The Wolfpacker's ACC basketball power rankings — Week 2

The ACC season continues this weekend, with three more conference games Saturday. That includes NC State traveling to Miami for a 2 p.m. tipoff. The Wolfpacker duo of Matt Carter and Matt Coe tabulated their votes for ACC power rankings, and here is how the list sorted out.

Link: Week 1 of ACC basketball power rankings

1. Virginia (8-0, 1-0 ACC): A clear-cut No. 1 had closer calls than expected in home wins over Florida State and James Madison, but the bottom line is they remain the ACC’s lone unbeaten team.

Last week: 1

2 (tie). Duke (9-2, 1-0 ACC): The talented, young Blue Devils had a nice week, topping Boston College handedly at home in the conference opener and then scoring a good win by 12 points on a neutral court over a solid Iowa squad.

Last week: 2

2 (tie). Virginia Tech (9-1, 1-0 ACC): The defending ACC champions showed that they are going to be tough to beat at home (NC State travels there Jan. 7). The Hokies built sizable leads on Virginia Tech and Dayton, holding on in the former to eventually win by 12 and never relinquishing in the latter to roll by 28.

Last week: 4 (tie)

4. Miami (9-1, 1-0 ACC): The Hurricanes, who host NC State Saturday, had little problems dispatching Louisville on the road, but got into a bizarre shootout win over Cornell (107-105 with no overtimes).

Last week: 3

5. Clemson (8-2, 1-0 ACC): A 20-point rout at home over Wake Forest was followed by a solid win over a Towson team that is better than the name recognition. Towson is rated top 100 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. If the past week is an indicator, going to Clemson will also be tough. NC State plays there Dec. 30.

Last week: 9

6. NC State (8-2, 0-1 ACC): The Wolfpack went cold in a loss at home to Pittsburgh but rebounded with an easy win over Coppin State. The question is how will the Wolfpack deal with the loss of super senior forward Dusan Mahorcic.

Last week: 6

7. North Carolina (5-4, 0-1 ACC): Easily the ACC’s most disappointing team early in the season continued with early struggles by losing by double-digits at Virginia Tech.

Last week: 4 (tie)

8. Pittsburgh (6-4, 1-0 ACC): Last week, The Wolfpacker noted that Pittsburgh may be the underrated team in the bottom third of the ACC power rankings. A victory at NC State and last-second loss at Vanderbilt justified that claim.

The Panthers were 1.1 seconds away from going 3-0 in a road swing at Northwestern, NC State and Vandy.

Last week: 11

9. Wake Forest (7-2, 0-1 ACC): The Deacons, like NC State, have some notable wins. The victory at Wisconsin will be a resume builder. That said, Wake Forest lost by 20 at Clemson last week, and earlier needed overtime to beat La Salle and avoid a second bad loss after earlier falling at home to Loyola Marymount.

Last week: 8

10. Notre Dame (7-2, 0-1 ACC): A loss at home to Syracuse was followed up by nearly blowing a double-digit lead at home to Boston University, who is NET ranked No. 218.

Last week: 7 (tie)

11. Syracuse (5-4, 1-0 ACC): This week’s winner for probably underrated team in our power rankings is Sryacuse, who maybe should be ahead of Notre Dame after winning at the Irish and then blowing out Oakland at home. An ugly three-game losing streak prior to that however was tough to ignore.

Last week: 10

12. Georgia Tech (6-3): The Yellow Jackets pulled out a rivalry win over Georgia along with an easy victory over Northeastern. A big game for them is Saturday when the Jackets travel to UNC for their ACC opener.

Last week: 13

13. Boston College (5-5, 0-1 ACC): Now three losses in a row for the Eagles, who were blown out by Nebraska and Duke on the road. The most embarrassing defeat however was losing at home to New Hampshire, who is No. 306 in the NET.

Last week: 12

14. Florida State (1-9, 0-1 ACC): The record really says it all for one of the better teams in recent years in the ACC. To the Noles’ credit, FSU competed well in single-digit losses to No. 5 Purdue and No. 3 Virginia, the latter on the road.

15. Louisville (0-8, 0-1 ACC): The Cardinals have played one of the tougher schedules in the ACC, but even before that losing at home to Bellarmine, Wright State and Appalachian State foretold getting trounced by Arkansas, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, Maryland and Miami.