ACC Basketball Rankings: November 22, 2011
This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done. Here is how we view the ACC basketball schools as of November 22, 2011:
1. North Carolina–Despite only being 3-0, North Carolina has not shown anything that would cause them to drop from #1.
Looking forward to: Wisconsin on November 30; Kentucky on December 3.
2. Syracuse–At 4-0, and weathering the storm of the Bernie Fine scandal, this Syracuse team is winning in style. Not many teams have a bench that outscores its starters. Syracuse does.
Looking forward to: Virginia Tech on November 23; November 25 against Stanford or Oklahoma State;
3. Duke–At 5-0, with a win over Michigan State, Duke has a legitimate claim to be #1 or #2. But North Carolina disposed of Michigan State a little more effectively. And Syracuse has done nothing to deserve a drop from #2.
Looking forward to: Ohio State on November 29; Washington on December 10.
4. Florida State–At 4-0, Florida State has not beaten anyone. However, unlike Pitt, they have not lost to an inferior foe. Edge to the Seminoles.
Looking forward to: Michigan State on November 30; Florida on December 22.
5. Pittsburgh–Could have dropped the Panthers lower after that home loss to Long Beach State. Time will tell.
Looking forward to: Tennessee on December 3; Oklahoma State on December 10.
6. Virginia Tech–Haven’t played anyone yet. That will change soon as they face Syracuse in Madison Square Garden.
Looking forward to: Syracuse on November 23; November 25 against Stanford or Oklahoma State.
7. North Carolina State– Losing to Vanderbilt is decent, the win over Texas moves the Wolfpack ahead of Wake Forest and Miami.
Looking forward to: Stanford on December 4; Syracuse on December 17.
8. Wake Forest– At 3-0, the Demon Deacons have yet to be tested. Not much on the plate soon either.
Looking forward to: the conference schedule?
9. Miami– At 3-0, the win over Rutgers is nice. The schedule gets tougher–giving Miami a chance to leapfrog a few teams.
Looking forward to: Purdue on November 29; Memphis on December 6.
10. Virginia–at 4-1, the Cavaliers have no quality wins. They also have a bad loss to TCU.
Looking forward to: Michigan on November 29; George Mason on December 6.
11. Georgia Tech–at 3-2, Georgia Tech doesn’t have a horrible loss yet. St. Josephs and LSU are not exactly bottom 100 teams. Still, those are winnable games.
Looking forward to: Northwestern on November 29; Georgia on December 7.
12. Clemson– well, someone had to be #12. Clemson’s loss to Charleston is inexplicable. No good wins. But that’s still better than #13 and #14.
Looking forward to: Iowa on November 29; Arizona on December 10.
13. Maryland– losing to Alabama is reasonable. Losing to Iona is not. Losing by 26 is just terrible.
Looking forward to: Florida Gulf Coast on November 25. This team cannot look forward to anyone.
14. Boston College– Wow. Losing to Holy Cross is bad. Losing to UMass is bad. Losing by 22 to Holy Cross is awful. Losing by 36 to UMass is incredible.
Looking forward to: St. Louis on November 24. This team doesn’t deserve any pumpkin pie.
What do you think? Do we have it right?
The Confidential 