It's time for another exciting edition of ACC Power Rankings. We've had some teams really moving around, so let's see where everyone stacks up.
2.) North Carolina Tar Heels (8-3, L vs. Texas) - I am almost tempted to drop UNC a little bit further, but there aren't any other teams that have really earned the #2 spot. Regardless, UNC has looked awful in a couple games this year and they definitely have some things to work on. The bigs--Tyler Zeller, Ed Davis and Deon "Miss It" Thompson--are playing well, but the Heels do not play good defense at all and there is literally no guard depth.
3.) Clemson Tigers (10-2, W vs. ECU, W vs. CofC) - Clemson has all the pieces. But they're Clemson. Trevor Booker is a very good player and the combination of Tanner Smith, Andre Young and Demontez Stitt aren't pretty, but they get the job done. Plus their defense can keep them in any game.
4.) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-2, W vs. Chattanooga, W vs. AR Pine Bluff, L vs. Florida State) - Despite the loss to FSU, Tech is up here because they have a lot of talent and everyone knew they'd have some bumps along the way. Gani Lawal, Derrick Favors and Zach Peacock bring it most of the time, but with Iman Shumpert out, GT has to rely on freshman Mfon Udofia at the point. He's a gifted player, but he's still a freshman. Tech will have big wins and dumb losses (a lot like a certain team from last year).
5.) Miami Hurricanes (10-2, W vs. Stetson, W vs. Florida Atlantic) - The next few teams are kind of a jumbled mess, but right now I feel like the 'Canes have the edge. Their only blemish was the extremely close loss to Boston College. In all their other games they have won by an average of 22.7 points. Dwayne Collins is averaging 13 and 9, and the James Dews, Malcolm Grand and Durand Scott combo of guards are chipping in 31.4 a game.
6.) Florida State Seminoles (10-2, W vs. Georgia State, W vs. Auburn, W vs. Georgia Tech) - FSU's win over GT was a bit of a statement. The 'Noles had a few decent wins but no real statement win to their credit. This win helps them out and solidifies them as a tough, physical basketball team. Solomon Alabi and Chris Singleton are a real force and Derwin Kitchen is a well-rounded player. Ryan Reid is always capable of showing spurts as well.
7.) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-2, W vs. UNC-W, W vs. NC State) - Ok, I'll move the Deacs up. They are on a four game winning streak and the wins over Gonzaga, UNC-W and State are games they needed to win, but still look pretty good. If Al-Farouq Aminu can hold onto the basketball, he could average 20+ a game, but as it stands right now, he's still a beast. The key to Wake is whether or not they can get solid play out of their bigs at all--right now, they haven't.
8.) Virginia Tech Hokies (9-1, W vs. Charleston Southern) - VT's record is gaudy, but there aren't any wins that really stick out to me right now. But still, I love how Malcolm Delaney plays and Jeff Allen has done a good job so far. The problem is, there isn't a whole lot more there outside of Dorenzo Hudson and Victor Davila.
9.) Boston College Eagles (7-4, W vs. Bryant) - After back to back losses to Harvard and Rhode Island, where does BC stand? There's a good core there with Joe Trapani, Corey Raji and Reggie Jackson. Tyler Roche gives good minutes. Rakim Sanders is an explosive player. But BC needs to figure things out before ACC play before they can move up the list.
10.) Maryland Terrapins (6-3, DNP) - Remember when everyone was slobbering all over Maryland and Greivis Vasquez? Well, he is shooting 34.6% and 28.2% from deep. Sean Mosley and Landon Milbourne are good players and we all know about Eric Hayes, but Maryland has no good wins and they've lost to the good teams they've played. They need to prove something.
11.) N.C. State Wolfpack (8-2, W vs. Elon, L vs. Wake Forest) - State is an ugly basketball team. They almost lost to Elon and then looked just downright bad against Wake. They have no identity and no real players outside of Javi Gonzalez and Tracy Smith. That win against Marquette is still strange, and the rest of their wins aren't anything to write home about. The Wolfpack have a long road ahead of them when conference play gets going.
12.) Virginia Cavaliers (4-4, DNP) - The best thing to happen to UVA last week was that they got snowed in and didn't play. I wholeheartedly believe that UNC-W would have beaten them. This team is Sylven Landesberg and not much else--Mike Scott is ok, Mustapha Farrakhan shows promise and Sammy Zeglinski is Eric Hayes Part Deux, but the Cavs are not good. Their four wins are against Longwood, Rider, Oral Roberts and Cleveland State.