UNC Basketball: Around the ACC Conference Update

With November now in the books, we take a look to see how each team in the Atlantic Coast Conference fared during the season’s first month.

The first month of the college basketball season is now in the books, and below we take a look to see how each of the ACC teams is doing after wrapping up the ACC/Big Ten Challenge this week.

Boston College Eagles

The Eagles have not been very impressive throughout the season’s first month.  They have two losses to mid-majors (Maine and Tarleton State) and have struggled to beat plenty of other subpar teams.

They were blown out Wednesday night by Nebraska in their first matchup with a power-six opponent.

BC opens ACC play at Duke on Saturday.

Record: 5-3

Clemson Tigers

Clemson has had an up-and-down start to their season.  Star big man PJ Hall has played limited minutes thus far as he returns from injury, but the Tigers have gotten a big lift from point guard Chase Hunter who leads them in points and assists.

Clemson has taken care of all of their mid-major opponents thus far, and split their games against Power Six teams.  They lost on a last-second shot at rival South Carolina and lost a close one at Iowa, but defeated Cal and survived double overtime at home against Penn State in their past two games.

Clemson opens ACC play on Friday night when they host Wake Forest.

Record: 6-2

Duke Blue Devils

Duke had a solid first month of the season, with some quality wins (Xavier, Ohio State) and some respectable losses (Kansas, Purdue).

Freshman Kyle Filipowski has been their best player thus far, as fellow freshman Derrick Lively and Dariq Whitehead continue to work their way back from injury.  The Blue Devils are deep, and talented, and have a veteran presence in point guard Jeremy Roach.

They host Boston College to open league play this weekend.

Record: 7-2

Florida State Seminoles

While Louisville has been the worst team in the ACC thus far, Florida State has to be the most disappointing.  The ‘Noles were picked to finish 5th in the ACC Preseason Media poll, yet they have only won one game in the season’s first month.

They opened the season on a four-game losing streak, with losses to Stetson, UCF, Troy, and Florida.  On November 21st, they picked up their lone victory thus far over Mercer.  Since then, they have lost four straight again, to Siena, Stanford, Nebraska, and Purdue.

Things don’t get any easier for FSU, as they open ACC play at Virginia on Saturday.

Record: 1-8

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The Yellow Jackets don’t have very high expectations for this season, as they were picked last in the ACC Preseason Media Poll.  Thus far, they have been pretty mediocre, winning all four mid-major games but losing all three games (Utah, Marquette, and Iowa) against Power Six opponents.

The Jackets don’t open ACC play until December 10th at UNC.  They will face Northeastern and Georgia between now and then.

Record: 4-3

Louisville Cardinals

Louisville has been the laughingstock of the college basketball world throughout the first month of the season.  After losing their exhibition game against Lenoir-Rhyne, the Cardinals opened the season with three consecutive one-point losses against Bellarmine, Wright State, and App State.

They then traveled to Maui, where they were stomped in all three games, losing in blowout fashion against Arkansas, Texas Tech, and Cincinnati.  On Tuesday, they returned home to face Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and they were beaten soundly by 25 points.

Louisville hosts Miami in the ACC opener on Sunday, as they will look to pick up their first win of the season.

Record: 0-7

Miami Hurricanes

Miami is off to a pretty good start, with just one loss thus far at the hands of undefeated Maryland.  The ‘Canes have a trio of solid wins over Providence, UCF, and Rutgers in the first month as well.

They have one of the most dynamic backcourts in the country, with Isaiah Wong and Kansas State transfer Nijel Pack leading the way.

Miami will look to start conference play on a high note at Louisville on Sunday.

Record: 7-1

North Carolina Tar Heels

The UNC basketball program has had a disappointing first month, as they had some struggles in victories over five mid-major opponents to start the year, and have lost three straight to major conference opponents since.

Carolina held late leads against both Iowa State and Alabama, but let those games slip away.  They were then beaten soundly by Indiana in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday night.

There is plenty of season to play and plenty of talent on the roster, but UNC has a lot to fix between now and March.  Carolina likely needs to win at Virginia Tech in the ACC opener on Sunday to avoid falling from #1 in the nation to unranked in just two weeks.

Record: 5-3

NC State Wolfpack

The Wolfpack are off to a pretty good start to the year, as they enter December with just one loss.

That loss came at the hands of the reigning national champion, Kansas, in a close game at the Battle For Atlantis.  The ‘Pack regrouped from that game and won their next two against Dayton and Butler to leave Atlantis 2-1.  They have handled mid-major opponents in the rest of their games and were the only ACC team not included in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Terquavion Smith and company open ACC play this Friday night when they host Pittsburgh.

Record: 7-1

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Fighting Irish have had plenty of close calls, but have only lost once thus far (vs St. Bonaventure).  They have picked up single-digit victories over Radford, Youngstown State, and Lipscomb in November.

Their best performance of the year so far came on Wednesday, where they dominated an injury-riddled Michigan State team at home in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

ND opens ACC play against Syracuse on Saturday afternoon.

Record: 6-1

Pittsburgh Panthers

Pitt got off to a 1-3 start to the year, losing three straight against West Virginia, Michigan, and VCU after a season-opening win against UT Martin.  The losses to WVU and Michigan were blowouts.

They have regrouped nicely since then, winning three straight against mid-majors prior to an impressive blowout win at Northwestern in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge this week.

The Panthers open conference play at NC State on Friday.

Record: 5-3

Syracuse Orange

The Orange had a rough November, as they lost two games against mid-majors (Colgate and Bryant) and close the month with a losing record.

An overtime loss to St. Johns and a blowout at Illinois on Tuesday has put the Orange in a tough spot early in the season in their chase for an NCAA Tournament bid.

They open ACC play with a key game at Notre Dame on Saturday.

Record: 3-4

Virginia Cavaliers

Virginia has been the most impressive team in the ACC thus far, and it isn’t particularly close.  After starting the year ranked 18th, UVA is all the way up to number 3 in this week’s AP Poll.

Most of that is due to Virginia’s consecutive neutral court victories over Baylor and Illinois earlier in the month.  The Cavaliers also picked up a come-from-behind road win at Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday.  They are the only ACC team that is still undefeated.

UVA hosts Florida State on Saturday in their first ACC game.

Record: 6-0

Virginia Tech Hokies

The Hokies have been good thus far, with just one loss coming in the final seconds at College of Charleston.  They have picked up quality wins over two big ten teams, Penn State and Minnesota.

VT has plenty of experience returning from last year’s ACC Tournament Championship team.  They host Carolina on Saturday to open conference play, in what will be another tough test for the Heels.

Record: 7-1

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Similar to Virginia Tech, Wake has just one loss coming by two points against a group of five opponents.  The Deacs lost to LMU in overtime, but have won the rest of their games.

They have quality wins over two high-major schools, Georgia and Wisconsin.  The win over Wisconsin was on the road and was one of the surprises of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Wake travels to Clemson to open ACC play on Friday night.

Record: 7-1

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