ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Week 3
Can you feel it? College Basketball is in the air and it is awesome. Let’s take a look at a few of the things that happened this past week in the amazingness that is the conference season.
Monday: Alabama wins another National Title. When the best team playing is Chattanooga, you know the night is really all about football. Nick Saban won his fourth national title in seven years and did it with special teams, on a onside kick and kick return. Clemson might’ve ruined a bunch of gambler’s day, they scored a TD with 12 seconds left that covered the spread, but just didn’t have enough answers to stop the beast from the southeast. The scary thing is Alabama, even with all the talent it is losing, is still good enough to do this again next year.
Tuesday: Press Virginia announces its presence. Press Virginia is the name of the defense the Bob Huggins runs at West Virginia. On Tuesday they used it to force 20 Kansas turnovers in rout to upsetting the number one team in the country. West Virginia, who would go on to lose by two at Oklahoma four days later (it is just hard to win on the road), threw their name into a conference race that has been owned by the Jayhawks for the last 12 seasons.
Wednesday: Clemson makes History. By beating Duke, Clemson became the first school to lose the National Championship in football and then two days later beat a top ten team in basketball. Little did anyone know this was Clemson announcing itself to the ACC and Duke getting a sharp reminder how cruel the world can be (the Blue Devils fell 11 spots in the most recent AP poll, a school record).
Thursday: Iowa gets vengeance? It is hard to imagine that a team that had already beaten a team needed to get vengeance. But that is exactly where Iowa was. Earlier this season they handed Michigan St their first loss of the season. However the loss was dismissed because one the Spartans star player was out, and two because it was at Iowa. Well Iowa left no doubt who the better team was the second time around as they crushed Michigan St in East Lansing with their star player back from injury. In what is probably not a surprise the top of the Big Ten is really good, again.
Friday: Maine upsets Albany. Look — nobody really plays basketball on Fridays. It is mid mid major night. So in what will probably be a norm here, don’t be surprised by the small conference. Last week we looked at a big matchup in the Horizon league. This week we stop by the American East. Albany has won the last three American East Championships, so a loss to a team that is 6-12 on the season tends to count as a bit of a surprise for the Great Danes.
Saturday: Bruce Pearl renews a rivalry. When Bruce Pearl was at Tennessee and John Calipari was at Memphis, these two guys had a fierce rivalry. However, since Pearl was on a show clause and Calipari had moved on to Kentucky, that rivalry had fizzled out some. Last season marked the first time these two had faced off in four seasons. Kentucky destroyed the Tigers on their 38-1 tour. This season, Auburn laid down the upset. I think all the talent has jaded the fact that Calipari has only won one title since Calipari got there, despite having a top two recruiting class every season, and he may not have won that one if Kendall Marshall doesn’t get injured. Regardless, the loss I think reminded people that the One and Done strategy has it’s share of warts as well.
Sunday: Can anybody beat the Mustangs? SMU is now 17-0 and ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll for the first time since 1985. Of course due to NCAA sanctions this season will all be for naught. Nonetheless the Mustangs keep winning and will try to win a conference they can’t represent in the postseason. The real question is will people remember the undefeated season or the scandal. The truth is it may not matter because most people only remember champions (cues Kentucky fans waving their 38-1 banners).
Entering week three of the regular season, the Tar Heels have climbed to number two in both polls. This is their highest ranking since starting the season number one. With that in mind you probably know where Carolina ranks this week, but before getting there, lets take a look at the rest of the ACC starting as always with five teams who may already be looking forward to next season.
Note: All games and records as of 1/17
Next: The Bottom Five