but their brutal non-conference looms large. NC State has the best resume of the three, with wins over Duke and Louisville, and Miami has that road win against Duke as well; but both will struggle to finish with winning ACC records.

I'll guess NC State sneaks in, because the Wolfpack always seem to do so. But Pitt's playing the best ball now.

Tier 4:

9. Syracuse (Last Week: W vs. Louisville, L vs Pittsburgh. Next: Tuesday @ Notre Dame, Saturday @ Duke)

10. Florida State (Last Week: W vs Boston College, L @ Virginia. Next: Wednesday @ Miami, Saturday vs. Louisville.)

11. Clemson (Last Week: L @ GT, L @ Duke. Next: Saturday @ Georgia Tech)

Syracuse is handily beating Pittsburgh in ACC play on a per-possession basis, per John Gasaway's Tuesday Truths. But Cuse is banned from postseason play, and it's Pitt who is playing for a tourney berth. The Orange notched a big win over Louisville, but fell to the Panthers at home this weekend and have a big week ahead.

Florida State ended an 11-game stretch during which each of their games were decided by single-digits, and have snuck from 133 to 103 in Ken Pomeroy's rankings during that stretch. Leonard Hamilton has one of the ACC's least experienced team rapidly improving.

Tier 5:

12. Wake Forest (Last Week: L @ Notre Dame. Next: Wednesday vs. Virginia, Sunday vs. Pittsburgh)

13. Georgia Tech (Last Week: W vs. Clemson, L @ UNC. Next: Monday @ Virginia Tech, Saturday vs. FSU.)

14. Virginia Tech (Last Week: L @ Miami, L @ NC State. Next: Wednesday vs. Duke, Saturday @ Virginia)

15. Boston College (Last Week: L @ FSU, L vs. Notre Dame. Next: Tuesday @ Pittsburgh. Saturday vs. NC State)


Danny Manning's Demon Deacons have looked significantly more competitive than those of the Bzdelik era...but they have still yet to pick up an ACC road win. Their last such victory came on January 21, 2012, against a really bad BC team. Before that: 2/6/2010, when they beat the Hoos in overtime in Charlottesville (the "Snowpocalypse" game). KenPom has their season finale at BC as a toss-up...

Those Eagles are in the midst of an 8 game losing streak. Their sole ACC win came by 2 against Georgia Tech.