The Confidential

The Weekly Confidential Correspondent Poll: February 4, 2013

Well, the ballots were distributed to the Confidential’s correspondent pool.  With 5 precincts reporting, here is the top 12 for the ACC as of February 4, 2013:

1.  Duke (3 first place votes)     58 points

2.  Miami   (2 first place votes)   55 points

3.  Syracuse    47 points

4.  Notre Dame   41 points

5.  Louisville   40 points

6.  NC State   35 points

7.   Pittsburgh   32 points

8.  North Carolina   29 points

9.   Maryland  21 points

10.  Virginia   19 points

11.   Florida State  11 points

12.  Clemson  3 points

Notes:

Clemson edged Wake Forest 3-2, to land the coveted 12th spot in the standings.

The correspondents are starting to both believe in Miami and question Syracuse.  Nobody had Duke below #2.

Speaking of Syracuse, the Orange and Fighting Irish face off on Monday for the much desired number three spot in the poll.  Syracuse needs a win badly.

Louisville, Pitt, and NC State are a solid number 5 through 7, but the Tar Heels at 8 and only a few points behind them is surprising.

Maryland is only narrowly ahead of Virginia.  Unfortunately, Maryland does not have any ACC rivals, or they would be even better.  Bring on Rutgers and Iowa!

One half of the top 8 continues to be Big East.  Maybe the ACC is not helping football enough, but the basketball improvement will be obvious.  Of course, all four went to bowl games too.

The First Weekly Confidential Correspondent Poll: January 28, 2013

Well, the ballots were distributed to the Confidential’s correspondent pool.  With 5 precincts reporting, here is the top 12 for the ACC as of January 28, 2013:

1.  Duke  (2 first place votes)   56 points

2.  Syracuse (1 first place vote)   54 points

3.  Miami (2 first place votes)  49 points

4.  North Carolina State   44 points

5.  (tie) Notre Dame and Pitt  37 points

7.  Louisville  30 points

8.  Virginia   25 points

9.  Maryland   23 points

10.  North Carolina 17 points

11. Florida State  11 points

12. Clemson  6 points

Notes:

Georgia Tech was placed #12 on a ballot each, but Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Boston College did not crack anyone’s top 12.  Sorry to those teams.

It is clear that name value still matters, as Duke and Syracuse suffered losses but stayed in the top 2.  Meanwhile, not everyone is persuaded that Miami is for real.  Was it just a hot January?  We’ll see.

North Carolina State is generally #4 or #5 in each poll.  It gets interesting thereafter, with the teams very hard to place.  Is Louisville the team that was ranked #1 in the country or the one that has lost 3 in a row?  What are Notre Dame, Pitt, and Maryland REALLY?  And it is odd to see North Carolina so low.  But do its rivals really care?  Enjoy the middle of the pack.  Virginia could find itself several places higher soon enough. 

Anyway, what do YOU think.  Does Duke still deserve the #1 spot?  Does Syracuse?  Miami?  Someone else?