Could we be seeing a breakaway at the top with Duke, Clemson, and…Virginia? This week’s ranking offers an odd placement of the Tar Heels and just a crazy early ACC picture here in January.

David Tucker over at the Maryland Raycom Blog has been compiling a poll of the ACC blogs for an ACC Basketball Power Poll, and here’s my ballot with semi-insightful commentary.

ACC Power Poll Ballot With Commentary

1. Duke Blue Devils

Duke put on impressive second half runs to cruise to victories over Boston College and Wake Forest at home this past week. The Blue Devils have two tough road tests coming up this week with a trip to Raleigh to face the Wolfpack and down to Clemson on Saturday where ESPN’s College Gameday is being held.

2. Clemson Tigers

The Tigers went 2-0 like Duke in ACC play by taking out BC at Littlejohn Coliseum and on the road at NC State. Clemson’s senior PG Demontez Stitt sprained his foot in the ‘Pack game and is not going to be 100% for Tuesday’s game with Georgia Tech on the road and we shall see how healthy he is for the big game against Duke Saturday. There are no easy weeks in the ACC, but Clemson has a real test with both games this week.

3. Virginia Cavaliers

Bracketologists have the ‘Hoos around a 12-13 seed right now even with them being undefeated in the ACC at 3-0 so far, but this is an ACC power poll and they are undefeated along with 3 top 25 wins along the way. Virginia deserves to be up in this place and they have another huge opportunity to prove their worth at Wake Forest on Saturday on Raycom at 4. (Monday’s 69-67 win over UNC-Wilmington did not figure into this ballot that was set Sunday, but it had me sweating having them this high for a second).

4. Maryland Terrapins

The Terps have slowly moved up my ballot with putting together a solid couple of weeks with a 2-1 early ACC record. Their wins over Florida State and Boston College were blowouts in both cases and the one loss was in overtime on the road at Wake Forest. Maryland has shown an ability to have a deep bench to go with the amount of experience they have in the starting lineup with Grievis Vasquez being the catalyst.

5. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

The Deacs split their games with a home win over the Terps, but falling to Duke by 20 at Cameron Indoor. The Demon Deacons’ Aminu led the scoring and rebounding in both games and he continues to lead the ACC overall in rebounding by a considerable margin. North Carolina is the next up for Wake on the road in Chapel Hill and then back home to face Virginia.

6. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The Jackets could stay about here all year and they may go win one–drop the next all season long. The Yellow Jackets, needless to say, split their two ACC games with traveling to Virginia in a loss and taking down UNC 73-71 at the Dean Dome. Georgia Tech has five guys that average double figures in scoring with forward Gani Lawal being the leader of the pack. The Tigers come to the ATL Tuesday and they get their revenge bout with Florida State on Saturday to attempt to steal a victory from their gym like the Noles did in December.

7. Florida State Seminoles

As we are in the big, largely indistinguishable middle of the ACC, the Noles put up a couple of ugly home performances with one being a win over Virginia Tech 63-58 and the other being a loss to NC State to the tune of 88-81. FSU is loaded with talent and they can beat anybody in this conference, but they are still finding themselves with inconsistent play–they are dangerous though and only have Georgia Tech at home on Saturday for this week.

8. Virginia Tech Hokies

Hokies are a team missing a piece right now as they are getting adequate guard play, but the loss to Florida State put the spotlight on the post-play that was non-existent for Virginia Tech. And when we say post-play, that’s junior forward Jeff Allen who seemed to amass fouls every time he was on the floor. Hokies face BC at home in a game that should get them on the right track, but consistency from post-play could very well be something to watch all season.

9. North Carolina Tar Heels

UNC went down by large margins to Clemson and Georgia Tech this week–recovered to come back late, but ended up losing by a worse margin than half-time at Clemson and did almost come all the way back against Georgia Tech only to suffer the same late-game-situation fate as they did against College of Charleston. UNC at 9 looks ridiculous, I know, but can you really argue that they deserve so much better than the rest of these teams that are ranked ahead of them. Overall, after that top 3, a win here–a loss there can really take on a roller coaster ride and the extreme variations among the different ACC power polls out there are due to the different viewpoints on these teams. As I posted on my site this week, the Heels really should go down against Wake Forest on Wednesday extending their losing streak to 3 and that’s a product of the rest of the ACC be a little ahead of the curve right now on UNC.

10. Miami Hurricanes

Good news Canes, no more trips to Virginia this season are on the schedule. They were out-scored 156-123 on the road combined between Virginia Tech and Virginia. I don’t know if Miami was exposed as much as they just did not show on this road trip, but has put a damper on the momentum they gained from the Wake Forest win and they now have a lot to prove in the ACC. As for Virginia Tech, BC might be the cure to their ills down in Miami on Tuesday.

11. NC State Wolfpack

The Wolfpack had an up and down week as they slugged out a win with a great performance from Scott Wood to beat FSU on the road and nearly came all the way back from being down 21 to defeat Clemson at home–but fell short 73-70. NC State has to be the best 11th team in any conference–heck, they could probably win the Pac-10 right now, but they need to start pulling off these ACC home games as they are now 1-3 and once again at the bottom of the standings.

12. Boston College Eagles

They are 1-4 in January. Have not scored more than 60 points against a team not named “NJIT” in 2010. They hung around for a half against Duke with some lineup changes, but were eventually blown away. Against Maryland, the Eagles left no suspense as they were thoroughly dominated the entire game at home. When you look at the landscape of the ACC, you can point out that one guy that takes over a game for each ACC team–except for BC, and there lies your problem for the Eagles. When they struggle offensively against good teams, BC does not have that answer and this will continue without a player stepping up to take the lead on this team.

What’s up with UNC? Can the ‘Hoos stay up at the top? Would love your thoughts throughout the week here for the next ballot…

Tags: ACC Basketball, Boston College Eagles, Clemson Tigers, Duke Blue Devils, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Maryland Terrapins, Miami Hurricanes, NC State Wolfpack, North Carolina Tar Heels, Virginia Cavaliers, Virginia Tech Hokies, Wake Forest Demon Deacons

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