Atlanta Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Power Poll – January 29, 2013

Good day, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men’s Basketball Fans!!!  We’re six to seven games into the ACC conference season for all of the teams and it’s time again for our weekly ACC hoops power poll.  We are into the heart of the conference season – and every game now will have an impact on a team’s postseason chances.

And, here we go:

1. Miami – If you defeat Duke by 27 and Florida State by 24 – and you are undefeated in ACC play – you get the #1 spot here and it’s a no-brainer.  With big Reggie Johnson back, the Hurricanes are the ACC’s team to beat.  Miami goes back to Duke on March 2 – and I have that date circled on my calendar.  The Hurricanes might actually shoot higher then 50% from three-point land on their next road trip to Blacksburg.
2. Duke – After getting thoroughly dominated by Miami, the Blue Devils came back and easily handled Maryland.  The lesson here is that you don’t want to be the team that Duke plays after they get beat down.
3. NC State – Congratulations to the Wolfpack on their first win over North Carolina in almost a decade.  What do we make of the Wolfies?  Well, the first half they played vs. the Tar Heels was the best we’ve seen them play all year – if they can replicate that half the rest of the year, they should be the #1 seed in the ACC tournament.  But the Wolfies almost let UNC back into the game.  And the Wolfies have this annoying trait of lowering the level of play to their competition (see their game vs. Wake Forest).  This trait prevents us from moving them higher.
4. Virginia – The Hoos gave Virginia Tech its worst loss since 2000.  No one plays better defense in the ACC – and the Hoos are one of the best defensive teams in the country.  People complain about Tony Bennett’s style of play – and those are usually fans from opposing teams that lose to the hoos.
5. North Carolina – If the Tar Heels could bottle their second halves vs. NC State and their games v.s FSU and Maryland, they could be ranked even higher in our poll.  The problem with the Tar Heels is that they tend to get disinterested during key stretches of a game (or even entire halves).  That does not translate well to ACC road play.
6. Florida State – We were going to move the Noles to the lower six in our poll this week – and somehow, they found a way to defeat Clemson.  Can’t really ever get at read on FSU.
7. Maryland – This week, we can’t complain about production from the Terps guards.  However, a team that scores 10 points in the post vs. Duke is going to have a tough time.
8. Clemson – While Clemson blew a big opportunity vs. FSU, they bounced back in their win vs. the Hokies (it was not easy – because the Hokies gave Clemson all they could handle).  If Clemson could get some consistent production out of its guards, they could be an upper half ACC team (If the Tigers continue to win, the might move up, though).
9. Wake Forest – The Demon Deacons got their best ACC win in years when they defeated NC State this past week.
10. Virginia Tech – The Hokies are getting next to nothing in the “points in the paint” category – I expect that trend to continue.  We’ll keep the Hokies at the 10 spot for now – but I expect another drop in this poll.  The Hokies have some massive problems with team defense.  We don’t have time to get into that here, but The Key Play and Tech Hoops both address the Hokies problems in defending the three-point shot.  Tech Hoops even has an opponent hall of fame feature.
11. Georgia Tech –  If the Jackets can bottle that game vs. Wake Forest and spread it out the rest of the season, they will get some unexpected W’s.
12. Boston College – BC took a tough loss at Virginia this week – but many teams are going to do that in Charlottesville.

Thanks for check out the post – and have a good week ahead!!