Week 14 Power Rankings
With only 1 month remaining in the regular season, Duke has clearly established itself as the best team in the ACC with 2 huge road wins this week. There are a few teams beginning to peak at the right time and climbing the rankings (Virginia, Syracuse, Virginia Tech), and some teams trending in the wrong direction (Miami, Florida State, Louisville). Read my thoughts on each team below:
1. Duke (19-3, 9-2)
Last Week: W 57-43 @ Notre Dame, W 87-67 @ North Carolina
This Week: Virginia, @ Clemson, @ Boston College
Duke absolutely dominated UNC in the Dean Dome last night. A.J. Griffin's emergence as a go-to scorer for Duke, makes the Blue Devils scary good. If they can keep playing like this, they could be looking at a 1 seed come March.
2. Wake Forest (19-5, 9-4)
Last Week: W 91-75 vs Pitt, W 68-60 @ Florida State
This Week: @ NC State, Miami
Wake has won 6 of 7 games since losing to Duke. Steve Forbes has done an amazing job putting this team together through the transfer portal. Alondes Williams and Jake LaRavia is one of the best combos in the league.
3. Notre Dame (16-7, 9-3)
Last Week: L 43-57 vs Duke, W 68-64 @ Miami, W 69-57 @ NC State
This Week: Louisville, @ Clemson
The gap between Notre Dame and Wake Forest is extremely small. I'm already looking forward to these 2 meeting in Winston-Salem on February 19th. The Irish did a great job from bouncing back from a frustrating loss to Duke by going to Miami and getting a great road win 2 days later.
4. Miami (16-7, 8-4)
Last Week: L 64-68 vs Notre Dame, L 58-71 @ Virginia
This Week: Georgia Tech, @ Wake Forest
Miami lost back-to-back games for the first time this season and they had to have both of those games if they wanted to win the conference. They'll look to have a bounce-back game against Georgia Tech this week before facing off with Wake Forest over the weekend.
5. North Carolina (16-7, 8-4)
Last Week: W 90-83 (OT) @ Louisville, L 67-87 vs Duke
This Week: @ Clemson, Florida State
Ooof, that is not the way Carolina wanted to send off Coach K. That was an embarrassing showing by the Tar Heels. Brady Manek was the only player that showed up. They need to shake that one off quickly though, as they have to travel to Clemson on Tuesday.
6. Virginia (14-9, 8-5)
Last Week: W 67-55 vs Boston College, W 71-58 vs Miami
This Week: @ Duke, Georgia Tech
Virginia played its most complete game of the season last night against Miami and it was largely in part to Armaan Franklin playing his best game as a Cavalier. When he's scoring like that, they're a very good team. Unfortunately for the Hoos, because of their bad start to the season, they probably need to finish 6-1 if they want to make the NCAA tournament.
7. Florida State (13-9, 6-6)
Last Week: L 69-75 @ Clemson, L 60-68 vs Wake Forest
This Week: Pitt, @ North Carolina
Florida State has been crushed by injuries and has resulted in 4 straight losses by the Seminoles and a drop from 1st to 7th in the standings. FSU has lost 2 major contributors to their frontcourt for the season in Malik Osborne and Naheem McLeod, and Anthonly Polite was out this week as well. They need to find answers/replacements quickly or they'll miss the Tournament as well.
8. Syracuse (12-11, 6-6)
Last Week: W 89-82 @ NC State, W 92-69 vs Louisville
This Week: @ Boston College, @ Virginia Tech
Syracuse's offense has been on fire lately, averaging almost 92 PPG over its last 3. They've also won those three games. If they can knock off Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Orange should be riding a 7 game winning streak heading into a tough stretch to end the season that could put them back in bubble talk.
9. Virginia Tech (13-10, 5-7)
Last Week: W 81-66 vs Georgia Tech, W 76-71 @ Pitt
This Week: Pitt, Syracuse
The Hokies are also riding a 3 game winning streak that has already gotten them back into Tournament consideration. KenPom only projects them losing 2 more games, which would get them above .500 in conference for the first time this year.
10. Clemson (12-10, 4-7)
Last Week: W 75-69 vs Florida State, L 64-69 @ Georgia Tech
This Week: North Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame
The Tigers had a very mixed week last week. They knocked off FSU, and then followed that up with a loss against Georgia Tech. This is a brutal 3 game week for Clemson, and they'd be grateful to win even one game.
11. Louisville (11-12, 5-8)
Last Week: L 83-90 (OT) vs North Carolina, L 69-92 @ Syracuse
This Week: @ Notre Dame
Louisville has now lost 5 straight and 8 of their last 9, Chris Mack has been fired, and KenPom now projects them to lose the rest of their games this year. At least Cardinal fans have easy access to really good bourbon.
12. NC State (10-14, 3-10)
Last Week: L 82-89 vs Syracuse, L 57-69 vs Notre Dame
This Week: Wake Forest, @ Pitt
I still really like a lot of NC State's individual players, but this is not a very good team. Fortunately for the Wolfpack, they do a few winnable games coming up, and they can try to build some momentum before heading to Brooklyn.
13. Georgia Tech (10-12, 3-8)
Last Week: L 66-81 @ Virginia Tech, W 69-64 vs Clemson
This Week: @ Miami, @ Virginia
The Yellow Jackets picked up a nice win yesterday over Clemson and have actually been pretty decent at home all year. 8 of their 10 wins on the season have come in McCamish Pavilion. Unfortunately for them, both of their games are on the road this week.
14. Boston College (9-12, 4-7)
Last Week: L 55-67 @ Virginia
This Week: Syracuse, Duke
Boston College has quite a few nice wins this year. They've beaten Notre Dame, Clemson, and Virginia Tech. They'll look to play spoiler the rest of the season.
15. Pittsburgh (8-15, 3-9)
Last Week: L 75-91 @ Wake Forest, L 71-76 vs Virginia Tech
This Week: @ Virginia Tech, @ Florida State, NC State
Pitt hasn't won a conference road game since January 6th 2021 when they knocked off Syracuse. Not that it's a good chance, but their best chance to win a road game this year is probably Wednesday when they travel to Tallahassee.