Fansided

College Basketball ACC Power Rankings: Week 14

By Charlie Maikis

Feb 6, 2017; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward V.J. King (0) shoots the ball over Virginia Cavaliers guard Devon Hall (0) in the first half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 6, 2017; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward V.J. King (0) shoots the ball over Virginia Cavaliers guard Devon Hall (0) in the first half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 8
Next
Florida State at North Carolina
Jan 11, 2017; Winston-Salem, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Justin Jackson (44) goes up for a shot against Wake Forest Demon Deacons forward Konstantinos Mitoglou (44) in the second half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Carolina defeated Wake 93-87. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /
3

Louisville Cardinals

Last week: 19-5, 7-4 ACC
Last rank: 2

After losing to Virginia on Monday night, Louisville falls to 1-4 against ranked opponents in ACC play. They’ve made up for that lack of good conference wins, however, by dominating lesser competition. After beating Boston College by 23 last weekend, they are 6-0 against unranked ACC foes with an average margin of victory of 25.8 points. Out of their last four games against unranked opponents, that win over the Eagles was the closest one. Donovan Mitchell continues to excel with Quentin Snider out, scoring 17.5 points per game in their two games this week. VJ King provided great support from the wing, scoring the same number. They have two more chances to bolster their resume this week with games against Syracuse and Miami. Neither is ranked, but if they can continue to dominate, those wins will look good come March. With just one game remaining against a ranked team, they might have to in order to keep a high seed.

2

North Carolina Tar Heels

Last week: 21-4, 9-2 ACC
Last rank: 3

The Tar Heels now hold first place alone in the ACC after another strong week. They just managed to edge out Pittsburgh after Jamel Artis couldn’t convert a last-second 3, then they took care of Notre Dame in the game that finally took the Irish out of the AP Poll. Last week I wrote about which Justin Jackson is better, and the one from UNC certainly made his case this week. He was the team’s leading scorer in both games, totaling 36 points between the two. He continues to be part of a dominating front court that anchors the team while Joel Berry tries to find consistency at the guard spot. Berry had a great game with 19 against Pitt, but struggles again, shooting 3-10 from the field in the win over Notre Dame. UNC has just one game this week, but it is against their biggest rival as they travel across town to play Duke. That has a chance to be one of the best games of the year, and it could mean a lot to how the ACC standings shake out.