Saturday wasn’t a great day for the ACC, as three of its teams lost close games. But they were competitive shouldn’t hurt Virginia Tech and Clemson moving forward. Wake Forest is a different story.
Overall, the league had a nice week, although Florida State remains the one team that has played well below expectations through the first month of the season. But most of the others are performing near their expected levels or above. Here are this week’s rankings:
Another game against a good team and another Blue Devils’ victory. This time the Devils beat previously unbeaten Temple, 90-67, and looked darn good doing it. The more Coach K develops his team the better it will get, and it is becoming national title worthy.
The Hurricanes didn’t play this past week, but their last two games were wins at home over Michigan State and at UMass. Keep in mind, Durand Scott didn’t play in the loss at Florida Gulf Coast. That keeps them at the No. 2 spot, though there’s intense competition right on their heels.
A Mark Turgeon-coached team reached the 100-point mark for the first time last week when the Terps routed UMES. They struggled too much with South Carolina State, though. This is a nice team that gets better every game even if the margins of victory vary.
Two nice wins for the Wolfpack, taking out a solid UConn team at Madison Square Garden and then beating a Cleveland State program that has had plenty of success in recent years. C.J. Leslie playing with focus is such a huge plus for State. It makes the Pack ACC contenders,
The run had to eventually end, but it nearly didn’t. Erick Green missed a good looking jumper at the buzzer that would have lifted the Hokies at West Virginia. That they competed to the wire is a plus and something VT can build on.
Roy’s boys can shot the three and run, but they have a bunch to work on. A rout of East Tennessee State marked the week, and at least freshman PG Marcus Paige played vs. the Buccaneers and did pretty well. Heels also assisted on 30 of 31 made field goals.
The Cavaliers beat Tennessee and Miss. Valley State, keeping both under 40 points. The Wahoos have won seven consecutive games and have allowed more than 51 points in only two of those contests. They are getting healthier and better. Tony Bennett can coach.
Brad Brownell’s team had No. 8 Arizona right where they wanted them in Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday night, but couldn’t close the deal. Clemson played well and made progress in the defeat, but it also still has some scoring issues that will hurt in close games against more capable teams. The Tigers need more offensive weapons and for the senior bigs to consistently score in double figures.
Despite two victories, plenty of issues were further revealed during an educational week for the Yellow Jackets. They beat rival Georgia by finally hitting some perimeter shots and then got past a scrappy UNC-Wilmington team. It’s easier to build confidence learning when you win than lose, thus progress is clearly being made.
At least FSU knocked off Maine on Sunday after suffering a horrible home loss to Florida. The Seminoles are trying to mesh a bunch of freshmen with a few established players, but a recent injury to Ian Miller hasn’t helped. The older players need to play better, beginning with Michael Snaer.
A narrow win over High Point and letting one get away at home versus Seton Hall isn’t going to cut it for the Demon Deacons. The Deacs are headed for an ugly ACC season unless something changes quickly.
The Eagles just can’t beat Harvard, and in some cases can’t even compete with the Ivy Leaguers, which was the case in a 16-point home loss to the Crimson during the week. No excuse, as BC should be better than that.
