With most ACC universities taking exams last week there wasn’t a lot of action on the hardwood. This is reflected in the fact that none of the top 5 schools moved. Yes, Notre Dame lost to #1 Villanova and Virginia bounced back from their first loss with a big win over ECU, but the Fighting Irish were in their game to the very end and continues to look like a team that can make a run come March.

Pittsburgh was the biggest gainer this week after picking up wins over Buffalo and Penn State, jumping three spots from #13 to #10. Syracuse continues their tumble down the rankings from #9 to #13 after losing an ugly game to a bad UConn team in Madison Square Garden. The Orange did bounce back with a 22-point victory over Boston University, but will have to show they can beat someone of note before they want to be taken seriously this season.

Week 1, Week 2, Week 3

1.(1) Duke (10-1)- As out-of-conference play winds down the Blue Devils are beginning to hit their stride. First they beat #21 Florida in the Jimmy V Classic, 84-74. They then dismantled a UNLV team that is in rebuilding mode, 94-45. Freshman Jayson Tatum has averaged 15 points and seven rebounds in his three games this season and gives Duke another scoring option to couple with Grayson Allen and Luke Kennard. Duke finishes its non-conference slate with games against a tough Tennessee State team that took N.C State to overtime last week, and a matchup in Greensboro against Elon.

2. (2) North Carolina (10-1)- The Tar Heels picked up wins over both Davidson and Tennessee last week, with the game against the Vols coming down to the wire, 73-71. So far this season, the Tar Heels have played the eighth toughest schedule in the nation and have wins over Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, and Tennessee to show for it. They will face their toughest challenge yet when they take on #6 Kentucky this Saturday in a top 10 matchup. Four days later the Tar Heels will host a Northern Illinois team that beat them last season when they went on the road to give Marcus Paige a game near his hometown.

3. (3) Notre Dame (9-1)- The Fighting Irish lost their first game of the season to #1 Villanova, 74-66. Notre Dame held the lead for the first thirty minutes of the game, but once they lost the lead with 9:09 to go they could never get it back. The Irish also picked up a win over a good IPFW team that beat Indiana earlier in the season. Next up on the schedule for Notre Dame is a showdown with instate rival #15 Purdue. The Boilermakers have an extremely balanced scoring attack led by sophomore big man Caleb Swanigan, who is averaging a double-double with 15.9 ppg and 11.2 rpg.

4. (4) Virginia (8-1)- After losing their first game of the season to West Virginia, the Cavaliers bounced back with a 21-point victory over ECU. Four different Virginia players scored in double figures in the win, led by freshman Kyle Guy’s 13. While the offense is only scoring 70.3 ppg (#222 in NCAA), the defense is leading the nation and holding opponent to a paltry 47.6 ppg. Virginia will host Robert Morris this weekend in preparation for a cross-country trip to Berkeley to take on California.

5. (5) Louisville (9-1)- Louisville continues to roll with a pair of dominating wins over Southern Illinois and Texas Southern. The Cardinals get scoring from a lot of different guys with eight players averaging between 11.4 and 5.4 ppg. Louisville is also getting it done on the defensive side of the court where they are 10th in the nation in scoring defense, with 59.7 ppg. Rick Pitino’s squad will get one more game, against Eastern Kentucky, to work out any remaining kinks before playing four straight top 25 teams.

6. (7) Florida State (10-1)- The Seminoles had a fantastic week picking up wins against Southern Miss, Nicholls, and #21 Florida. In those three games, Florida State outscored their opponents by over 35 points a game. The Seminoles will play Manhattan on Saturday and Samford next Monday before taking a nine-day break before opening up ACC play against Wake Forest. Dwayne Bacon continues to impress and is averaging 17.3 ppg on the season, which is good for eighth in the conference. Against the Gators, Bacon tallied 24 points in an 83-78 victory.

7. (6) Virginia Tech (8-1)- Virginia Tech 2-0 this week with a 75-59 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore, and an 80-75 win over Ole Miss. The Hokies have been one of the nation’s best teams when it comes to taking care of the ball, and rank 23rd in the nation in fewest turnovers. Zach LeDay has been the Hokies’ leading scorer, averaging 17.1 ppg while scoring in double figures in all but one game. Virginia Tech has looked good so far this season with wins over Nebraska, Michigan, and Ole Miss, and should enter ACC play with a single loss to Texas A&M on their out-of-conference resume.

8. (8) Miami (7-2)- Miami had an easy week last week with their only game coming against South Carolina State. Miami rolled past SCSU, 82-46, and were led by freshman Dejan Vasiljevic with a career-high 17 points. The native of Australia knocked down five threes-pointers in 25 minutes of action and was one of four different Miami players in double figures. The Hurricanes have one of the top defenses in the country and have held opponents to only 57.3 ppg, good for 5th in the nation. Miami will again have an easy week with their only game coming against local rival FAU.

9. (10) Clemson (7-2)- Like Miami, Clemson had a light week last week with their only game against Mercer on Saturday. The Tigers dominated from beginning to end in a 90-47 blowout of the Bears. It was their second straight 40-point victory for the Tigers following a 85-43 victory over Coppin State. In their final tune-up game before playing back-to-back games against SEC foes, Clemson beat South Carolina State convincingly, 93-65. The Tigers can end their out-of-conference with a bang if they can find a way to beat both Alabama and South Carolina, and put themselves squarely in the conversation about a possible bid to the NCAA Tournament.

10. (13) Pittsburgh (8-2)- Pitt played well last week and picked up a pair of wins over Buffalo, 84-79, and Penn State, 81-73. Michael Young continues to put up big numbers and is leading the conference in scoring at 23 ppg, while also pulling down eight rebounds a night. Year one of the Kevin Stallings era is off to a great start at Pittsburgh, and the Panthers look like a tournament team heading into the final stretch of the out-of-conference schedule. Pittsburgh will host Rice, Omaha, and Marshall, and should be 11-2 when they meet up with Notre Dame in their ACC opener.

11. (11) North Carolina State (7-2)- The Cardiac Wolfpack were at it again last week when it took overtime for N.C. State to get by Tennessee State, 67-55. The win was also the return of sophomore wing, Maverick Rowan, from a concussion that kept him out of the Pack’s last seven games. Rowan played 12 minutes, scoring two points and grabbed two rebounds. Next up is Appalachian State and the debut of the final piece of the puzzle, Omer Yurtseven. The seven-footer from Turkey has a polished offensive game and has the ability to step away from the hope and knock down a jump shot. Yurtseven has the potential to put this team in the upper-echelon of the conference if he is as good as advertised.

12. (12) Wake Forest (8-2)- The Demon Deacons rolled Charlotte, 91-75, last Tuesday before escaping 7-2 UNC-Greensboro on Friday, 78-75. Wake has looked good so far this season, but has yet to pick up a signature out-of-conference win that they can point to come March. The Deacs will have two final shots to pick up a quality win before ACC play starts, with the first coming on Saturday when they go on the road to take on #17 Xavier. The week after that, Wake will host a LSU team in a similar position heading into conference play. John Collins has continued to be a machine down low and is averaging a double-double on the season with 18 ppg and 10.7 rpg.

13. (9) Syracuse (6-3)- The Orange lost an ugly game to UConn in Madison Square Garden, 52-50 last Monday. It was the third loss in four games for Syracuse as the Orange continue to struggle to find an identity. The Orange bounced back with a 99-77 victory over Boston University on Saturday. Syracuse will be looking for payback on Saturday when the Orange host the rival Georgetown Hoyas. Last season the Hoyas came away with a 79-72 victory over a Syracuse team that was missing their head coach, Jim Boeheim. Boeheim was forced to serve a nine-game suspension last season stemming from a decade-long NCAA investigation into the school.

14. (14) Georgia Tech (5-3)- Georgia Tech went into VCU and came away victorious in a 76-73 overtime thriller. Tadric Jackson scored 19 of his 24 points after halftime and kept Georgia Tech in the game. Josh Okogie put himself in the discussion for ACC Freshman of the Year with a 38-point explosion against Tulane, but was held to just three points against VCU. Okogie is averaging 15.3 ppg and 4.3 rpg and has scored in double figures six times in eight games. After losing their previous two games, the Yellow Jackets needed this one to stop the bleeding. Now Georgia Tech is off until Sunday when they take on Alcorn State in a tune-up game before playing instate rival Georgia two days later.

15. (15) Boston College (5-5)- The Eagles lost to both Hartford and Harvard at home last week to fall below .500 on the season. However, the Eagles bounced back and shocked a solid Auburn team, 72-71, on Monday to climb to 5-5 on the year. Boston College is an extremely young team this year with five of their top six scorers being freshman and sophomores. Jerome Robinson has been the lone bright spot for the Eagles and is averaging 19.3 ppg, which is good for third in the ACC. Fellow sophomore, A.J. Turner, is starting to emerge as a Robin to Robinson’s Batman and has scored 13 points in all three games last week. The next two games against Sacred Heart and Fairfield come at a perfect time for the young Eagles to build off of their victory over Auburn before heading into ACC play.

Player of the Week

Luke Kennard, Duke– Kennard went from a solid complementary piece as a freshman, averaging 11.7 ppg, to Duke’s leading scorer with 20 ppg. He is one of the most efficient scorers in basketball and boasts a triple slash of .52/.41/.89. Kennard has also upped his rebounding and assist numbers from 3.6 rpg and 1.5 apg a year ago to 6.1 rpg and 3.3 apg this season. This production has opened the eyes of a lot of NBA scouts who only saw Kennard as a role player, now he is being projected as a possible mid-to-late-first-round pick in this year’s draft. The fact that Duke has so many scoring options around Kennard means he will continue to get good looks at the basket, and continue to produce at a high level.

Game of the Week

#7 North Carolina vs #6 Kentucky– The Tar Heels collide with the Wildcats of Kentucky in a top 10 showdown between a pair of college basketball’s upper echelon. Both teams boast strong offenses with UNC averaging 86.4 ppg and UK averaging 94.4 ppg, so this is sure to be a high-scoring affair. Leading the way for the Wildcats is a pair of highly touted freshmen guards in Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox. The pair have averaged a combined 34.5 ppg, 8 rpg, and 9.3 apg. The Tar Heels have the advantage down low with Meeks, Hicks, and Bradley patrolling the paint, and will have to get them involved early and often if they want to win this game. They can not get sucked into a track meet type of game, because the Wildcats can run with the best of them.