ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Week 3
There was some shuffling around another busy week of ACC action. Check out how the teams stack up after three weeks of play.
1. Virginia Cavaliers (5-0)
Last week’s Results: 72-45 W vs Maryland Eastern Shore
Through three weeks we have a clear top team in the conference. No. 3 Virginia only played one game last week, cruising by Maryland Eastern Shore (KenPom 310th) without a sweat. Jayden Gardner put together his strongest performance of the year, scoring 26 points on an efficient 12-15 FGAs. Virginia is up to 5th in KenPom, and in a surprising development, their offense (5th) is ranked higher than their defense (15th).
Up next: 11/29 at Michigan, 12/3 vs Florida State
2. Duke Blue Devils (6-2)
Last week’s Results: 74-57 W vs Bellarmine, 54-51 W vs Oregon State, 71-64 W vs Xavier, 75-56 L vs Purdue
No. 17 Duke was put to the test this week in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament, falling in the finals to now No. 5 Purdue. The Blue Devils cut a Boilermaker lead that was once 18 to just seven in the second half, but then went ice cold and failed to make a field goal in the final NINE minutes of the game. The win over Xavier (KP 31) was an impressive one, but only beating Oregon State (KP 240) by three was a disappointment. Freshman Kyle Filipowski has emerged as the team’s nucleus early on this season, as he’s scored in double figures in every contest.
Up next: 11/30 vs Ohio State, 12/3 vs Boston College
3. North Carolina Tar Heels (5-2)
Last week’s Results: 89-81 W vs Portland, 70-65 L vs Iowa State, 103-101 4 OT L vs Alabama
No. 18 North Carolina took a steep dive from their No. 1 ranking after their performance in the Phil Knight Invitational. The Tar Heels shot 3-18 from three point land in a five-point loss to now No. 23 Iowa State, before losing a quadruple-overtime heartbreaker to No. 11 Alabama. It’s clear what this Carolina team is capable of this year, but similar issues that plagued them for much of last season are resurfacing. Hubert Davis still doesn’t seem to trust anyone off the bench outside of Puff Johnson, and Caleb Love and RJ Davis continue to be streaky shooters. Love shot a combined 17/50 from the field and 4/18 from deep in the two losses. Davis wasn’t much better with marks of 13/38, and 3/13 respectively.
Up next: 11/30 at Indiana, 12/4 vs Virginia Tech
4. Miami Hurricanes (6-1)
Last week’s Results: 79-56 W vs St. Francis Brooklyn, 66-64 W vs UCF
Miami gutted out a two-point win over a gritty UCF team on Sunday after cruising past St. Francis. The Hurricanes’ new pieces have fit in quite well so far this year, creating an extremely balanced scoring attack. Isaiah Wong, Norchad Omier, Jordan Miller, and Nigel Pack are all averaging between 13.0-13.4 points per game. The Hurricanes one loss is to 6-0 No. 22 Maryland, a big and physical team, similar to the Rutgers team that they’ll face in the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday.
Up next: 11/30 vs Rutgers, 12/4 at Louisville
5. NC State Wolfpack (6-1)
Last week’s Results: 80-74 L vs Kansas, 76-64 W vs Dayton, 76-61 W vs Butler
Kevin Keatts has done a great job with this group so far, and NC State looks like a tournament team. The Wolfpack pushed No. 9 Kansas to the brink in their opening game in the Battle 4 Atlantis. It was a one-possession game with under five minutes remaining, but Kansas escaped with the victory. State followed the loss up with back to back double digit wins over Dayton and Butler. Casey Morsell is averaging 13.7 points per game on 51.6% shooting and looks like an ACC Most Improved Player candidate. The biggest story, though, has been Ole Miss transfer Jarkel Joiner — he’s averaging 18.1 points per game, more than Terquavion Smith’s 16.6.
Up next: 11/29 vs William & Mary, 12/2 vs Pittsburgh
6. Virginia Tech Hokies (6-1)
Last week’s Results: 69-64 W vs Charleston Southern
Charleston Southern lost by 26 to Ohio State and by 20 to Tulane, so Virginia Tech only winning by five is a disappointing performance. The Hokies are 18th in KenPom offensive efficiency so far this season, but they’ve been ice cold from long range the past two games. In their last two games — vs Charleston Southern on Friday and the loss to College of Charleston back on Nov. 20 — Mike Young’s group is a combined 12/47 (26%) from behind the arc. Senior Justyn Mutts has done a great job stepping into a bigger leadership role this season. He went for 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists in Friday’s win.
Up next: 11/28 vs Minnesota, 12/4 vs North Carolina
7. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-1)
Last week’s Results: 105-74 W vs South Carolina State, 97-70 W vs Hampton
Wake Forest hosted two very unimpressive opponents at home this past week, and took care of business convincingly in both matchups. In the absence of Daivien Williamson, Cameron Hildreth has stepped up big time. He posted a triple double in the win over Hampton, just the third in Wake Forest history. The offensive potential of Steve Forbes’ group was on full display in the two routs, as the Deacs connected on 24/47 (51%) of their three point field goals. The Deacs face easily their toughest test of the season to date when they travel to Madison on Tuesday to take on the Wisconsin Badgers, who boast the 12th best defense in the country via KenPom.
READ: Takeaways from Wake Forest's 97-70 win over Hampton
Up next: 11/29 at Wisconsin, 12/2 at Clemson
8. Clemson Tigers (5-2)
Last week’s Results: 72-41 W vs Loyola MD, 74-71 L vs Iowa, 67-59 W vs California
The Tigers went 2-1 in the Emerald Coast Classic this past week. I was low on this group entering the season, but Brad Brownell has done a great job of getting his guys to compete hard. Star player P.J. Hall isn’t at full health yet, evidenced by him only playing 13 minutes in the three-point loss to a strong Iowa team. I wrote back in October that Chase Hunter was going to have to take a huge step forward for this team to be competitive in the ACC — and he’s done exactly that. Across the win over Cal and the loss to Iowa, Hunter averaged 17.5 points and 6.5 assists per game.
Up next: 11/29 vs Penn State, 12/2 vs Wake Forest
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-1)
Last week’s Results: 82-66 W vs Bowling Green, 63-51 L vs St. Bonaventure
Notre Dame lost by 12 to a St. Bonaventure team that lost games to Canisius and South Dakota State earlier this month. The Fighting Irish shot 2-17 from behind the arc in the loss, and only had 20 points at halftime. Unsurprisingly, Notre Dame ranks 28th in KenPom offensive efficiency but 168th defensively. Mike Brey is still only playing six guys, and that likely won’t be changing until Niagara transfer Marcus Hammond makes his season debut. With the lack of depth and struggles on defense, this team has to be consistently great offensively if they want to get back to the NCAA Tournament.
Up next: 11/30 vs Michigan State, 12/3 vs Syracuse
10. Syracuse (3-3)
Last week’s Results: 74-71 OT W vs Richmond, 76-69 OT L vs St. John’s, 73-72 L vs Bryant
It was a rough week for Syracuse. Both of their games in the Empire Classic went to overtime, and the Orange came out on the right side against Richmond but couldn’t hold on against St. John’s. Back in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, the Orange lost a buy game to Bryant in the final moments. Freshman Judah Mintz looks like a real star early on this year, but he and Bryant’s Doug Edert (formerly of Saint Peter’s) slapped each other and got ejected in the first half. Freshman Justin Taylor scored 25 points in the loss Saturday after not seeing the floor against St. John’s and only having seven career points entering the game. As usual, I expect Jim Boeheim to have his guys playing their best ball in February and March.
Up next: 11/29 at Illinois, 12/3 at Notre Dame
11. Pittsburgh (5-3)
Last week’s Results: 83-61 W vs Fairleigh Dickinson, 80-64 W vs William and Mary
After getting smoked by West Virginia and Michigan and losing a close one to VCU, Pitt has gotten back on track with three straight wins against subpar competition. John Hugley has seen his workload increase over the past few games, and seems to be back in the groove after averaging 16.5 points this week. Iowa State transfer Blake Hinson has been awesome as well — he’s averaging 16.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game on 52.1% shooting.
Up next: 11/28 at Northwestern, 12/2 at NC State
12. Boston College Eagles (5-2)
Last week’s Results: 59-48 W vs Wyoming, 53-49 W vs Rhode Island
Earl Grant’s group was able to pull off a couple of ugly wins this week. The Boston College offense ranks outside the top 200 in KenPom, but their defense has been great, ranking 52nd in the nation. Dutch big man Quinten Post remains out with a foot injury. His return could add the juice that this offense needs, as playing through the skilled seven footer will make things easier for Makai Ashton-Langford, Jaeden Zackery, and the rest of the Eagles’ perimeter scorers.
Up next: 11/30 at Nebraska, 12/3 at Duke
13. Georgia Tech (4-2)
Last week’s Results: 68-64 L vs Utah, 84-60 L vs Marquette, 80-61 W vs North Alabama
Georgia Tech isn’t very good — but at least they know how to beat bad teams unlike the two schools below them in the rankings. In the Fort Myers Tip Off, Josh Pastner’s guys were competitive against Utah and only lost by four, but Marquette dominated them and won by 24. The Yellow Jackets bounced back with an 80-61 win over North Alabama. Pastner has done a nice job with the talent he has, fielding a balanced scoring attack and a defensive unit that is playing well, ranking 76th in KenPom efficiency.
Up next: 11/29 at Iowa, 12/2 vs Northwestern
14. Florida State Seminoles (1-7)
Last week’s Results: 81-72 W vs Mercer, 80-63 L vs Siena, 70-60 L vs Stanford, 75-58 L vs Nebraska
I can’t defend this group anymore. A last place finish in the ESPN Events Invitational is a joke. At least Stetson and Troy only beat them by single digits — 17-point losses to Siena and Nebraska are new lows. Maybe Leonard Hamilton will mold this group into something that resembles a team that can win some ACC games, especially when freshman Baba Miller rejoins the team. But the on court product in the month of November has been nothing short of a disaster.
Up next: 11/30 vs Purdue, 12/3 at Virginia
15. Louisville Cardinals (0-6)
Last week’s Results: 80-54 L vs Arkansas, 70-38 L vs Louisville, 81-62 L vs Cincinnati
Here’s an interesting stat; the Cardinals are one of seven teams in the country without a win this season. After losing the first three games of the season by one point each, the Cardinals lost their three games in the Maui Invitational by an average margin of 25.7 points. With Maryland and Miami up next, Kenny Payne might not notch his first win until mid-December.
Up next: 11/29 vs Maryland, 12/4 vs Miami
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