There have actually been good strides made this year from the ACC in basketball.

You still have some losses that are going to haunt some times, but they're already hitting the same marks they did last year, so you don't need a miracle to hope they improve their standings going into conference play. But this week stands as the most important one of the season for the conference as a whole. The ACC-SEC challenge starts Tuesday evening, a challenge that was a harbinger of how the season would go for the ACC, getting steamrolled 14-2. 11 of the losses were by double digits. That simply can't happen again if the ACC wants even a speck of respect when it comes to sifting through resumes even if there are some good wins already by both the high end of the conference, the mid-tier, and the basement.

You don't have to win all of them, but this is where you have to turn the tide in your favor.

Changing things up slightly this week: the recap of the ACC will be with each team and if they have a game

Rankings

18: Boston College (4-4) 1-0 last week; Previous ranking (18)

Why: Earl Grant got a wire to wreak havoc win over Harvard, something that I don't know if a lot of us expected! They get LSU this week in the Challenge, so the one game winning streak looks like it might come to an end. However, this one interests me as one that could sneakily be close. BC has been a sneakily good defensive team that's limited second chances on the glass. If they can turn this one into a rock fight while taking of the ball, well we've seen wilder things happen in Conte Forum.

17: Georgia Tech (5-3) 0-2 last week; Previous ranking (14)

Why: The lowest rated team in the NET at 201 is going to get dropped a few spots after losing by double digits to both of Depaul and Drake, albeit on a neutral court. This offense is just an issue. They don't shoot well from 2 or 3, they turn the ball over almost 20% of the time, they don't get to the free throw line, and when they do they don't make them. Ken Pom has them as two point underdog on Wednesday at home against Mississippi State. If you were looking for a "first to 60" type of game, you'd circle that one.

16: Pitt (5-3) 1-0 last week; Previous ranking (17)

Why: As soon as you give up on a Jeff Capel-led team, they find a way to take down a highly-rated opponent and for the second time down Ohio State on a buzzer beater. The game as a whole was ugly. Pitt shot under 38% from the field but between snagging 16 offensive rebounds and turning the Buckeyes over 13 times, they found a way. They're going to need the turnovers again against Texas A&M, but this is a bit of a put up or shut up game for the Pitt offense. They've scuffled all year, but A&M is really bleeding points this year. They've got to get shots to fall or else they could end up like FSU.

15: Notre Dame (5-3) 1-2 last week; Previous ranking (13)

Why: Notre Dame kept things close against both of Kansas and Houston during the Players Era Festival, and scraped by a Rutgers team that's really struggling this year, so they're going to have to drop. Jalen Haralson is starting to come into his own as of late. It's one thing to have 17 and 16 against Eastern Illinois and Bellarmine. It's another thing to look like he belongs against some of the better teams in the country, which he did against Kansas and Houston, the latter of which he actually didn't commit a foul, something that's spiked a bit in his early stages of the season. That's something to watch for when he's matchup against one of Jevon Porter or Mark Mitchell when Missouri visits on Tuesday evening. We know Markus Burton will drive their scoring, but they're going to need every minute of Haralson in this game, especially if Sir Mohammed continues his struggles.

14: Syracuse (4-3) 0-3 last week; Previous ranking (11)

Why: The valiant efforts against Houston (especially without Donnie Freeman) and Kansas were so close to being rewarded, but they completely let go of the rope against Iowa State and that's a game you really see the flaws with this team. If you stuff the paint, they can't shoot from deep as they're only making 29.3% of their shots there. If they do get into the paint and you foul them, they're only making 57.1% of their free throws. Without Freeman, they don't have enough of a rebounding presence to make up for these mistakes, so even if they're getting stops on the first shot, they can't stop the quantity of shots they're allowing. The Orange have to get something out of Nathan George moving forward. In both of the Houston and Iowa State games, he was by far their worst offensive player on the court, totaling 16 points to 13 turnovers. Tennessee feels like a horrendous matchup for them.

13: Virginia Tech (6-2) 1-2 last week; Previous ranking (7)

Why: After a decent win to open the week, the Hokies fell apart a little bit with a step up in competition, losing by double digits against Saint Mary's and VCU. To make matters worse, Tobi Lawal missed those two games, being in a walking boot. Mike Young said he wouldn't be out long term, but if he can't it really lowers both the floor and ceiling of this VT team. Neoklis Avdalas and Amani Hansberry can only do so much. The game plan against South Carolina seems pretty clear: VT has to offer some resistance on the defensive end. The Hokies shouldn't have many issues turning it over and should score at a decent pace, but they're not set up for a footrace and they let their last two opponents score at will, especially letting them get into the interior.

12: FSU (5-12) 1-1 last week; Previous ranking (10)

Why: whew This team was one I definitely had circled as one that could make some noise in the ACC, but getting pummel-droned (losing in a reverse score to what you put up) 95-59 against a Texas A&M team that hadn't shown a pulse against a team that was inside the top 180 was completely deflating. I don't want to punish them too much because of it, but they do have to drop. A matchup at home against UGA screams that it may be the highest scoring game in college basketball all year. The 'Noles have to show they can be competent on the glass defensively. Georgia is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, while FSU is one of the worst at giving them up. Sometimes it's hard to circle a stat to see where a game is won or lost, but this one feels pretty clear.

11: Stanford (6-1) 2-0 last week; Previous ranking (15)

Why: If you weren't paying attention last week, the Cardinal got one of the best wins of the season for the ACC, as a Benny Gealer three (his only points of the game) lifted them over Saint Louis. Kyle Smith is one of the better coaches in the game who has just struggled in the NIL era with a school that has resisted it for a few years. This feels like a season he may actually get his flowers if Chisom Okpara and Ebuka Okorie can continue leading the charge for this team. They're a designated survivor in the challenge, so they take on Portland and UNLV this week, both at home. Please don't destroy the goodwill you've built up.

10: Miami (6-2) 1-1 last week; Previous ranking (12)

Why: This defense is legit. I was worried that it would only show up against the bottom teams, but they slowed down BYU (just couldn't score) and really drug Georgetown into the mud with them. Malik Reneau continues to look like a different player getting away from Indiana. He could stand to be a little more efficient but given how sky-high his usage is, he's still making shots at a decent clip. A game against Ole Miss is going to be the biggest test of how far this defense can take them. Chris Beard's teal is one of the more balanced ones nationally and loves to play slow.

9: Wake Forest (6-2) 2-0 last week; Previous ranking (9)

Why: Wake isn't going to move much until they beat some quality opponents. They've gotten off to one of their better starts in the NET partially because of losing to Michigan and Texas Tech by a combined two points, but also a drubbing of a Campbell by 48. Juke Harris has been a tremendous breakout star for them, when Tre'Von Spillers can stay on the floor they matchup well with anyone, and they're getting a healthy amount of bench production which is something you haven't been able to say at any point of Steve Forbes' tenure at Wake. The biggest surprise, though, might be Sebastian Akins looking much more than just someone they can play for 10 minutes a game. The Denver transfer looks like someone they might be able to point to as a true point guard of the future. It's hard to call a matchup a must-win, but a Q3 home game against Oklahoma is something that's going to be tough to justify if they falter in it. This needs to be a game where Wake is efficient on offense and shows that their borderline top 30 defense is real. As is tradition, here's your weekly Myles Colvin highlight

8: NC State (5-2) 1-2 last week; Previous ranking (5)

Why: Maui was unkind to the Wolfpack, and the struggles were pretty clearly on the defensive side of the ball. Their defense struggled all week Seton Hall shot 64.7% from 2, while Texas not only shot 65% from inside the arc they also made 16 of their 32 threes against NC State. One very concerning trend this year for them outside of that is Dariron Williams' fouls. He's being called for 4.5 fouls per 40 and fouled out of two straight games. It goes without saying how important it is for him to stay on the court for them. Their offense is going to get what they want against Auburn, especially from deep. But this feels exactly like the FSU/UGA matchup where they need to not be a turnstile on defense in order to get a win.

7: Virginia (6-1) 1-0 last week; Previous ranking (8)

Why: UVA spent most of the week idle minus a 25 point drubbing of Queens to take out their aggression from losing to Butler on the previous Sunday. Heading to Texas, this sneakily might be the best game in the entire challenge. Thijs De Ridder versus Dailyn Swain is appointment television. Chance Mallory is going to be a problem in the years to come by the way.

6: Cal (6-1) 2-0 last week; Previous ranking (16)

Why: This might be an over reaction, but Cal has been extremely impressive and that culminated with an almost wire to wire win over UCLA last Tuesday. The team of reclamation projects has really found their footing so far. Chris Bell is having his best year offensively by a country mile, with a true shooting percentage of 68.8%. Dai Dai Ames has gotten better every year he's in college and has thrived a bit more playing off the ball. Justin Pippen might not be the most efficient shooter but has spread the wealth, he does need to cut down on the turnovers though. Joining Stanford as a designated survivor, they'll need to take care of busses against Utah and Pacific.

5: SMU (8-0) 2-0 last week; Previous ranking (6)

Why: What a come back from behind win from the Mustangs who needed a Boopie Miller jumper to send the game to overtime before pulling away. They're undefeated and that's what matters as him and Jaron Pierre have really sparked this team. A massive step up comes as they travel to Nashville to play a Vanderbilt team that has shot up the rankings. They can't afford to play with their food and expect to fight back in this one, they have to punch the Commodores in the mouth first.

4: Clemson (7-1) 1-0 last week; Previous ranking (4)

Why: A much needed (essentially) week off that only had a break with an almost 40 point win over Alabama A&M. They get the flagship university this time having to travel to Tuscaloosa. Clemson simply cannot afford to get into a track race with Nate Oats. The Tigers can score at a fair clip, but it has to be on their own terms, not with the team flying up and down the court.

3: North Carolina (6-1) 1-1 last week; Previous ranking (2)

Why: You don't want to punish a team too much for an injury, but this is just a structurally much different team without Seth Trimble, who is still going to be out for a while. They fought pretty valiantly against Michigan State, but they got worn down as the game win on, running out of gas in what was a close game for about 30 minutes. This game against Kentucky is going to be... not what anyone expected. The Tar Heels are without Trimble while it doesn't sound like Jaland Lowe or Mo Dioubate will play in this game either. Can UNC keep Owen and Aberdeen from getting into the paint? Does Kentucky really have a good answer for Caleb Wilson?

2: Louisville (7-0) 2-0 last week; Previous ranking (3)

Why: Louisville took the poor play against Cincy and decided they wanted to prove that they belonged in the upper echelon of the metrics beating Eastern Michigan and NJIT by a combined 98 points. This is the part of the schedule that everyone has been waiting for as they go to Arkansas before playing Indiana at a neutral site. Arkansas is reeling after Duke walked them down with essentially just Cam Boozer and Caleb Foster in the second half. What is the Razorbacks' answer for Ryan Conwell in this one? On the other side, the matchup between Darius Acuff Jr. (who had 21 against Duke) against Mikel Brown is exactly the kind of fireworks this challenge needs. You'll live with the 21 points from Acuff if you're Louisville if it takes him 17 shots again.

1: Duke (8-0) 1-0 last week; Previous ranking (1)

Why: I spent last week talking about the depth of this Duke team being the strength of this national title contender, all for them to have three players score in the second half against Arkansas, with Boozer and Foster truly just willing them into a win. This team is going to come down to whatever Caleb Foster gives them. He's the most divisive player on Duke's team. You watch him some games and fanbases go, "see this is why I'm glad we didn't get him to head to the portal." But then he has games like the one against Arkansas where he has 15 points and eight assists, and you get terrified that if he can find a modicum of consistency, the flaws for this Duke team become minute and they start to terrify you even more.

Player of the Week: Cameron Boozer (Duke)

There was no other real answer here. The show chart shows a healthy amount of the story. He continues to get what he wants on the interior and there isn't a lot you can do about it. That's going to be imperative as Duke gets Florida in the challenge, facing a team that's going to start giants in Micah Handlogten, Rueben Chinyelu, and Thomas Haugh. Duke is going to counter with Boozer and Pat Ngongba, but Boozer can't afford to get into foul trouble in a game like this. The way he's been playing, I think he'll rise to the occasion.

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