ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Week 11

Each week (sort of), the TNIAAM basketball staff will be ranking all 15 ACC teams in a completely subjective manner, just like everyone else on the internet does. Feel like we're completely off base? Can it Chime in with your own ACC power rankings below.

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Welcome back! This conference is still a confusing mess of mediocre squads. Plus Syracuse. This week, we try our hand at sorting everybody out. Doubt we did better than last week, according to the other league fan bases. Oh well.

Interested in seeing the individual voter breakdown (#HonorYourContract)? Check out the Google Doc here!

1. Syracuse Orange (17-0) (4-0) (LW: 1)

Last Week: W, 57-45 over North Carolina; W, 69-59 over Boston College

Highest Position: 1; Lowest Position: 1

In one game (against UNC), Syracuse looked virtually unstoppable. In another (against BC), Syracuse looked extremely vulnerable from the three-point line and susceptible to getting destroyed on the boards. So which team is showing up on Saturday against Pitt? For the Orange's sake, let's hope it's the team that walked over the Heels. Because unlike the Eagles, the Panthers have an ability to devour SU if given too much time.

2. Pittsburgh Panthers (16-1) (4-0) (LW: 2)

Last Week: W, 80-65 over Wake Forest; W, 81-74 over Georgia Tech

Highest Position: 2; Lowest Position: 2

Cue the smirks, with SU and Pitt sitting well atop the rest of their new conference a couple weeks into ACC play. Whoever wins on Saturday will take early control of the league race and based on how everyone else is performing, could even run away with things. For those who haven't been watching the Panthers lately, they're like they used to be -- except not as solid on the boards as a team, and much better at scoring points.

3. Duke Blue Devils (13-4) (2-2) (Last Week: 3)

Last Week: L, 72-59 to Clemson; W, 69-65 over Virginia

Highest Position: 3; Lowest Position: 3

Duke was supposed to be part of the ACC's upper tier. Instead, they're a team that loses to Clemson (and Notre Dame). And this past Saturday's game wasn't just a loss to the Tigers -- it was a blowout. If you look at their wins and losses, there are diminishing returns and very few options left to really pad the resume. The Blue Devils are far from a sinking ship, but this work in progress has a lot left to prove.

4. Virginia Cavaliers (12-5) (3-1) (LW: 5)

Last Week: W, 76-45 over NC State; L, 69-65 to Duke

Highest Position: 4; Lowest Position: 5

Virginia did what you're supposed to do to teams like NC State: win big. And then they walked into Cameron Indoor and almost knocked off Duke. As mentioned earlier, the Blue Devils aren't the huge opponent we once thought, but Durham's still a hostile road environment. This UVa team still has things to figure out, but as long as the defense stays at this level, they're looking very much like an interesting postseason team.

5. Florida State Seminoles (12-4) (3-1) (LW: 7)

Last Week: W, 56-41 over Clemson; W, 85-61 over Maryland; W, 63-53 over Miami

Highest Position: 4; Lowest Position: 7

After a rough early loss to Virginia, FSU's won three straight in ACC play. Though none were over the league's top teams, per se, they've been dominant in those victories -- especially on the defensive end. Impressively, the 'Noles haven't allowed more than 63 points in a game since early December (a loss to Minnesota). But based on the upcoming schedule, teams like Notre Dame and Duke could really challenge that streak in the next couple weeks.

6. Clemson Tigers (12-4) (3-1) (LW: 10)

Last Week: L, 56-41 to Florida State; W, 72-59 over Duke; W, 56-49 over Virginia Tech

Highest Position: 5; Lowest Position: 7

Raise your hand if you thought Clemson would be here in mid-January... Figured as much. Following a pretty ugly loss to Florida State, Clemson's notched a really nice win over Duke and grabbed a road victory over Virginia Tech. This is a bruising squad, and they're built to compete pretty well in this league. Just not sure how well that translates outside the walls of the ACC.

7. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (12-5) (2-2) (LW: 4)

Last Week: L, 80-65 to Pittsburgh; W, 70-69 over NC State

Highest Position: 6; Lowest Position: 10

Wake got incredibly lucky against NC State. That's a fact. But a win's a win, and a lucky break at the end of the game means the Deacs are 2-2 in the league instead of 1-3. If it pleases the court of ACC opinion (yes, all of you), this still might end up being a little high for Wake. As you've all mentioned, they're a terrible road team. This will become more apparent as the year wears on and will take its toll on the W-L record.

8. North Carolina Tar Heels (10-6) (0-3) (LW: 6)

Last Week: L, 57-45 to Syracuse

Highest Position: 8; Lowest Position: 11

The Heels score their lowest point total in 30 years, and now, things are officially in crisis mode. UNC simply looks like a mediocre squad. Their shooting just 45 percent from the floor (139th in the country) and have yet to score more than 67 points in league play. As those "marquee" wins get further in the rearview mirror, it becomes harder and harder to talk yourself into anything more than an NIT berth for this team.

9. NC State Wolfpack (11-6) (1-3) (LW: 9)

Last Week: L, 76-45 to Virginia; L, 70-69 to Wake Forest

Highest Position: 8; Lowest Position: 11

Rough week for State, which lost two different games in two very different (yet very excruciating) ways. As has been the case all season, T.J. Warren is really the only player who can score points for the Wolfpack, which has become a bit problematic. If you'd like to live through the hell that was the Wake Forest loss, might I direct you to this excellent (and angry) write-up on Backing the Pack.

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-7) (1-3) (LW: 10)

Last Week: L, 74-69 to Georgia Tech; L, 74-66 to Maryland

Highest Position: 7; Lowest Position: 12

Jerian Grant's absence is really crushing this team offensively. So if you thought you hated the Fighting Irish before, you'll probably hate them even more when they either beat or take SU down to the wire with a bunch of ragtag white three-point shooters (and only three-point shooters) come February.

11. Maryland Terrapins (11-7) (3-2) (LW: T-11)

Last Week: L, 85-61 to Florida State; W, 74-66 over Notre Dame

Highest Position: 8; Lowest Position: 12

I love rooting against this team, so it was truly annoying to see them figure out a way to beat that lost-in-space Notre Dame squad. Considering the Twerps aren't all that proficient at either scoring or stopping others from scoring, I'm honestly shocked they've manged to reel off three league victories. Then I look around the ACC and it all makes sense.

12. Miami Hurricanes (9-7) (1-3) (LW: T-11)

Last Week: L, 63-53 to Florida State

Highest Position: 9; Lowest Position: 12

Miami's win over UNC doesn't mean a whole lot. But the close loss to Syracuse continues to gain some favor with... me. The Hurricanes' defensive chops are worth applauding -- no ACC team's scored more than 63 against them and they've held their last 10 opponents overall to under 63 as well -- but with an inability to put up any points of their own, it becomes awful tough to win games.

13. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-7) (1-3) (LW: 11)

Last Week: W, 74-69 over Notre Dame; L, 81-74 to Pittsburgh

Highest Position: 13; Lowest Position: 13

We might regret putting the feisty Yellow Jackets this low on the list. Despite losing Robert Carter Jr. for the year, Georgia Tech has since beaten Notre Dame and put Pitt on the ropes before choking that game away. But the fact that they've hung tough makes them dangerous, and the next few games (Miami, BC, NC State) could see them making moves either up the ladder toward respectability.

14. Virginia Tech Hokies (8-8) (1-3) (LW: 14)

Last Week: L, 62-59 to Boston College; L, 56-49 to Clemson

Highest Position: 14; Lowest Position: 15

Am I the only person who believes in head-to-head matchups as power rankings tiebreakers? The offense-challenged Hokies lost to BC this past week, making them the worst team in the ACC, you'd think. But yet Tech still sits atop the Eagles in every ballot but one. As we learned in their loss to SC Upstate to start the season, Virginia Tech is absolutely terrible. Let's not lose sight of that, folks.

15. Boston College Eagles (5-12) (1-3) (LW: 15)

Last Week: W, 62-59 over Virginia Tech; L, 69-59 to Syracuse

Highest Position: 14; Lowest Position: 15

Wow, Conte Forum was rocking for the Eagles' matchup with Syracuse on Monday night. And with the power of the crowd behind them (except for the couple thousand SU fans on hand, of course), it almost looked like BC was going to pull off a major upset. Despite losing, Boston College showed itself much improved this week and on top of that, may have even exposed some of the Orange's weaknesses, too. So overall, nice week for an upwardly-mobile squad.