2017-18 ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Week 2
Teams 1-3
I went back and forth on which way to put North Carolina and Duke in these rankings. Both teams have a home win and two road losses.
Duke’s home win over Florida State is better than the Tar Heel’s home win over Wake Forest.
However, the deciding factory was the road losses. UNC’s two road losses, Florida State and Virginia, are more understanding than Duke’s losses, Boston College and NC State. However, the margin is thin and neither team has looked great to start ACC play.
Like Duke, the conference season has shown a couple of concerns for the Tar Heels. First, there seems to be little help for Joel Berry II, who is averaging a little over 20 points per game in ACC play.
Kenny Williams has been hot in first halves, but has disappeared in second halves. Theo Pinson has been good on defense, but not on offense.
Even Luke Maye, who entered conference play averaging 18.5 points and 10.5 rebounds, has been exposed in conference play, averaging 12.3 points and 9.7 rebounds, though he did have a double-double against Wake Forest.
The Tar Heels are also struggling with turnovers. UNC is averaging nearly 13 turnovers per game and is coming off a season-high 19 against Virginia.
North Carolina will look to get back on track as they return to Chapel Hill to face a very competitive Boston College squad on Tuesday.
Clemson continues to move up these rankings as they continue to win. The Tigers are on a 10-game winning streak as they start 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2007.
The Tigers are averaging 75 points per game in conference play, though like the Fighting Irish have not really beaten anyone in conference play with wins over NC State, Boston College, and Louisville. However, they have only lost once this season and look really good right now.
Clemson will look to go to 4-0 in conference play when they travel to play at suddenly dangerous NC State on Thursday.
Virginia may not just be the best team in the ACC, they are, but also the best team in the country.
The Cavaliers are smothering teams as they lead the country in points allowed per game at 52.5.
Not only is that tops in the country but it is more than six points per game better than the next best team. The win against UNC was the seventh time a team has failed to score 50 points against them and they have only allowed 60 points or more three times.
The team’s only loss was on the road at West Virginia, and the Mountaineers haven’t lost a game in America this year (their only loss was in Germany to open the season).
The Cavaliers will look to continue their conference dominance when they welcome in a struggling Syracuse team on Tuesday.
If you wondering how I ranked the top 10 teams nationally, have no fear they are right here:
- West Virginia Mountaineers
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Villanova Wildcats
- Michigan State Spartans
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Wichita State Shockers
- Clemson Tigers
- Cincinnati Bearcats
Well that does it for this round of rankings. The ACC is in full force now and the conference seems to be as tough as ever. So enjoy the divisional round of the NFL playoffs and check back here often to see what is going on with North Carolina.
What did you think of this week’s rankings? Let us know in the comments below.