ACC men’s basketball power rankings: stand back the Hurricanes are coming through

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team split their home games last week, so where will they land in this week’s TNIAAM ACC Power Rankings?

Don’t ask us to explain our ratings system- just be grateful that the Fake Nunes Statistical Index staff are keeping busy this winter.

Now let’s get to this week’s rankings..

1) Miami Hurricanes (22-5, 13-4)

The ACC might not want Miami to win the title but in our minds Duke beat Virginia on that missed call so Miami would have the edge. Also, you can’t barely beat Notre Dame at home and expect our FNSI staff to cut you some slack.

2) Virginia Cavaliers (21-4, 13-3)

Virginia is going to get a protected seed but they are playing with fire with all these close games.

3) Pittsburgh Panthers (19-8, 12-4)

Pitt has sold out the game against Syracuse...let’s hope the Orange treat it like 2014 and not 2022.

4) Duke Blue Devils (19-8, 10-6)

The Blue Devils looked like a Final Four team over the weekend. Are they rounding into form now that the freshmen are healthy or is Syracuse just bad?

5) NC State Wolfpack (21-7, 11-6)

The biggest thing in Raleigh last weekend wasn’t the Stadium Series, it was the Wolfpack knocking the Tar Heels right off the bubble.

Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports

6) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (17-10, 9-7)

Wake is kind of teetering in basketball purgatory right now. Not good enough to be on the bubble. Not bad enough to be completely out of it. Can they play themselves into the conversation?

7) North Carolina Tar Heels (16-11, 8-8)

Last week UNC looked like they were about to find their top gear. This week they drop two more games and look like they will be hosting a NIT game.

8) Clemson Tigers (19-8, 11-5)

Clemson didn’t heed our advice from last week and decided to lose to Louisville. Maybe they really want to host a NIT game too?

9) Syracuse Orange (16-11, 9-7)

Syracuse got the ranked win they needed to build hope. They turned that into a crowd of 31k on Saturday....then they proceeded to get blown out by Duke. Shout out to the students though for this.

10) Virginia Tech Hokies (16-11, 6-10)

If the Hokies only played home games they might be in the top ten right now. Shame that the ACC refuses to hold the Tournament in an arena where only low mid-majors play.

11) Boston College Eagles (13-15, 7-10)

Can the Eagles find a way to reach .500? How do BC fans live like this every year?

12) Florida State Seminoles (8-20, 6-11)

Leonard Hamilton is finally starting to age.

13) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-16, 3-13)

Don’t ask why they played Florida Tech over the weekend, you should ask why they don’t schedule every state’s “Tech” each season?

14) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-17, 2-14)

Came so close to beating Virginia on the road and Mike Brey might actually head to Georgetown to continue to haunt us annually....that’s like a really good week for the Irish this year.

15) Louisville Cardinals (4-23, 2-14)

Can they somehow avoid the basement? Finishing with 3 road games in their last 4 won’t make it easy.

*************************************************************************************************

What did we get wrong this week? Can the ACC change the narrative in the NCAA Tournament or are the pundits going to continue to crap on the conference?