ACC Power Rankings

1) Miami: Is there any question the right now Miami is the best team in the conference? They are the most well balanced team, and they have a killer instinct. Miami can attack inside and outside, in the half court or in transition. They also don’t take their foot off the pedal, instead of giving teams a chance to make a run, they continue to attack.

2) North Carolina State: They hit an odd point, when they lost at Maryland and at Wake Forest. But they found their offense again last night vs UNC. The Wolfpack are still an up and down team, some nights they looks like a top team, and other nights they struggle. This week will tell a lot about them. How do they handle the stout Virginia defense, and can they match the energy of Miami?

3) Duke: Strong bounce back on Saturday beating Maryland. They still have plenty of holes without Ryan Kelly, but on Saturday they were able to get anything they wanted against one of the better defense in the conference. Wednesday night showed how vulnerable Duke can be. Miami brought more energy and was never afraid of them, they left Duke exposed.

4) Virginia: Took care of business this week, in impressive fashion also. Double digit wins at Virginia Tech and home vs Boston College. I’m still not sure how UVa can compete against the top teams in conference, but as long as they take care of business against the bottom teams, they can hang around the top of the conference. Tuesday night will be a big test, luckily they get NCST at home.

5) North Carolina: Tar Heels took care of business against Georgia Tech, but then followed it up by getting out played at NCST. Similar to their game against Butler, where they were out of it the entire way and came back at the end to make it look closer. The next three are winnable, and games that they should take care of business before a tough back to back at Miami and at Duke.

6) Florida State: Tough call to put them here after tonight’s game, but they beat Maryland in College Park, which gives them the edge. Not sure what to make of the Noles. They came back during the week to beat Clemson, but struggled mightily at Miami. They had no answers on defense for the Canes, and on offense couldn’t get anything going. They welcome Maryland then Duke to Tallahassee this week, which will tell us a lot more about them moving forward. I think tonight raised a lot of questions about toughness and the offense.

7) Maryland: The Terps looked to be finding some offense after struggling for a couple of games with scoring. Unfortunately they weren’t able to put together a good defensive effort at Duke. Maryland is one game below 500 right now, and they have two games this week that can get wins and get over the 500 mark. It won’t be easy beating FSU on the road, but with how they looked tonight and after how the game at Maryland went, this one the Terps should take advantage of. They return home to face Wake Forest on Saturday.

8) Wake Forest: Odd to put Wake Forest up so high, but after the came back from double digits to beat NCST, they deserve some credit. Unfortunately they lost by 20 at Georgia Tech to follow it up. We haven’t hit the half way point yet of conference play, and Wake Forest has three wins. They need something to cheer about in Winston-Salem.

9) Clemson: Tigers got a great game today from Milton Jennings who had 28 points and 14 rebounds, and hit 16 free throws to beat Virginia Tech. Clemson needed this home win after giving up a lead and losing to FSU on a buzzer beater earlier in the week. Just like Maryland, Clemson is at 3-4 and the next two are both winnable games that can get them to 4-3. Clemson host Georgia Tech and then goes on the road to Boston College.

10)Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets finally got their first win of the ACC season, beating Wake Forest by 20. That gives them a slight edge out of the bottom three teams in my eyes. BC and Virginia Tech had rough weeks. Lets see how Georgia Tech follows up the win vs Wake Forest when they go on the road to face Clemson, before they welcome a possibly surging Virginia team to Atlanta.

11) Boston College: Tough stretch for the Eagles, they just played Miami, Maryland, and Virginia. They were close in the Miami and Maryland games to grabbing upsets. At Virginia they couldn’t hang on in the second half and lost by double digits. Doesn’t get any easier for BC with the Tar Heels coming up to Boston this week.

12) Virginia Tech: Hokies can’t find defense or another scorer besides Erick Green. Despite his 35 points against Virginia, they still lost by double digits and only managed to score 58 points in the game. Today, the game got away from them at the end, they were close with Clemson, but once again, no one could step up to lead the team to victory.

Games To Watch

Tuesday: NCST at Virginia – A battle of contrasting styles, can Virginia get enough offense to match North Carolina State or can they slow them down enough to get a marquee win at home.

Saturday: NCST at Miami – Big week for the Wolfpack, how will they respond in back to back tough games, and how does Miami play now they have the target on their back.

ACC Power Rankings

Now they we are entering December, it’s time to put together our first power rankings for the conference.
Obviously as the season progresses we will have a better read on all of the teams. But for now, lets take what we know following the first month of action.

1) Duke – Hard to argue with this. Mason Plumlee looks like a National Player of the Year. Neutral site wins vs Louisville and Kentucky, and a home win over Ohio State. There are teams that can’t build that type of a resume in a season let a lone a month.

2) Virginia Tech – I’ll catch some heat for this, but the Hokies are undefeated and are scoring at will. They took care of business vs Iowa, have avoided loses to early season cupcakes, and then grabbed a nice win over Oklahoma State on Saturday.

3) Maryland – The Terps got knocked back a spot for me because of how sloppy they were on Saturday, they should have won by double digits. Dez Wells looks like a first team ACC player, once Nick Faust can get going then they will be continue to be a mainstay at the top of the conference.

4) Miami – The loss to Florida Gulf Coast is a product of not having Durand Scott. Beating Michigan State at home by double digits, and then avoiding a hangover at UMass have this team back on schedule.

5) Virginia – I thought Virginia would take a step back this year after losing Mike Scott, but once they got their full roster back they have looked much improved. Posting two games with 80 points and then grabbing a win at Wisconsin, is impressive for this team.

6-7) North Carolina – This looks like a Tar Heel team following a big senior class. They are lost and don’t give consistent effort. No shame in losing to Butler and at Indiana, but to get stomped in both of them is troubling. Taking care of business at home vs UAB isn’t impressive when you get up for a road trip to #1 Indiana.

6-7) North Carolina State – They are still learning to handle the high expectations, which is expected. But the effort just hasn’t been there is some games. Stomped by Oklahoma State in Puerto Rico, a near loss at home to UNC-Ashville, and getting beat badly at Michigan aren’t good signs early on. The Michigan score doesn’t look that bad, but they were out played for the entire night and showed up at the end to make it close.

8) Georgia Tech – The Yellow Jackets look much improved from last year. They have been taking care of business against the teams they should beat, grabbed a nice neutral site win vs Saint Mary, and were tough at Illinois. That game doesn’t look close because of free throws and missed 3’s in the final two minutes, but Georgia Tech wasn’t in that until the end. They have to potential to steal some games if they catch someone sleep walking in conference.

9) Clemson – Yes the loss to Purdue was bad, since it was a home beat down. However they were without Milton Jennings, and they bounced back and beat in state rival South Carolina. They will be up and down this year, they looked good against Gonzaga and then looked bad against Purdue.

10) Florida State – This is a tough time for the Noles. They are struggling mentally right now, like they did at times early on last season. The difference is that their offense hasn’t been consistent enough to bail them out. They were poor on defense against Minnesota, a bad sign for a team based on defense, and then they were just awful against Mercer. They have Florida coming to town this week in a game that could get ugly quickly if Florida State continues to give up points and not generate any for themselves.

11) Boston College – Sure they lost to Byrant, but they won on the road at Penn State. That has to count for something, right?

12) Wake Forest – Has an AD ever botched anything as badly as Wake Forest AD did with their basketball team? Oh wait, there’s Debbie Yow and the Maryland athletic budget, looks like your in the clear for now Ron Wellman.