Heavy at the top tier of the conference, mediocre in the middle and a disaster at the bottom.
North Carolina has turned things around a bit, Miami notched a huge win over Virginia, while Florida State and Louisville are miserable.
The conference is wide open, with the next two months taking on the appearance of a 15-team game of knockout.
Miami, Virginia, Duke, and North Carolina still have the look of upper tier teams but will get plenty of challenges along the way.
The ACC Tournament in Greensboro is still two months away but fasten your seat belt.
- Miami. The Hurricanes grabbed the top spot in the rankings courtesy of beating Virginia last week. Miami is 3-0 to start ACC play, and 12-1 overall. Isaiah Wong is playing at a high level.
- Virginia. The Cavaliers climbed to No. 2 in the AP Poll but suffered back-to-back losses against Houston and Miami. A healthy Reece Beekman is imperative if Virginia is to challenge for the conference title.
- Duke. The Blue Devils have already suffered a conference loss to Wake Forest, but have been solid for most of the season. Duke battles Florida State Saturday, then goes on the road next to face NC State.
- North Carolina. Rumors of the Tar Heels’ demise may be just that, rumors. UNC has won four straight, including wins over Ohio State and Michigan. The early season conference schedule for North Carolina should be a cakewalk.
- NC State. The Wolfpack stands 11-3, but not getting a ton of respect. NC State was impressive in non-conference play, but a 1-2 league start is telling. NC State is currently riding a three-game win streak heading into Friday’s matchup with Clemson.
- Pitt. OK, to say the Panthers schedule has been weak, would be a huge understatement. Pitt does have a win against NC State, and is one of three teams still unbeaten in conference play. That could all change as Pitt battles UNC on Friday.
- Clemson. The Tigers are a mirror-image of Pitt, in that neither team has faced a difficult schedule, but Clemson is 10-3 and 2-0 in the ACC. Things get interesting for Clemson Friday against NC State.
- Wake Forest. The Deacons have the biggest win of conference play so far this season, with a win over Duke. Virginia Tech and UNC are back-to-back, so we might get a better glimpse into the Demon Deacons in a week.
- Virginia Tech. The Hokies cracked the Top 25, then layed an egg in a loss to Boston College. Tech does have a win over UNC, although the Tar Heels were down two starters. Tech could make some noise in league play this season but needs to play with more consistency.
- Syracuse. It’s been an up-and-down season to date for the Orange. Syracuse edged Notre Dame then lost to Pittsburgh to begin conference action. Speculation in upstate New York is this could be the final go around for SU coach Jim Boeheim.
- Boston College At 7-6, it’s been a tough start for BC. The win over Virginia Tech has been the highlight of the season for the Eagles. BC has winnable games to begin league play with Syracuse and Notre Dame, so momentum is there for the Eagles.
- Georgia Tech. Coach hot-seat number one belongs to Tech’s Josh Paster. At 0-2 in league play and looking awful in both games (UNC, Clemson), the road gets even tougher, with games against Virginia and Miami.
- Notre Dame. Unbelievably, coach hot-seat number two may belong to long-time Irish coach Mike Brey. ND is riding a three-game losing streak, and the loss to lowly FSU was just ugly. The Irish struggle in every aspect of the game.
- Florida State. Despite being 2-1 in ACC play, the Seminoles are just 4-10 overall with some head-scratching losses along the way. Oh, the two league wins came against Louisville and Notre Dame. Enough said.
- If there was a number 16, Louisville would occupy it. The Cardinals are 2-11 overall and 0-3 in ACC action. First year head coach Kenny Payne is occupying coach’s hot seat number three, for the moment.
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