ACC Basketball Rankings: December 5, 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 December 5, 2011:
1. Syracuse–Win over top 10 Florida keeps the Orange rolling at 8-0. Fab Melo and Dion Waiters are much improved sophomores.
2. North Carolina–At 6-2, the Tarheels have lost twice. Both were on the road in tough games. The loss to Kentucky carries no shame. Nice win over Wisconsin.
3. Duke–At 7-1, Duke has also beaten some good teams. The 20-point loss to Ohio State is hard to ignore though.
4. Virginia–At 7-1, the Cavaliers finally got that nice win (over Michigan). In fact, the Cavs were one of just 4 ACC teams to win their matchup against a Big 10 foe.
5. Pittsburgh–At 7-1, the Panthers are circling the wagons. Tennessee is not a great team, but a good road win though.
6. Miami–At 5-2, the win over UMass helps offset the loss to a very good Purdue team on the road.
7. Virginia Tech–One of four 5-3 teams, the Hokies get the edge based on the quality of losses–Syracuse (8-0), Minnesota (8-1), and Kansas State (5-0).
8. Florida State– At 5-3, the Seminoles have also lost to three very good teams in Harvard (8-0), UConn (7-1), and Michigan State (6-2). Narrowly behind the Hokies in this regard.
9. North Carolina State–At 5-3, losing at home to Indiana was a bit of a surprise. Indiana is off to a good start at 8-0, but the Wolfpack need to protect home court. Stanford and Texas are decent losses too.
10. Wake Forest– At 5-3, the Demon Deacons started the week well by defeating Texas Tech and Nebraska, but closed poorly losing to Richmond.
11. Clemson–at 4-3, with a decent win over Iowa and tough loss to South Carolina.
12. Georgia Tech–at 4-4, Georgia Tech gets the edge over Maryland based on the quality of the losses this week Tulane (9-0) and Northwestern (7-1).
13. Maryland–at 4-3, Maryland showed some life by beating Notre Dame, who is still reeling from the loss of Tim Abromaitis. A positive sign that a surge may be on the horizon though.
14. Boston College--at 2-6. Ugh.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know!
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