Editor's Note: Our annual rankings are back and will be posted every week through the remainder of the regular season. Given the unprecedented level of parity In the ACC, this is likely to be a volatile space for the next few months. Plan accordingly...
1. Duke (14-1, 4-0)
Besides the shocking upset to Stephen F. Austin at home, it’s been smooth sailing for the Blue Devils in the first half of the season. Duke’s freshman class isn’t as electrifying as last year’s but the core group of Vernon Carey, Matthew Hurt, and Cassius Stanley have helped the Devils to a relatively quiet 14-1 start. Their four-conference wins came over a less-than-impressive group of teams (VT, BC, Miami, GT) and with games upcoming against Wake and Clemson, a 6-0 start appears to be in the cards. The next real test comes on January 18th when they host Louisville.
2. Florida State (14-2, 4-1)
As they always seem to be, FSU is one of the steadiest teams in the conference and should stay near the top of the pack all year. A season-opening loss at Pittsburgh may have thrown ACC fans off the scent, but the Seminoles have lost just once since (to Indiana) and are currently on a seven-game winning streak heading into the weekend. FSU survived a bit of a scare from Wake on Wednesday night but ultimately won by 10 and now have a week off to prepare for UVa.
3. Louisville (12-3, 3-1)
The Cardinals may end up being the best team in the ACC when all is said and done, but as of now they have dropped two of their last three games. Losses to Kentucky and Florida State are forgivable, as is their only other setback, a neutral-site loss to Texas Tech in December. Louisville drilled Miami for the second time this year on Wednesday night, and now leaves the friendly confines of the Yum! Center for a trio of road games. UL should be able to handle Notre Dame and Pittsburgh before heading to Cameron Indoor next weekend.
4. Virginia (11-3, 3-1)
By UVa’s recent standards, this has been a disappointing first half of the season. The offense has yet to really come together and if an opponent has a good shooting night against the pack-line, the Hoos have a great chance to drop that game. After a bad loss to an undermanned BC team, UVa has as many losses as in each of the last two seasons, with 16 regular season contests to go. The Cavaliers have a great chance to get back on track this weekend against struggling Syracuse before a tough road game at FSU next week.
5. Virginia Tech (11-4, 2-2)
After the top four, it becomes nearly impossible to rank these teams with any sort of confidence. We’ll start with the Hokies, who are 2-2 in ACC play following a big road victory in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night. Their two league setbacks were lopsided losses to Duke and Virginia, and their two wins came against bottom-feeders Syracuse and Clemson. We’ll know more about the Hokies in the coming weeks, as they play more teams that appear to be in their weight class. That starts this weekend, when Tech hosts NC State.
6. NC State (11-4, 2-2)
The Wolfpack come in sixth and that matchup with the Hokies this weekend could help determine where they fit in the ACC’s middle class. As always seems to be the case, State has already dropped a pair of headscratchers in league play, losing the season opener to Georgia Tech and the to Clemson by 11 last weekend. NCSU did beat Notre Dame this week heading into the game with the Hokies, but it’s still tough to get a sense for what this team is exactly. What we do know is that the Wolfpack have a backcourt (when healthy) that can fill it up, with C.J. Bryce and Markell Johnson combining for 30 points per game.
7. Pittsburgh (11-4, 2-2)
Jeff Capel’s rebuild appears to be going according to plan, and in year two the Panthers are already more competitive than they have been in some time. Pitt has won four of its last five games heading into a road tilt at Miami on Sunday. The Panthers have league wins over FSU and UNC, and if they had avoided a disappointing loss to Wake Forest last weekend would be sitting pretty near the top of the league standings. That loss showed that they aren’t quite a finished product, but with a maturing roster, they should be able to pick off a few of the top teams in conference play this year.
8. Notre Dame (10-5, 1-3)
The Irish have a pretty nondescript resume at this point. Most of their losses make sense (healthy UNC, at Maryland, Indiana, at NC State) but they don’t have a good win through the first half of their schedule. While Notre Dame brought back everyone from last year’s team and got guard Rex Pflueger back as well, the team hasn’t been able to quite make the leap that many expected. The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities to change that narrative in the back half of the schedule, starting with a home matchup with Louisville this weekend.
9. Boston College (9-6, 3-1)
BC is the lowest-ranked ACC team in KenPom but somehow sits at 3-1 in the league. While the Eagles are far from a tournament team, they did a get a resume-boosting win over Virginia on Tuesday night. Even more impressive is that they beat the Wahoos without their two best players, Derryck Thornton and Nik Popovic. But let’s not get too carried away with their early ACC record” The eye test and the numbers still say that this BC team that already has six losses, some of them bad ones, isn’t going to stay near the top of the standings for long.
10 Miami (9-5, 1-3)
The Hurricanes are sort of meandering their way through the season, losing the games they are expected to and winning the games they should. Their losses came against Louisville twice and Duke. While the tough start to conference play might not be ideal, it does allow them to make up some ground in the back half of their slate. If Miami is going to make any noise, the team needs to start beating comparable teams like Pittsburgh, which visits Coral Gables this weekend.
11. Wake Forest (8-6, 1-3)
It’s not quite time to buy Wake but the Deacs have been playing better of late. A win over a ranked Xavier team was impressive, and a road victory at Pittsburgh gave them some momentum heading into a clash with FSU on Wednesday. Wake Forest didn’t win the game but kept it competitive most of the way. Things don’t get any easier for the Demon Deacons, who head to Durham this weekend before hosting Virginia Tech on Tuesday.
12. Georgia Tech (7-8, 1-3)
It feels like the same old story for the Yellow Jackets, who once again seem destined for a “Tuesday at the ACC Tournament” season. Beating UNC on the road, as GT did last weekend, isn’t as impressive as it usually would be but the Jackets got it done nonetheless. A competitive home loss to Duke was somewhat encouraging, but this program still hasn’t shown a lot of growth since Josh Pastner took it over and had a surprisingly-decent first season in charge.
13. Clemson Tigers (7-7, 1-3)
Could this be the year that the Tigers finally do it? They have never won in Chapel Hill but this weekend they head up to the Dean Dome to take on a wounded UNC team in what could be Clemson’s best shot to snap an ugly winning streak in quite a long time, if not ever. The Tigers are probably not going to factor into the ACC title race in any way, but a win at Carolina might be enough to satisfy their football-frenzied fanbase this season.
14. North Carolina (8-7, 1-3)
Like Virginia, UNC is dealing with significant roster turnover, as veteran players moved on in the offseason. But unlike the Cavaliers, the Heels have been decimated by injuries and have struggled to integrate their transfers and find ways to win. They have lost six of their last eight games, with the only wins coming over struggling UCLA and Yale. Back-to-back losses to Georgia Tech and Pitt really put Carolina’s struggles in perspective. It looks like a long season ahead in Chapel Hill.
15. Syracuse (8-7, 1-3)
It might not be fair to put Syracuse at the bottom but somebody had to go here. The Orange have already played three conference home games and lost all of them. Setbacks this week to Notre Dame and Virginia Tech sent them to the bottom of the totem pole, with a road trip to Charlottesville on tap. Syracuse has the talent to improve but recent history says the Orange are more likely to tread water and finish in the bottom half of the standings.
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