ACC Weekly Roundup: Power Rankings and the Good, Bad, and Ugly

In a major shakeup to the ACC arms race, Clemson broke Duke’s 16-game win streak in Littlejohn Coliseum Saturday. It’s hard to imagine the Blue Devils losing more than one game the rest of the way, but the Tigers have narrowed the gap. In terms of recent Bracketology forecasts, the conference has three teams in the field, one on the right side of the bubble, and two witnessing their chances dwindle: Duke (1), Louisville (7), Clemson (8), Wake Forest (First Four In), SMU (First Four Out), North Carolina (Next Four Out), and Pittsburgh (Next Four Out).

The forecast was last updated Friday, February 7. Considering the weekend’s results, Clemson has perhaps jumped one or two seeds above their current position with wins over two top-five teams — Kentucky and Duke — under their belt. Pitt and North Carolina, however, are at serious risk of missing the tournament; the Panthers are notably suffering from a three-game losing streak and have fallen to 1-7 in Quad One matchups.

The major news, however, is the impending retirement of Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton. After 23 seasons at the helm, arguably the last of the ACC’s old guard is calling it quits at the season’s end. Another one bites the dust.

1st Tier:

1. Duke (20-3, 12-1 ACC)
2. Clemson (19-5, 11-2)
3. Louisville (18-6, 11-2)

2nd Tier:

4. Wake Forest (18-6, 10-3)
5. SMU (18-5, 9-3)
6. Stanford (16-8, 8-5)
7. North Carolina (14-10, 7-5)

3rd Tier:

8. Pittsburgh (14-9, 5-7)
9. Florida State (14-9, 5-7)
10. Virginia Tech (11-13, 6-7)
11. California (12-12, 5-8)
12. Virginia (12-12, 5-8)
13. Notre Dame (10-13, 4-8)
14. Syracuse (11-13, 5-8)
15. Georgia Tech (11-13, 5-8)
16. NC State (9-14, 2-10)
17. Boston College (10-13, 2-10)
18. Miami (5-18, 1-11)

The Good: Virginia roars past Pitt and Georgia Tech, Clemson upends Duke at home

What kind of Virginia team is this? The ‘Hoos haven’t played this well since an early-season win on a neutral site against Villanova, with their double-digit wins over the Panthers and Yellow Jackets coming as a major surprise late into conference play. Following a mediocre first season in Charlottesville, junior guard Andrew Rohde (9.0 PPG, 4.2 APG) has finally adjusted to the ACC and has paced the Cavaliers at the point guard position alongside sophomore Dai Dai Ames (7.6 PPG), who exploded for 27 in a statement victory over Pitt. Rohde has tallied a whopping 25 assists and zero turnovers in his last three games. For reference, he dished out twelve dimes and coughed the ball up ten times through Virginia’s first three contests. That is a major, major improvement.

Rohde and junior Isaac McKneely (13.4 PPG) are the ‘Hoos X-factors, and Ames’ recent surge has given Coach Ron Sanchez a much-needed boost. The frontcourt, moreover, has benefited from the play of both sophomore Blake Buchanan (6.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG) — an improved rebounder — and the energetic activity of freshman Anthony Robinson in the paint.

Junior forward Elijah Saunders (11.2 PPG) is still easing into the lineup after recovering from an injury! If Virginia can replicate these performances going forward, the conversation surrounding Sanchez may shift. Now, he’s staring down a gauntlet in the coming weeks, but wins over the likes of a North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, or Clemson would be massive for his long-term candidacy. A win over the Blue Devils would be the most pivotal for the ‘Hoos’ interim coach.

Clemson’s length allowed them to triumph over Duke. Most teams simply have had no answer for the versatile Cooper Flagg (19.5 PPG, 7.7 RPG), a monster in the frontcourt in freshman Khaman Maluach (7.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG), and a lengthy defender in junior Maliq Brown. The Tigers, however, leaned on their troika of 6’8’ forward Ian Schieffelin (12.8 PPG, 9.5 RPG), 6’10’ forward Chauncey Wiggins (9.2 PPG), and 6’11’ center Viktor Lakhin (10.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG), who starred with a 22-point, three-block performance against the Blue Devils. Despite trailing the entire game, a three-pointer from Schieffelin at the 13:16 mark stole the momentum and led to a 12-point run from the Tigers.

A talented and relentless Duke squad answered in a flurry, but the Tigers kept answering what the Blue Devils threw at them. Senior guard Chase Hunter converted a layup to give Clemson a one-point edge with 38 seconds remaining, and they played the free-throw game from there. Duke, seemingly invincible in the ACC, had finally fallen to a conference foe. The Tigers punished the Blue Devils on the boards, 36 to 23, and overcame a 50.0% 3PT performance from their opponents with Lakhin and others’ fearlessness inside. Clemson scored 40 points in the paint as opposed to Duke’s 22.

It will be interesting to monitor Duke and Clemson’s jockeying for first-place position in the ACC. The Tigers are one game back and have a relatively light schedule going forward. They’ll need to put the Duke win aside and focus on a visiting North Carolina Monday night.

The Bad: Boston College dealt 3-OT blow from Syracuse, ACC’s old coaching guard

While no one expected Boston College to run the ACC table this season, they’ve significantly regressed from a 20-16 campaign and have few bright spots outside of sophomore guard Donald Hand Jr. (16.2 PPG). The 6’5’ native of Virginia Beach, Virginia is also the Eagles’ leading rebounder (6.6 RPG). Following a 26-point home loss to Louisville, Boston College looked poised to recover against Syracuse in the JMA Wireless Dome Saturday, holding a late seven-point lead in second overtime. To get them there, sophomore guard Fred Payne knocked down a three-pointer to tie it with one second remaining in regulation.

The Orange dominated the third frame of overtime after recovering from their seven-point hole. Boston College — who couldn’t knock off North Carolina in the Dean Dome — hasn’t managed to win those close games outside of a 77-76 victory over Florida State nine days ago. However, Hand has emerged as a surefire scoring threat on the perimeter. He scored 26, 31, and 28 points against North Carolina, Florida State, and Syracuse, yet the Eagles will have to worry about a portal exit from the rising star — the son of Virginia alumnus Donald Hand.

Boeheim, Bennett, Brey, Krzyzewski, Larrañaga, Williams and now Hamilton are gone from the ACC coaching ranks. The lone wolf is arguably Clemson’s Brad Brownell, who took over as the Tigers’ head coach in 2010. While many coached into their 70s, the new age of college basketball has certainly had a hand in pushing out some legends from a historic basketball conference. Hamilton — the winningest coach in Florida State history — also won the ACC Coach of the Year title thrice and won the Big East’s twice. Those are some big shoes to fill.

Brownell, Pitt’s Jeff Capel, Virginia Tech’s Mike Young, and NC State’s Kevin Keatts are the only four coaches that have more than five years experience at the helm of their respective programs. It’s a new dawn for the nation’s most historic basketball conference (yes, bring it on Big East supporters), and we’ll have to get used to sidelines bereft of the old guard.

The Ugly: Pitt’s tournament chances fade, State’s losing streak moves to eight

Pitt faithful have experienced nothing but agony since January 8, in which the Panthers’ slide began after a 29-point loss to Duke at Cameron Indoor. Coach Jeff Capel’s crew has won two of their following eight games and fell by double-digits to Virginia and Florida State — two bottom-half teams. Now, Virginia could surprise folks going forward, but no one expected the ‘Hoos to walk out of Pittsburgh with a 16-point win and a 27-point performance from Ames. A 14-9 record and a 5-7 clip in the ACC won’t get the Panthers a bid to March Madness.

Unfortunately, this was a highly anticipated year for the Panthers even despite the departures of Blake Hinson and Carlton Carrington — a lottery pick taken by the Wizards. Sophomore guard Jaland Lowe (16.9 PPG) and senior Ish Leggett (16.1 PPG) have experienced a jump in production and usage, but Pitt has nonetheless been plagued by their lack of depth in the backcourt. There aren’t any guards behind Lowe, Leggett, and Damian Dunn (9.9 PPG) who play notable minutes.

The Panthers desperately need wins over the likes of SMU and Louisville as they approach the end of the ACC schedule. This also implies that they can’t slip up against Miami, NC State, or Boston College, among others. The conference selfishly needs a competitive Pitt, as well.

It’s confirmed that NC State will need another miracle run in the ACC Tournament to punch their ticket to the Big Dance. In short, it’s not happening. The Wolfpack haven’t won since January 9, and that was a nailbiter in Raleigh against a struggling Notre Dame. Their three-point shooting, moreover, has been nothing but porous over the eight-game losing streak. The Wolfpack’s leading scorer — guard Marcus Hill (12.9 PPG) — averages a 21.1% clip from behind the arc.

They have also suffered from close-game yips, with four games decided by fewer than four points during the slide. The Wolfpack conceded a 12-point advantage to Virginia Tech with less than six minutes remaining, led Stanford by one in the final seconds, and couldn’t narrow the gap against California and North Carolina at home. At this level, you have to learn how to close games out. This NC State squad has been haunted by a razor-thin margin of error.

The Wolfpack can try to salvage some dignity against Louisville Wednesday night. It’s a manageable schedule on the horizon, but, alas, it’s too late for an at-large.

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