Half-way ACC Power Rankings

We’re about halfway through conference play in the 2024-25 men’s college basketball, season, so it’s time to rank the eighteen members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The conference has been extremely weak this year, with only one member ranked in the AP Poll and two in the top 25 of ESPN’s BPI ratings. I’m going to separate these rankings into four tiers, as I believe there are four distinct categories of ACC squads. Without further ado, here are your ACC squads ranked from worst to first…

They’re, uh…rebuilding

18: Miami Hurricanes

How did this happen? In March 2023, the Miami Hurricanes had just beaten #2 Texas (fifth in the country) in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four, yes the Final Four, of the NCAA Tournament. That offseason, they lost their two best players to the NBA Draft, and their offense suffered. They started 2023-24 with an 11-2 record before stumbling to 14th in the ACC and bowing out to Boston College in the first round of the conference tournament. This season, Miami lost their longtime coach Jim Larrañga, went 4-7 with a weak non-conference schedule, and are 1-10 in ACC Play, earning their first win over Notre Dame this past weekend. Miami look far from their March Madness run and have a good chance of being the first team to miss the ACC tournament in history by the end of February. 

17: Boston College Eagles

Boston College also pulled out a must-needed win this past weekend as they beat Florida State at the buzzer. However, it hasn’t been easy this season. The Eagles haven’t finished high enough to earn a bye past the first round of the ACC Tournament since the league expanded in 2013, and don’t look to be making much progress towards finishing above tenth. They sit at 2-8 in conference play, and other than their win at home this past weekend, their only victory was a huge comeback against last-placed Miami in Chestnut Hill. Expect to see the Eagles here for a while.

16: Virginia Cavaliers

Virginia is a similar story to Miami. How did this happen? Virginia was the number one seed in the ACC Tournament only two years ago, won the national championship six years ago, and are now at the gutter of the ACC. Virginia have only beaten NCST, Boston College, and Miami, the three teams with a worse record in conference play, and are 3-8 despite the only top team they have played is Louisville. Virginia would be 15th, but they play Pitt, Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, and Clemson before the end of the season. I wouldn’t expect them to be playing in Charlotte with that gauntlet.

15: North Carolina State Wolfpack

Another ACC team that shouldn’t be here. NCST wasn’t anything special last year, finishing tenth in the regular season. However, their cinderella run through the ACC Tournament and to the Final Four gave just a little bit of hope for a non-dismal season. Instead, the Wolfpack have been worse. They’re 2-8 in conference play and have lost six in a row. If you’re looking for another surprise package from the ACC, find somebody else.

14: Syracuse Orange

Syracuse looked far better earlier in the season, with close losses to Texas, Texas Tech, and Georgetown. Since beginning conference play, the Orange have lost to Florida State by 16 and Stanford by 9. Good news: most of the difficult opponents have already been played, with only Duke, UNC, and another showdown with Pitt remaining from the top of the conference. They should rise soon.

13: Florida State Seminoles

It’s been a bad couple of weeks for the Seminoles. Since a quality win over Georgia Tech, Florida State was swept on their trip to the West before an ugly loss to Virginia Tech and a heartbreaker in Chestnut Hill. The schedule doesn’t get much easier, with Duke, Louisville, UNC, Clemson, and Wake Forest still remaining. Florida State should make the ACC Tournament and they’ll definitely try to make a quarterfinal run, but may be exhausted from the conference schedule leading up to March.

Stumbling to the ACC Tourney

12: California Golden Bears

From looking through the ACC teams’ results so far, it is clear that the top twelve are far better than the bottom six. It is very hard to rank the teams that I have between ninth and twelfth. Cal has had much more of a home-court advantage than in the past, but that also comes with a deficit on the road. Teams have typically traveled to Stanford first before making the trek up to Berkeley, and the Golden Bears have capitalized, winning three conference games at home. However, Cal hasn’t played well against the top teams in the conference and still have dates against Wake Forest, Duke, and Louisville. 

11: Virginia Tech Hokies

The Hokies are ninth in the conference and 5-6 but are in worse shape than the two teams directly above them. VTech won in Tallahassee and Charlottesville this past week to improve their conference record, but almost blew their lead against Virginia. Their other three conference wins were also lackluster and against teams below them. They have also been blown out by the majority of top conference opponents they have played. The next three weeks will be a big opportunity for Virginia Tech to secure a safe record before potential season-defining clashes against Louisville, UNC, and Clemson to finish conference play.

10: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Fighting Irish have been solid over the course of the season, posting strong wins against Syracuse and Boston College and a close loss to Duke. However, the loss to Miami this past weekend was disastrous, as Notre Dame blew an 11-point halftime lead to surrender the Hurricanes’ first conference victory of the season. Notre Dame have four chances to improve their resume in February in the hopes of better seeding in the ACC Tournament. Hopefully the Miami loss was a one-off for the Fighting Irish.

9: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech have themselves in the top half of the conference for the time being after a huge win over Louisville in Atlanta this past weekend. It was their first AP Poll win this year and solidified that the Yellow Jackets are one of the league’s top home-court teams. However, Georgia Tech will have to step it up on the road, as they have visits to struggling Boston College and Virginia over the next few weeks and a chance to secure a bye in the ACC Tournament.

Blink and your Bid’s Stolen

8: Pittsburgh Panthers

Welcome to the true contender list of the ACC, as the top eight teams have firmly separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Pitt were able to take down UNC at home a few weeks ago but are still searching for a high-quality win. UNC hasn’t been playing as well as they have in past seasons, and the Panthers have squandered big chances against Louisville, Clemson, and Wake Forest. They don’t have many left, and likely need to beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill and take out Louisville in Kentucky to be in the bubble conversation.

7: North Carolina Tar Heels

As a Duke fan, all I can say is WOW! North Carolina lack a lot of the size that helped them to a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament last year and sit at a measly 6-5 in conference play. They began ACC play strong (4-1) but are missing the same thing as Pittsburgh, a high-quality win. The Tar Heels lost to Louisville, Pitt, Wake Forest, and of course Duke, and need to start winning more games. They host Pitt before traveling to Clemson and in March host Duke in what could be the biggest game of the season for UNC.

6: Southern Methodist Mustangs

SMU really haven’t played many strong teams in the ACC. Yes, they’ve absolutely demolished some of the weaker teams in the conference, such as scoring 117 points against Miami or 103 against Boston College, but they also couldn’t compete with Duke, UNC, or Louisville. They have some great chances to redeem themselves and prove their record is no fluke against Pitt, Wake Forest, and Clemson, but also must be careful to not lose any games they aren’t supposed to.

5: Stanford Cardinal

Stanford have had a nice introduction to the ACC in men’s basketball. They sit at 7-4 and have really benefited from hosting teams from the East still adjusting to the new time zone. Stanford are 6-0 against ACC opponents in California but 1-4 elsewhere. They also haven’t proven their record is secure as they have lost to Wake Forest, Pitt, and Clemson with only a win against North Carolina. They host Wake and SMU and will hope to cause upsets in those challenges, and must improve their away form if they hope to stand a chance against Louisville and Duke when they travel to the East.

Putting the Madness in March

4: Wake Forest Demon Deacons

The top four teams in this list are all super strong compared to the rest of the conference, and the teams ranked from second to fourth are almost inseparable at the moment. Wake have notched wins against almost every team in the conference except against the teams above them: Louisville, Clemson, and Duke. They had an excellent performance in Cameron against the Blue Devils and their largest conference loss of the season was in Louisville by thirteen. The Demon Deacons look as though they belong at the top of the conference and should be entertaining to watch when they host Duke in early March. They’ll be heavily favored in every game until then so it is a big chance to notch a huge win.

3: Louisville Cardinals

What an improvement from the Cardinals! Just last March, Louisville were dominated in the first round of the ACC Tournament, ending the season 8-24 (3-17) as the worst team in the conference. They came close against Kentucky and Oklahoma but beat Indiana and giant-topplers West Virginia in non-con play. Since then, they fought to a close loss against Duke, beat Wake Forest, Pitt, and Clemson, and dominated the conference. It is likely their ugly loss in Atlanta was just a fluke, but it is something to monitor over the next month. Quite the improvement though! It’ll be interesting to see how they handle the ACC Tournament after a relatively quiet end to the conference schedule.

2: Clemson Tigers:

This team is different from the two before it. Clemson have March Madness experience, as they almost reached the Final Four last year and established themselves as a strong basketball program. This year, the Tigers are the only team in the conference that can come close to matching Duke’s non-conference resume, as they notched impressive victories over San Francisco, Penn. State, and of course Kentucky, along with two close losses to Memphis and South Carolina. Their only conference loss was in Louisville and the only time they have really looked troubled in conference play was in their overtime victory over Pitt. Their remaining schedule isn’t super troubling, but they are the only top ACC team that hasn’t played Duke and still have to make sure to put North Carolina away at home.

National Championship back in the ACC?

1: Duke Blue Devils

While the ACC hasn’t been itself over the past few years as other conferences have dominated, Duke has been a constant for the conference this season. They have been the only consistent AP Poll squad and haven’t left the top ten all season. The Blue Devils have recovered from close losses to Kansas and Kentucky early in the season and have definitely matured. We’ll see if Duke enters the NCAA Tournament tested enough to make a run since the ACC is so weak this year. They appear to be unstoppable in conference play and their battles with Clemson, Wake Forest, and UNC will be good chances to show they are ready for March (they also play Illinois at MSG in late February). Being the only team to take out the top team nationally doesn’t hurt their standing.