The Confidential

ACC Basketball Rankings: February 6, 2012

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 January 30, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (23-1)  With Fab Melo back, the Orange returned to their dominant ways.  However, all seven remaining games for the Orange are against teams in the top half of the Big East standings.  This will not end easy for Syracuse.

2. North Carolina (20-3)  Looked dominant in wins over Wake Forest and Maryland.  Next up?  Duke and Virginia.

3. Florida State (16-6)  That’s seven straight conference wins for the Seminoles.  In the process, they have defeated nationally ranked Virginia and North Carolina at home, while defeating Maryland and Duke on the road.

4. Duke (19-4)  The home loss to Florida State at the buzzer was a shocker.  Losing to Miami?  This isn’t football.

5. Virginia (18-4)  No shame in losing to Florida State on the road.  Virginia fared much better than the Tar Heels.

6. North Carolina State (17-7)  A good week for the Wolfpack, who beat both BC and Wake Forest to get back to their winning ways.  All five starters were in double-digits against Wake too.

7.  Miami (14-7)  The win over Duke, at Duke, was the marquee win that Miami needed.  Now they need to keep up the 6-3 conference pace down the stretch.

8. Maryland (13-9)  While the loss to North Carolina stings, it was the road loss to Miami that will be regretted.  That was a winnable game, as evidenced by the overtime.

9. Pittsburgh (15-9)  Don’t look know, but the Panthers have won four straight.  If they keep this up, the Big Dance is not out of the question.

10. Virginia Tech (13-10)  The Hokies took care of business against Clemson.  That 2-6 conference record still hurts.

11. Clemson (11-11)  Swept by both Virginia schools.  A tough road for the Tigers this past week.

12. Wake Forest (11-12)  Wake Forest was overmatched by North Carolina and North Carolina State.  Not a surprise.

13. Georgia Tech (9-14)  Georgia Tech is part of the 3-way tie in the ACC cellar at 2-7 in conference play.  The win over BC gets them to 13th.

14. Boston College (7-16)  The Eagles could have gotten out of the cellar with a win against Georgia Tech.  Alas, it was not meant to be.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!