THE WEEKLY ACC/NCAA DIGEST — EPISODE 2

Prepare for Feast Week!

Note: All rankings are from KenPom and reflect teams rankings on the date the game was played.

ACC STANDINGS AND RANKINGS

ACC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

• Check out this Google Doc for a look at all of last week’s scores, rankings, and a few game notes from me.

BEST ACC WINS FROM LAST WEEK

There were fewer positives than negatives around the ACC this week, but teams in the conference did get a few important wins under their belts. There will be a lot more chances for good wins this upcoming week.

After being struck by tragedy, UVA had a fantastic couple of wins in Vegas.

1. (6) Virginia 86, (5) Baylor 79 — UVA went into Las Vegas on a mission and that started with a win against Baylor. The Cavaliers were in control of this one for most of the way.
2. (26) Virginia Tech 61, (34) Penn State 59 — This was a great neutral win for the Hokies in Charleston over a top-40 KenPom opponent
3. (41) Miami 74, (57) Providence 64 — Miami was the favorite here, but this is a solid tournament resume win for the Canes.
4. (4) Virginia 70, (21) Illinois 61 — The Cavaliers got a second huge win in Vegas with this one. UVA is scoring points this season.

ACC SURVIVORS

• (58) Notre Dame 66, (176) Lipscomb 65
• (75) Wake Forest 68, (141) Utah Valley 65
• (20) Virginia Tech 75, (169) Old Dominion 71

WORST ACC LOSSES FROM LAST WEEK

The ACC dropped a couple of games they probably shouldn’t have this week. Here’s a look:

1. (351) Maine 69, (82) Boston College 64 — This is probably the worst loss for the ACC this season. BC lost at home to one of the lowest ranked teams in the country.
2. (206) Troy 79, (90) Florida State 72 — The rough start for the Seminoles just keeps getting rougher.
3. (113) Colgate 80, (49) Syracuse 68 — Syracuse beat Colgate 54 times in a row. They’ve now lost twice in a row to the Raiders. In Syracuse.
4. (205) Appalachian State 61, (112) Louisville 60- Louisville and Florida State are currently in a competition to see who can have the worst start to the season. The Cardinals drop ANOTHER game by one point.
5. (29) Michigan 91, (100) Pittsburgh 60 — This is more about the score. Pittsburgh was obviously overmatched in this game, but to drop a game by 31 to any Power Conference school isn’t a good thing.
6. (185) Tarleton State 70, (96) Boston College 54 — not only did BC lose to Maine on their home floor this week, they also got smoked by Tarleton State by 16 at home.
7. (142) Charleston 77, (26) Virginia Tech 75 — The Hokies battled back after being down early, but Charleston got the win. For a team that has caught some flack for their schedule, losing a game like this isn’t a great look.
8. (144) Loyola Marymount 77, (75) Wake Forest 75
9. (39) Florida 76, (104) Florida State 67 — The Seminoles have struggled mightily this season and it looked like they were about to get a big home win against in-state rival Florida. Then they blew a 19 point lead.

BIGGEST COMEBACK/BLOWN LEAD FROM LAST WEEK

Comeback

• Wake Forest came back from down 9 against Utah Valley to secure an overtime win.

Blown Lead

• Florida state blew a 19 point advantage over Florida.

TOP 3 ACC OFFENSES

KenPom national rank in parentheses

1. Virginia (4)
2. Duke (7)
3. North Carolina (12)

TOP 3 ACC DEFENSES

1. Virginia (11)
2. Duke (19)
3. North Carolina (32)

A QUICK LOOK AROUND THE NATIONAL COLLEGE HOOPS LANDSCAPE

Here is some information to keep you in the loop with what’s happening around the country — things like Top 50 Matchups, KenPom rankings, results from last week, big games this week, etc.

WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK?

• (85) Florida Atlantic came back from down 10 points to beat (32) Florida in Gainesville.
• (27) Michigan State beat (1) Kentucky in double OT.
• (68) Northwestern beat (97) Georgetown. I just included this because I enjoy any time Georgetown loses.
• (55) USC survived an upset bid from (119) Vermont, 59–57.
• (2) Texas absolutely smacked (3) Gonzaga in Austin.
• (6) Virginia had a major statement win against (5) Baylor in Las Vegas.
• (10) Indiana came back from 9 down and hung on for a 2 point win in Cincinnati against (36) Xavier.
• Another big comeback, (25) Illinois beat (9) UCLA by a score of 79–70. They were down at 15 at one point. That’s a 24 point swing for the Illini.
• After losing to Grambling at home, Colorado has beaten Tennessee and (46) Texas A&M. They beat the Aggies by 28.
• (104) Florida State’s struggles continued against (39) Florida. The Seminoles blew a 19 point lead to the Gators…and lost by 9.
• The theme of this week was comebacks. (75) UCF was down by 17 to (33) Oklahoma State and came back to win in overtime.
• Both Kentucky and UCLA took two losses this week.

TOP 50 MATCHUPS THIS WEEK

Note: This is only going to be so accurate as it’s FEAST WEEK…so there are a lot of undetermined matchups this week.

MONDAY

• (26) Texas Tech vs. (23) Creighton at the Maui Invitational
• (29) Ohio State vs. (17) San Diego State at the Maui Invitational

WEDNESDAY

• (37) Dayton vs. (41) Wisconsin in the Bahamas

THURSDAY

• (12) Alabama vs. (21) Michigan State in Phil Knight Tournament (OR)
• (19) UConn vs. (38) Oregon in Phil Knight Tournament (OR)
• (36) Florida vs. (34) Xavier in Phil Knight Tournament (OR)
• (25) Purdue vs. (39) West Virginia in Phil Knight Tournament (OR)
• (28) Memphis vs. (35) Seton Hall

SUNDAY

• (43) Saint Louis at (18) Auburn

Here are the brackets for the Maui Invitational, The Battle 4 Atlantis, and both of the Phil Knight brackets — tons of potentially great matchups:

TOP 8 (KENPOM)

Ranking last Sunday in parentheses

1. Texas (2)
2. Houston (7)
3. Gonzaga (3)
4. Kentucky (1)
5. Virginia (5)
6. Baylor (6)
7. Tennessee (7)
8. Indiana (8)

MID-MAJOR TOP 8

Note: These are the top 8 teams NOT in the ACC, Big East, American, PAC-12, CUSA, Big Ten, Big 12, MWC, and SEC…I also took out the WCC because they have Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, and BYU.

1. (61) Furman (+4)
2. (71) Drake (+2)
3. (73) Toledo (+3)
4. (81) James Madison (+12)
5. (82) Iona
6. (83) Towson (+1)
7. (87) Kent State
8. (94) Southern Illinois

Changes:

• James Madison moved up from 8th to 4th.
• Iona and Kent State joined the Top 8.
• Liberty and UC-Santa Barbara exited The Top 8.

THE BOTTOM DWELLERS — THE WORST 8 POWER-SIX TEAMS

This is not a list you want to be on the top of.

1. (148) Minnesota
2. (145) South Carolina
3. (129) Georgetown
4. (126) Pittsburgh
5. (123) Louisville
6. (120) Washington
7. (112) Nebraska
8. (111) Georgia Tech

New Additions: Minnesota, South Carolina, Georgetown

Teams That Were Promoted Out of the Bottom 8: Georgia, Florida State

THE BOTTOM BOTTOM DWELLERS — THE WORST 8 TEAMS IN THE COUNTR

IUPUI has held the title of “Worst College Basketball Team of 2022–23” for two weeks now.

Not a lot of movement in the Bottom 8 this week. There was a little shuffling of ranking, but no new members to the group.

IUPUI is still holding on to the title of “Worst Team in College Basketball”.

1. (363) IUPUI (-)
2. (362) Delaware State (-)
3. (361) Mississippi Valley State (-)
4. (359) Florida A&M (-1)
5. (358)Incarnate Word (-2)
6. (357) Chicago State (-)
7. (356) Lamar (-)
8. (355) Green Bay (-)

THIS WEEK IN THE ACC

Note: I’ve left comments on the most interesting matchups and some potential upsets

MONDAY

(123) Louisville vs. Arkansas in Maui Invitational

(110) Georgia Tech vs. Utah in Fort Myers Invitational

(105) Florida State vs. Mercer

(56) Syracuse vs. Richmond in Empire Classic

(72) Clemson vs. Loyola-Maryland

(9) Duke vs. Bellarmine

TUESDAY

(123)Louisville vs. in Maui Invitational

(56) Syracuse vs. St. John’s/Temple in Empire Classic

(65) Notre Dame vs. Bowling Green

(126) Pittsburgh vs. Fairleigh Dickinson

WEDNESDAY

(123) Louisville vs. in Maui Invitational

(69) NC State vs. Kansas in Battle 4 Atlantis

(44) Miami vs. St. Francis-NY

Wake Forest vs. South Carolina State

THURSDAY

(69) NC State vs. Dayton/Wisconsin in Battle 4 Atlantis

(105) Florida State vs. Siena in ESPN Events Invitational

(16) North Carolina vs. Portland in Phil Knight Tournament

(9) Duke vs. Oregon State in Phil Knight Tournament

FRIDAY

(69) NC State vs. BYU/Tennessee/USC/Butler in Battle 4 Atlantis

(105) Florida State vs. Ole Miss/Stanford in ESPN Events Invitational

(16) North Carolina vs. Portland in Phil Knight Tournament

(9) Duke vs. Florida/Xavier in Phil Knight Tournament

(65) Notre Dame vs. St. Bonaventure in Gotham Classic

(5) Virginia vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore

(126) Pittsburgh vs. William and Mary

(72) Clemson vs. Iowa in Emerald Coast Classic

(30) Virginia Tech vs. Charleston Southern

SATURDAY

(105) Florida State vs. Oklahoma/Nebraska/Memphis/Seton Hall in ESPN Events Invitational

(72) Clemson vs. TCU/California in Emerald Coast Classic

(79 Wake Forest vs. Hampton

(56) Syracuse vs. Bryant

(110) Georgia Tech vs. North Alabama

SUNDAY

(114) Boston College vs. Rhode Island

(44) Miami at UCF

(9) Duke vs. Purdue/West Virginia/Portland State/Gonzaga in Phil Knight Tournament

(16) North Carolina vs. UConn/Oregon/Alabama/Michigan State in Phil Knight Tournament

And what you’ve all been waiting for…

The Shields ACC Power Ranking

Note: These are 100% based on my opinion and observations.

1. VIRGINIA (+1) — The Cavaliers knocked off Baylor and Illinois in Las Vegas for a huge weekend. The analytics ranked them high and they proved it this week. Oh, and when UVA can score points…watch out.
2. DUKE (-1) — The Blue Devils took Kansas to the brink. I still think they’re just a little bit ahead of UNC.
3. UNC (-) — I still haven’t been overly impressed with North Carolina yet. They don’t seem dominant enough right now to be considered the best in the ACC.
4. MIAMI (+1) — This is kind of by default. They’ve won the games they’re supposed to and lost the ones they were supposed to.
5. VIRGINIA TECH (-1) — The Hokies had a big win over Penn State but then dropped one to Charleston. Plus they didn’t really dominate ODU. They’re good, but I’m still undecided on how good.
6. SYRACUSE — The Orange are still unproven, but dropped a game to Colgate (an NCAA tournament team). We’ll learn more about them this week.
7. NC STATE (+2) — The Wolfpack are 4–0 but unproven. I still think they’re a little behind Syracuse (but not by much).
8. NOTRE DAME (-1) — The Irish have played nobody…and even with that said…they’ve barely been scraping by. They could easily be 2–2.
9. CLEMSON (-1) — We still don’t know much about Clemson other than they lost to one of the worst Power Conference teams in the country (South Carolina).
10. WAKE FOREST (-) — The Deacons survived Utah Valley in overtime…and then lost to Loyola Marymount in overtime. Those aren’t very ringing endorsements.
11. LOUISVILLE (+4) — They’ve lost 3 games by 3 points. They probably aren’t as bad as everyone is saying they are. But it’s difficult to rank them any higher right now.
12. FLORIDA STATE (-1) — The Seminoles are 0–4 and must win 2 games this week to get any sort of respect. They’re still better than GT, Pitt, and BC.
13. GEORGIA TECH (+1) — The Yellow Jackets are a very unimpressive 3–0.
14. PITTSBURGH (-1) — The Panthers have two meaningless wins over low ranked opponents. They’ve played 3 Top-100 teams and have been blown out in 2 of those matchups.
15. BOSTON COLLEGE (-3) — BC lost to Tarleton State and Maine at home this week. Just…no.

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