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College Basketball ACC Power Rankings: Week 13

By Charlie Maikis

Jan 21, 2017; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard London Perrantes (32) dribbles the ball as Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Josh Heath (11) defends during the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers won 62-49. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2017; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard London Perrantes (32) dribbles the ball as Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Josh Heath (11) defends during the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers won 62-49. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports /
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ACC Tournament
Feb 14, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Joel Berry II (2) and guard Joel Berry II (2) trap Pittsburgh Panthers forward Michael Young (2) during the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Evan Pike-USA TODAY Sports /

Week 13 was another crazy one in the ACC. The standings are packed with teams jockeying for position, so who is doing the best job of standing out?

This week might have been the most chaotic in the ACC so far. A month into the conference season, the lines between good, bad, and somewhere in the middle are so blurred they may not even exist. It is near impossible to name the best team in the conference. Don’t believe me? Try this on for size: Pittsburgh, the team in last in the standings with just one win, beat Virginia who beat Notre Dame who beat Louisville who beat Clemson who beat Wake Forest who beat Boston College who beat NC State who beat Duke who beat Georgia Tech who beat North Carolina who beat Florida State who beat Virginia Tech who beat Syracuse who beat Miami who beat… Pitt. That’s all 15 teams. No team in the conference has played more than 10 games and you can already create a transitive circle showing that any team is better than any other.

That kind of parity is unmatched throughout the country and makes my job as your resident power-ranker exceedingly difficult. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about that headache and can simply read on. So without further ado, here is how the ACC stacks up as we head into the year’s shortest month.

15

Pittsburgh Panthers

Last week: 12-9, 1-7 ACC
Last rank: 14

After wins over Big Ten leading Maryland and cross-state rival Penn State in the nonconference, many Pitt fans were lauding new head man Kevin Stallings. Then came on overtime loss to a great Notre Dame team and an overtime win over Virginia and things were looking great. In the weeks since, those cheers have morphed into cries for Jamie Dixon to come back as the Panthers have lost six straight. They got pounded by Louisville and couldn’t hold serve at home against Clemson this week, plummeting them to outright last place in the ACC.

Things don’t get any easier as they travel to Chapel Hill to take on UNC on Tuesday night (after these rankings were written) and then head to Cameron Indoor to face Duke this weekend. With the likes of Jamel Artis (the top scorer in the ACC), Michael Young (third), and newfound contributor Cameron Johnson, this team is talented enough to win any game they play. To have any hope for postseason play, though, they will likely have to make a big run down the stretch. That could start with a win over North Carolina Tuesday night, in a game played after the writing of this article.

14

Boston College Eagles

Last week: 9-13, 2-7 ACC
Last rank: 12

For the Eagles, not being in last place at this point is overachieving. After failing to win a conference game all of last year, they were picked yet again to finish at the very bottom of the conference. They almost picked up their third conference win last week after coming back from a 17-point deficit with 8:50 to play in the game. Miami made their last 13 free throw attempts of the game, though, and held on to win by one.

The underclassmen in the backcourt, Jerome Robinson (second in the ACC in scoring) and Ky Bowman, continue to impress, but this week it was a different sophomore guard who showed out. Jordan Chatman nearly doubled his previous career high of 16 (set earlier this month) by netting 30 points on 10-12 shooting, including 9-11 on 3s, in a close loss to Virginia Tech. While they’ve now lost five games in a row, games like that from young players continue to give hope for the future in Chestnut Hill. A home date with an elite Louisville team is on deck for this week.