1. Florida State Seminoles (12-3, 8-2)

Last Week: No. 2

Florida State returned to action this week and made a statement in the process. After a last-second Scottie Barnes layup saved the Seminoles from a near disaster against Wake Forest, FSU throttled Virginia at home. The win brought Florida State into a tie with Virginia in the loss column, though the Cavaliers have three more wins than the Noles at this point. But there’s no way we could watch how Monday night’s game unfolded and not move the Seminoles up to the top spot in our rankings. Leonard Hamilton’s team was suffocating on defense and nearly flawless on offense, exposing the Wahoos in the process. FSU has a real shot at a second-straight ACC regular season title now but will have to earn it away from Tallahassee where the Noles are just 1-2 in ACC play this year. They travel to Pittsburgh on Saturday before a road trip to Miami next week.

2. Virginia Cavaliers (15-4, 11-2)

Last Week: No. 1

After a long run at the top spot, UVa dropped to second in this week’s rankings. The Cavaliers looked good for most of their 60-48 home win over North Carolina on Saturday, but the same can’t be said for their effort in Tallahassee. After a quick 6-2 lead, they were handled relatively easily by Florida State and the game wasn’t competitive for most of the contest. Virginia has an impressive win total, and to its credit, hasn’t lost any ACC games that were expected to be handled. That’s more than anyone else in the conference can say, including Florida State. However, UVa doesn’t have a really impressive win to date (the best is the 85-50 victory at Clemson), and is now 0-2 against fellow title challengers FSU and VT. Not only did they lose those games, but the Hoos were run out of the gym (at least at the end of the VT game anyway), just as they were by national title favorite Gonzaga. UVa doesn’t have many chances left to prove itself against top competition either. The Cavaliers travel to Duke on Saturday before home games with NC State and Miami, before wrapping their regular season with a tough game at Louisville.

3. Virginia Tech Hokies (14-4, 8-3)

Last Week: No. 3

The Hokies were idle this week, after pauses with their opponents caused a few games to be cancelled before an issue of their own popped up over the weekend. They missed a few pivotal games against UNC, Louisville, and FSU during this long break from action. The pause continues, as Tech’s game at FSU, scheduled for Saturday, is now off. It looks like the earliest we could see the Hokies again would be next week when they are scheduled to host Georgia Tech.

4. Louisville Cardinals (11-4, 6-3)

Last Week: No. 4

Louisville hasn’t played since February 1st, so no real update here either. The Cardinals were set to return to play on Wednesday but their game against Syracuse was called off just hours before tip off as Louisville continues to work through COVID issues. At this point, it seems unlikely that their game at UNC, scheduled for Saturday, will go on as scheduled.

5. Clemson Tigers (13-5, 7-5)

Last Week: No. 6

The Tigers have quietly won three straight games and four of their last five, and now sit tied with UNC in the league while holding the tiebreaker over the Heels. They rallied for a last-second home win against Georgia Tech on Friday with a banked-in 3 putting Clemson up 74-72 just before time expired. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they immediately went on a COVID pause after the win and had their subsequent games at Notre Dame and Pittsburgh postponed. At this point, Clemson could return to the court as early as the 24th, when the team is scheduled to go to Wake Forest. The Tigers have just three games left and they should be able to win all of them if they continue to play as they have in recent weeks.

6. North Carolina Tar Heels (13-7, 7-5)

Last Week: No. 5

Carolina dropped to 7-5 in league play after being handled relatively easily at Virginia last weekend. The Heels lost the chance to play what would have been a big game against Virginia Tech on Tuesday, and found a last-minute replacement, winning a game against Northeastern on Wednesday night. With four games remaining, they have a relatively challenging run into March. Their game against Louisville scheduled for Saturday night is tenuous at best considering the Cardinals’ current situation and the game against Boston College, scheduled for Tuesday has already been called off. Assuming no ACC games are added, UNC wraps up with Florida State, a trip to Syracuse, and a home finale against Duke, all tricky games for different reasons.

7. Syracuse Orange (12-6, 6-5)

Last Week: No. 7

The Orange have now won two straight games, having held off Boston College over the weekend for a 75-67 victory at home. Syracuse’s game at Louisville was called off, so the Orange head into the weekend 6-5 in ACC play with a challenging game ahead against another hot team, Notre Dame. Regardless of the outcome there, they will have a quick turnaround before a game at Duke on Monday night.

8. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-8, 6-6)

Last Week: No. 8

Georgia Tech looked poised for an unprecedented run of back-to-back-to-back ACC games. After losing to UVa on Wednesday, the Jackets had a rare Friday night contest at Clemson, where they lost at the buzzer in a hard-fought game. They bounced back with a win over Pittsburgh after another quick turnaround, playing Sunday. The Jackets got a respite, though, when their game on Wednesday against Boston College was called off, though that does mean that Tech missed out on a likely win. Now, GT is scheduled to play at Miami on Saturday before traveling to Virginia Tech, assuming the Hokies are back from their COVID pause by then. The Jackets need a strong finish to get into the NCAA Tournament conversation and their schedule does provide some opportunities for solid wins without being unmanageable.

9. Duke Blue Devils (9-8, 7-6)

Last Week: No. 11

The headline for Duke this week was the opt-out of star freshman Jalen Johnson, who ended his Blue Devils career early after fighting through some injury concerns in recent weeks. Johnson’s loss is significant, though he wasn’t playing many minutes in recent games. And in his absence, Duke actually had a pretty decent week. The Blue Devils handled in-state rivals NC State and Wake Forest, beating both teams away from Durham by an average margin of 20 points. Those wins snapped a three-game losing skid, giving Duke a bit of a bump heading into Saturday night’s clash with Virginia. The Devils have a long way to go to get into NCAA Tournament contention, but with home games coming up against UVa, Syracuse, and Louisville in the next 10 days, we’ll likely be able to write them off or they’ll be back in the mix heading into the final week of the regular season.

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-10, 6-7)

Last Week: No. 10

Despite a mediocre record, Notre Dame moves up a tier this week. The Irish only played one game, handling Miami at home on Sunday before their matchup with Clemson was called off. Notre Dame has now won two straight, four of five, and six of eight, after starting 1-5 in ACC play. The Irish have one of the nation’s most-efficient offenses, meaning they will be a tough out for any ACC opponent if their shots are falling. They have a chance to shake things up in the ACC down the stretch, with games at Syracuse and Louisville this week, a pair of teams hanging around the upper middle of the standings as the regular season draws to a close.

11. NC State Wolfpack (9-9, 5-8)

Last Week: No. 12

The Wolfpack looked lost in Saturday’s home loss to Duke but did a nice job shaking it off and winning a close road contest at Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. That win snapped a two-game losing skid but the Pack have now lost seven of their last 10 games and four of their last six. State has a bottom-six battle this weekend at Wake Forest before heading to Charlottesville next week.

12. Pittsburgh Panthers (9-8, 5-7)

Last Week: No. 9

It was just a month ago or so that the Panthers were 4-1 in ACC play and Jeff Capel looked like the front runner for ACC Coach of the Year. Since then, the bottom has fallen out for the Panthers, as they have struggled to win close games and have been out-classed in others. Since beating Duke on January 19th, Pitt has won just once (VT at home), losing six of the last seven and now three in a row. The Panthers will look to pick up the pieces but face an uphill climb against Florida State on Saturday.

13. Miami Hurricanes (7-12, 3-11)

Last Week: No. 13

The Hurricanes played just once this week, losing at Notre Dame on Sunday evening. That loss dropped Miami to 3-11 in ACC play and with 14 games played, the Canes are the team most-likely to play something resembling a normal schedule this season. Only two teams in the ACC are, as of now, scheduled to play every other team by the end of the season: Virginia and Miami. The Canes will have a chance to play spoiler this week with Georgia Tech and Florida State coming to Coral Gables.

14. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-10, 3-10)

Last Week: No. 14

It was a disappointing week for Wake Forest but in two different ways. The Deacs were so close to pulling off a major upset at Florida State on Saturday, allowing a game-tying shot in the final second before falling short in overtime. That win would’ve broken a 22-game home winning streak for Florida State but hot shooting from the Demon Deacons wasn’t quite enough. And while falling just short at FSU was disappointing, getting blown out by Duke on Wednesday was surely worse. Wake will look to bounce back with a winnable home game against rival NC State this weekend before hosting Clemson on the 24th.

15. Boston College Eagles (3-13, 1-9)

Last Week: No. 15

It’s pretty much over for the Eagles. BC made the surprising move on Monday to fire Jim Christian, just a few days after asking him to coach with less than a handful of scholarship players. To make matters worse, BC then suspended its best player, Wynston Tabbs, for the remainder of the season for violating COVID protocols before then going on a pause and having the Wednesday game at Georgia Tech cancelled as well as the next game at UNC, scheduled for Tuesday. At this point, would it be that surprising if the Eagles just called it a season?

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