Midweek Power Rankings

Midweek Power Rankings- Top 6

Time for the first installment of our weekly power rankings in the conference. 

1. Duke

Despite the loss at NCSU, I see it as a fluke. NC State played their best game of the season. Duke will be fine coming forward, but they are the smartest and most balanced team in the conference, with experience to boot.

2. Clemson

The Tigers and Blue Devils square off Saturday night in Littlejohn Coliseum in a huge battle for early season power. The winner of this matchup will be the favorite to win the conference. I give Clemson the edge over Georgia Tech because of their more experienced backcourt.

3. Georgia Tech

Despite GT's beating of Clemson earlier in the week, I feel like the game could have gone either way. They have two great home wins already on their resume in beating the conferences two top teams. Now time for them to make up for the loss at Virginia by showing it can control the pace of the game on the road, not just in Atlanta.

4. Virginia 

They are 3-0 in the conference. Why not ranked higher? Experience. Sylven Landesberg is the unquestioned leader of this team, and he is only a sophomore. Besides Landesberg, and junior forward Mike Scott, consistent scoring is hard to come by. We will see if the preseason surprise of the conference has the big guns to score night in and night out very soon.

5. Wake Forest

Wins over Maryland at home and North Carolina on the road have let the ACC know they are for real. The 20 point loss at Duke was not indicative of how competitive the game is, and when Ishmael Smith is able to push the ball in transition after the Deacons are able to get stops, they are tough to stop.

6. Maryland

The Terrapins got a big win last Saturday by beating Florida State at home. They then went on the road to beat Boston College by double digits. With a player like Grevis Vasquez, you are never out of a game, but neither is the other team. He has had games in the past with 8 assists and 8 turnovers, and has taken some of the most ill-advised shots I have seen a player east of Kobe Bryant take. Nonetheless, he lead the team in scoring, assists, and rebounds last year so he obviously does some good things for the team. Maryland is a tough basketball team with a chance to win every night, so I would look out for Gary Williams' team from here on out.