Second-ranked UVA remains atop the ACC standings without star guard Justin Anderson, improving to 5-0 without the junior All-America candidate with a pair of wins this week, Pitt and Florida State.

Duke, for its part, continues to put pressure on the Cavs in the race for the mythical ACC regular-season title, with a comeback win over UNC and a laugher over Clemson without Jahlil Okafor, who sprained his ankle in the first half of the win over Carolina and might miss some more time.

Both are in the running for a #1 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, with Notre Dame, actually a half-game ahead of Duke in the ACC standings, still in the mix itself, but more likely looking at being on the line for a two or three seed, absent a run of the table from here through Greensboro.

North Carolina and Louisville, meanwhile, are in a battle for the fourth and final double-bye into the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, with Louisville’s chances hampered by the news late Sunday that guard Chris Jones has been dismissed for a violation of team rules.

And, down the stretch we come …

ACC Power Rankings: Week 7

1. Virginia (25-1, 13-1) Tough week against two second-division teams that gave Cavs tough first tests.
2. Duke (24-3, 11-3 ACC) Comeback against UNC preserved bid for #1 seed.
3. Notre Dame (24-4, 12-3 ACC) Still quietly in the running for regular-season title.
4. UNC (19-8, 9-5 ACC) Failure to close out Duke will haunt.
5. Louisville (21-6, 9-5 ACC) How will Chris Jones’ dismissal impact team down the stretch?
6. N.C. State (16-11, 7-7 ACC) Joe Lunardi has Pack among last four in.
7. Miami (17-10, 7-7 ACC) Win at Louisville would have been nice for NCAA hopes.
8. Syracuse (17-10, 8-6 ACC) Still a few chances to play spoiler.
9. Pitt (18-10, 7-7 ACC) Loss to Virginia puts season on the brink.
10. Florida State (15-13, 7-8 ACC) Not enough offense.
11. Clemson (15-12, 7-8 ACC) Punchless in the face of a golden opportunity at Duke without Okafor.
12. Wake Forest (12-15, 4-10 ACC) Licking chops with #2 Virginia coming to Winston-Salem on Wednesday.
13. Georgia Tech (12-15, 3-12 ACC) Best of the worst.
14. Virginia Tech (10-17, 2-12 ACC) Duke, then Virginia this week.
15. Boston College (9-17, 1-13 ACC) Utterly punchless.

– Column by Chris Graham