Syracuse basketball slips to 11th in ACC basketball power rankings

Isaiah Wong is my choice for ACC player of the year. Miami now just needs to beat Pitt Saturday to win the ACC regular season title. Blowing a 25 point lead to Florida State is a major red-flag, but a win over Pitt this weekend should shore up any doubts and show why Miami is deserving of a one seed in the ACC Tournament.

Virginia remains the top team in the ACC according to the Associated Press, and followed up on that with a smooth victory over Clemson on Tuesday. Tony Bennett continues to coach his team's strength team and few teams have found the holes in their defense to make them pay. Health is not an issue as Armaan Franklin, Jayden Gardner, Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman continue to average almost 30 minutes a night, like they have all season. Virginia is poised for a deep March run.

Pitt is back. A hiccup against Notre Dame was not great, but Joe Lunardi clearly needs to start watching basketball if he thinks this is a bubble team.The disrespect from certain members at ESPN towards the ACC is absurd. Is this a down year? Yes. But Jamarius Burton would be my top pick for ACC Player of the Year if Wong was not playing so well. Pitt went into the transfer portal and Jeff Capel found the pieces he needed. There's a lot to be excited about in Pittsburgh... finally.

Four straight wins since their loss in overtime to UVA. Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell have been showing up and helping Duke surge towards the top of the ACC. If Dariq Whitehead can improve his input on the offensive end, do not count Duke out from making a run in both the ACC and NCAA tournament.

Terquavion Smith looked atrocious against Duke, despite Jarkel Joiner continuing to hit shots from behind the arc. But if Smith is not on, NC State cannot play with the big boys. Smith should be a lock to leave for the NBA this spring, so it's now or never for the Wolfpack as we head into March.

Wins against Virginia and Florida State have North Carolina firmly on the bubble. Will they make the tournament? If I was a betting man I would say yes. When this team gets hot, they can stay hot (example; last year's tournament). UNC shot 45% from three against UVA and 48% from three against Florida State. If Peter Nance can keep knocking down shots and opening the floor for RJ Davis and Armando Bacot, the sky's the limit.

The loss to Louisville was a setback. A major setback. Many major outlets view this team as a bubble team now and a win before the ACC tournament would be huge. Is Brad Brownell back on the hot seat?

The loss this week to Boston College stings as Wake Forest were playing themselves into a first round bye in the ACC tournament. Wake Forest had been beating the teams they needed to and Tyree Appleby was putting the team on his back. 23 points by Appleby combined with Daivien Willamson's 20 points were not enough to outscore the 71 total points scored by Boston College. Just a poor performance heading into this week's match-up against a Syracuse team looking to rebound.

Grant Basile has continued to look good and Hunter Catoor's near triple-double against Miami was impressive. If they had beat Miami and Duke this team may have played themselves on to the bubble. However, they lost both games and now have no chance of making the NCAA tournament. This team will be dangerous in the ACC tournament.

This team may play themselves into a first round bye in the ACC tournament. Beating Florida State and Virginia last week, followed by a win over over Georgia Tech. This team is rolling. Ashton-Langford has been playing great basketball these last few months and should be a team that could potentially make some noise next week.

Judah Mintz may have played himself into the second round of the NBA draft. Joe Girard has been unstoppable at times from all over the floor, despite having to play out of position at time. Jesse Edwards has been great down low. How is this team so bad? Simply put, coaching. The 2-3 zone is not working, and the full court press is definitely not working! If Jim Boeheim retires and Mintz leaves, expect the new coaching staff to hit the portal very hard.

Bab Miller is not a potential lottery pick. Like almost every prediction I had with this team, I was wrong again. The win over Miami, courtesy of Matthew Cleveland's buzzer beater was awesome. The showing against Monday was not. Florida State should be better, could be better, and the comeback against Miami really highlighted how they have not lived up to their potential.

Coach Pastner should start looking for a new job for next season. They beat Syracuse this week but I am still unimpressed with them overall. All year they have not been able to play a full 40 minutes, and when you are incapable of that, you are incapable of making much noise in the ACC.

Goodbye Mike Brey. A great coach, whose team seemed to only show up for him after his retirement ceremony. Notre Dame will be in for an interesting off-season, with a new coach and potential roster turnover. Could Rick Pitino be coming to town?

Again, I repeat El Ellis is a legitimate ACC player. A win over UVA this weekend would have some effects on the ACC Tournament seeding. But that's about it again. Louisville has quit on this season and it's time to start getting ready for next season.

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