This year’s ACC is definitely the best conference in college basketball, and it may be the deepest as well. Through the first week in the season we’ve learned a little about some teams and nothing at all about others. At the time of me writing this, the ACC is a combined 56-8. The conference as a whole may send a record number of teams to the Big Dance and could very well have the future champions.
1. North Carolina (6-0)
Their schedule hasn’t been stacked, but they have beaten everyone on their schedule handily, including a 107-75 win against Oklahoma State in the Maui Tournament Semifinals last night. As a UNC fan, I may be biased by having them jump Duke, but the upperclassmen have shown marked improvement, not to mention how impressive Tony Bradley has been in his short time on campus. They have important matchups with Wisconsin and Indiana coming up in the next week that will be big resume boosters. This team may end up being just as good as last year’s and at 6-0, they have the right start.
2. Duke (4-1)
Duke is more than likely the most talented team in the country, but to this point in the season, injuries have held them back. Still, at 4-1 with wins over #21 Rhode Island and Penn State, as well as their only loss being to #7 Kansas, the Blue Devils should be able to destroy most of their opponents this season when they return to full health.
3. Virginia (4-0)
Even after losing some key pieces last year, Tony Bennett’s system is as good as ever. In their last three games, the Cavs have allowed 32, 38, and 34 points respectively. In addition, freshman Kyle Guy broke out with his first 20-point effort last night against Grambling State. Virginia will once again be in the upper echelon of the ACC.
4. Louisville (3-0)
Another team with a small sample size, but Louisville is 3-0. They have destroyed all of their opponents to this point, but they will have an early test against #17 Purdue next week to give us a good look at them.
5. Florida State (4-0)
They haven’t yet faced a power five school yet, so we haven’t gotten a good read on them. Regardless, a 4-0 start helps boost the win total for tournament time. To this point, sophomore Dwayne Bacon has lived up to the hype by averaging 17.5 PPG and 3.8 RPG.
6. Virginia Tech (3-0)
They haven’t lost a game yet, but they also haven’t been super impressive. Senior Zach LeDay has stepped up his game a notch and is averaging 18.3 PPG and 9.7 RPG from the forward position. VT goes on their road for their first test next week against #25 Michigan.
7. Syracuse (4-0)
Although they haven’t played a power five school to this point, the 21-point win against Monmouth may end up being more impressive than it seems by season’s end. The Orange go on the road against Wisconsin next week and should show us what they are really about.
8. Notre Dame (5-0)
Borderline impressive wins over power five schools Northwestern and Colorado help boost the Irish’s postseason case. This team should be able to make the tournament, but is tasked with replacing many key players from last year’s team. Mike Brey is one of the top coaches in the conference and should be able to have it figured out come March.
9. Miami (3-0)
This season has really told us absolutely nothing about Miami to this point. We likely won’t even know what kind of team this is until conference play due to their only upcoming power five non-conference opponents being Rutgers and Stanford. This team was talented last year, but will have to replace a lot of senior leadership.
10. Pittsburgh (4-1)
Losing to SMU hurts, but barely beating Marquette helps. Michael Young and Jamel Artis may be the most lethal duos in the conference though as between the two of them combined their averaging 43.8 PPG, 14.1 RPG, and 6.3 APG. Come tournament time, they could have an upset or two in them, if they aren’t built up as a higher seed by then.
11. NC State (4-1)
They have not been impressive in really any of their wins and in their one true test they allowed 112 point to Creighton. At this point, it is hard to take this team seriously as a contender and they could be left out of the tournament this season.
12. Wake Forest (4-1)
Basically a mirror image of NC State at this point, Wake is 4-1 having not played anyone and losing their only true test to Villanova by 20. This team will likely be around .500 and there isn’t a whole lot of room for hope.
13. Clemson (2-2)
Being the only team in the whole conference with two losses drops you down a little bit, however both of those losses were to teams that were 2 seeds in the NCAA Tourney last season. Senior Jaron Blossomgame could be the best pure scorer in the league and a contender for ACC player of the year. Solid wins over Davidson and Georgia help boost the resume as this team has a lot of room to go up the rankings.
14. Georgia Tech (3-1)
Georgia Tech got a steal with their new head coach Josh Pastner from Memphis, or did they? He had slowly been going downhill every year at Memphis, but moved on to take a new challenge in Atlanta. It is tough to see a team under a first year head coach who just lost to Ohio and only beat Sam Houston State by 8 going anywhere this year.
15. Boston College (3-1)
Ah, finally we get to Boston College. Yes, this is the same team that went winless in conference play last season and has lost their last 20 ACC games. There is a long way to go in Chestnut Hill and close wins against Stony Brook and Towson don’t show that coming anytime soon.
