The ACC tried their best to destroy their bubble hopes. One team (Stanford) more than likely got their bubble popped, but there's still a good chance that this league gets double digit teams in this year as long as ACC chaos doesn't happen.

There also needs to be a very long look at how the ACC handles the trip to California. Teams are now a whopping 4-11 in their first game back from the west coast, with every game being at home. The only wins have been:

  • Duke this year who got to miss a midweek game, defeating Wake 90-69
  • UNC this year beating a dismal Notre Dame team 91-69
  • 2025 VT who needed heroics by Jaden Schutt to beat a bad NC State team
  • 2025 NC State holding on against Boston College

Just give everyone the week off until Saturday if they have to go cross country. The scheduling will work out and you won't get teams continuously stepping on rakes because they just had to fly across the country.

Rankings

18: Georgia Tech (11-15) 0-2 last week; Previous ranking (18)

Why: Georgia Tech has lost seven games in a row. It's one thing to lose the close games against Virginia Tech or Cal on the road. It's another thing to come back from the California road trip and run out of gas in the second half against Wake, it happens. It's another thing to give up 37 points to Cole Certa when Notre Dame didn't have either of Markus Burton or Jalen Haralson. Defense was what this team could at least hang their hats on but four out of the last five games, they've allowed teams to score over 1.26 points per possession. That just can't happen.

17: Pitt (9-17) 0-2 last week; Previous ranking (17)

Why: The players advent quit. They might not be that good, but they don't quit. However, you see a quote during the ACC Coaches teleconference about how Jeff Capel originally wanted to play Cam Corhen at the four, away from the basket. A guy who came into the season shooting 9-for-36 (25%) from three in his previous three years. Sure. The over/under of games won the rest of the year by GT and Pitt is set at 1.5.

16: Boston College (9-16) 0-2 last week; Previous ranking (16)

Why: If you score 70, you're going to beat this Boston College team, which isn't exactly inspiring. It probably doesn't help that they have scored over 1.10 points per possession twice in conference play, and have lost both games. They did actually look competent offensively against Cal on Saturday, but I don't trust that to be too sustainable without Donald Hand Jr. Hand left their midweek game against Stanford with a leg injury, missed the game Saturday, and has already been ruled out for Tuesday's contest. Yikes

15: Notre Dame (12-14) 1-1 last week; Previous ranking (15)

Why: The roster makes sense for Notre Dame when you think about it. Markus Burton can create. Jalen Haralson might not be able to stretch the floor, but he can get a bucket just about any other way. Guys like Cole Certa, Braeden Shrewsberry, and Brady Koehler can really stretch the floor. Sir Mohammed can add some energy. There's just so many things that don't go their way though. Burton and Kebba Njie being out hurt. But they just don't play good enough defense for it to matter more often than not to make up for an inconsistent offense. Playing Georgia Tech fixes a lot of issues though!

14: Stanford (16-10) 1-1 last week; Previous ranking (12)

Why: Getting to see Ebuka Okorie in person is a treat, if you haven't you need to. He can create, he can make tough shots, I want to see if he can play defense but he's not really allowed to because you can't dare have him be in foul trouble if you're Kyle Smith. This team scores at a fine clip, they don't give up a ton of easy basket. But their achilles heel is frankly their bigs cannot stop fouling. Losing Chisom Okpara was always going to hurt them, but it just might cost this team the NCAA Tournament.

13: Syracuse (15-12) 2-1 last week; Previous ranking (13)

Why: Syracuse decided to destroy all forms of goodwill after a double overtime win against Cal (please ignore how they got there) and a last second win against SMU by losing by 37 points to Duke, letting them score 101 points. 1.57 points per possession. Syracuse shot 37% from three and lost by 37. There's getting what little NCAA Tournament hopes you had get crushed and then there's this performance. My word.

12: Wake Forest (13-12) 2-0 last week; Previous ranking (14)

Why: It's being captain obvious, but Mekhi Mason minutes have changed the tune of this team, especially with Nate Calmese out. In the last five games, lineups with Mason have an offensive rating of 126.7 per CBB Analytics, that's a 95th percentile numbers. The defense isn't great (116) but you still at least see the trade of for a high level defense for a good offense that Wake tried to make with this roster. Clemson is a horrid matchup for them, but if they can go 4-2 the rest of the way while getting Nate Calmese back, they can play a bit of spoiler.

11: Virginia Tech (16-8) 0-1 last week; Previous ranking (10)

Why: Until Syracuse's "performance" on Monday night, Mike Young's squad was the frontrunner for most frustrating team this week. They clipped Clemson on the road for a much needed Quad 1 victory on the road, congrats! They follow it up with one of the worst defensive performances in conference play by any team this year, losing to FSU by 23 points. They were winning by three at halftime. This team needs to simply take care of business and they'll be dancing, the problem is they can't get out of their own way and none of their future opponents have given up. Am I allowed to start being worried about the defense yet?

10: FSU (12-13) 1-1 last week; Previous ranking (11)

Why: The season has been a success and I'd like to see what Luke Loucks can do if he gets more resources, but this team could've had a special season if they learned how to close. There are five games in conference play that really could've turned this into a realistic bubble team if they flipped two or three of them. So they'll have to settle for just a decent over achieving season as long as they take care of business the rest of the way.

9: Cal (18-8) 1-1 last week; Previous ranking (8)

Why: Do or die time for the Golden Bears over the next five games. They have two Q2s (Stanford + SMU) that they probably need to at least split. They have two Q3s (Pitt + at GT) that they absolutely cannot afford to drop either. To close the season they have a Q1 at Wake that while it isn't some monumental opponent, you want to take advantage of all the Q1s you can. Can they hold serve enough to sneak in?

8: NC State (18-8) 0-2 last week; Previous ranking (6)

Why: A 40-ball to Mikel Brown and then an absolute meltdown against Miami with a veteran roster. Oh, then Will Wade took a shot at Georgia Tech in the press conference. Not exactly going well in Raleigh last week. There's a golden opportunity for a Q1 win over UNC on Tuesday, especially with Caleb Wilson being out and Henri Veesaar being questionable. If the Wolfpack can't win this game...

7: SMU (17-8) 1-1 last week; Previous ranking (7)

Why: This team has 1-1 every week written all over them. They're in the tournament as today, but this team doesn't give you any confidence that they're able to escape a couple dumb losses here and there. The Mustangs have to be careful. After Louisville, four out of their final five games can do nothing but hurt them. It's a scary position to be in.

6: Miami (20-5) 1-0 last week; Previous ranking (9)

Why: Jai Lucas isn't going to win ACC Coach of the Year, but the job he's done this year is probably third in the year and that by a mile. It did feel as if they were missing some big wins to strengthen the resume and they got two, winning against UNC and at NC State. I really need to figure out where to put Malik Reneau on my All-ACC ballot when that comes out.

5: Clemson (20-6) 0-2 last week; Previous ranking (4)

Why: The Duke loss was expected, especially once you saw the Blue Devils were healthy. The worrisome one was the loss to Virginia Tech midweek where it looked as if they just had such little juice. The four guards they played last week went 15-for-52 (28.8%) from the field in their two games. Their bigs set their floor but they simply can't have that happening.

4: Louisville (19-6) 2–0 last week; Previous ranking (5)

Why: Mikel Brown deserved every bit of receiving Player of the Week and Freshman of the week after his performances against Baylor and NC State. This is the Louisville you expected at the beginning of the season and they have a very good shot at winning out in the regular season. Duke is still a miserable player and coaching matchup for them, but they're cementing themselves as a top end team in the ACC.

3: Virginia (22-3) 2-0 last week; Previous ranking (3)

Why: The 'Hoos went 2-0 this week but man it did not feel great at any point in time. They survived a better than expected FSU team and then survived (again) against an Ohio State team without their John Mobley Jr. They really need Johann Grunlöh to get going. Lineups with him the last five games have been abhorrent offensively. It's really hard to have a -4.4 Net rating with a defensive rating of 99.7 in 85 minutes of him on the court.

2: Duke (24-2) 3-0 last week; Previous ranking (2)

Why: Syracuse fans might be thanking for unofficially ending the Red Autry era. A literal historic night from the Blue Devils on Monday evening on national television.

1: North Carolina (20-5) 1-1 last week; Previous ranking (1)

Why: This one was tough for me. I debated flipping Duke and UNC because of the loss and loss of Caleb Wilson. But I want to see what they do this week against NC State and Syracuse. Call it a late Christmas present to Hubert Davis. Can they take down an angry Will Wade without Wilson?