2017-18 ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Week 1
Teams 7-9
Here is what Louisville has shown us this season. They can beat the bad teams, as evident by their seven wins against sub 150 RPI teams. However, they can’t beat the really good teams, as they are 0-3 against the RPI top 25 including the nearly 30-point beatdown they suffered at Kentucky.
Add all that up and you have a double-digit team that may or may not be good enough to make the tournament.
The Cardinals only have three players averaging double-digit points on the season. They do rebound well ranking 36th nationally but don’t pass the ball, ranking 219th with 13 assists per game.
Louisville has yet to play an ACC game this season but that will change come Tuesday when they welcome in Pittsburgh.
The Fighting Irish made the biggest drop in these rankings by going 5-2 during the month of December. During that span they lost to two sub-100 RPI teams while beating four sub-200 RPI squads. That is how a team falls from the very good to just the good in the ACC.
Despite the fall Bonzie Colston has kicked his play up a notch.
During the Irish’s seven games in December, the senior big man averaged 23 points and 11 rebounds. He is one of two players nationally averaging 20 and 10 for the season.
Notre Dame will look to go 2-0 in ACC play when they take on NC State on Wednesday.
Syracuse finds themselves jumping up two spots this go around as the best of the good teams in the ACC. The Orangemen have won six of their past seven which includes two wins over RPI top 100 squads.
Syracuse is 11th nationally in rebounds per game and 18th in points allowed per game making them one of the better defensive teams in the country. However, they are the worst assisting team in the ACC with just 12.4 per game.
The Orangemen next play at Wake Forest on Wednesday.