The Confidential

Confidential Correspondents’ Basketball Poll: December 30, 2014

The Confidential routinely polls its correspondents to rank the top ACC basketball teams.  The season is still young, but here is a quick look at the current top 10:

1. Duke (11-0), 48 pts, 4 first place votes.  The Blue Devils remain #1 on the strength of quality wins against Wisconsin and Michigan State.  Next Conference Game: January 3 vs. Boston College.
2. Virginia (11-0), 44 votes.  Virginia is good.  End of story.  Look what they did to VCU and Harvard.  Next Conference Game: January 3 @ Miami.
3. Louisville (11-1), 42 pts, 1 first place vote.  The loss to Kentucky was not enough to shake one voter’s confidence in the Cardinals.  Next Conference Game: January 4 @ Wake Forest.
4. Notre Dame (12-1), 35 pts.  The Fighting Irish have an ACC win, which is nice.  They are also #14 in the country, which is also nice.  Next Conference Game: January 3 vs. Georgia Tech.
5. North Carolina State (10-3), 27 pts.  At 10-3 with a loss to Wofford, this may be a bit high.  But we will learn more about this team very soon.  Next Conference Game: January 3 vs. Pitt.
6. North Carolina (9-3), 24 points.  The Tar Heels next game is against both Bill and Mary.  Wins over Ohio State, UCLA, and Florida have UNC ranked.  Next Conference Game: January 3 @ Clemson.
7. Miami (9-3), 18 points.  The Hurricanes have had a nice long break to stew over some disappointing losses.  They have one final tuneup against College of Charleston before tackling the conference slate.  And in comes Virginia.  Gulp.  Next Conference Game: January 3rd vs. Miami.
8. Pittsburgh (9-3), 17 pts.  The Panthers have a five-game winning streak to surge into the top 8.  The ACC bubble should be interesting this year.  Next Conference Game: January 3 @ North Carolina State.
9. Syracuse (8-4), 12 pts.  Syracuse is disappointed to have 4 losses, but none of them were truly bad.  And the team is playing much better.  Next Conference Game: January 3 @ Virginia Tech.
10. Georgia Tech (8-3), 7 pts.  The Yellow Jackets play a decent Charlotte team before heading to ACC play.  And they open up with a difficult one too–traveling to South Bend.  Next Conference Game: January 3 @ Notre Dame.

Others: Virginia Tech 2 pts.  Clemson, Boston College, Wake Forest and Florida State did not receive votes.

What do you think–do we have anyone over-ranked or under-ranked?