ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Louisville and UNC climb into top 5

LOUISVILLE, KY - JANUARY 26: Ryan McMahon #30 and Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrate against the Pittsburgh Panthers in the second half of the game at KFC YUM! Center on January 26, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville won 66-51. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

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14. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-9) (1-6 ACC)

Last rank: 10th (↓4)

My, how the mighty have fallen. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were 8-10 in ACC play during the 2017-18 season. This season, they’re 1-6 and well on their way to another down season in conference action, riding a four-game losing streak entering the week.

Notre Dame ranks 13th in the ACC in scoring (65.0 points per game) and last in field goal percentage (37.1 percent) with no end in sight to their current woes. Opponents are shooting 40 percent from 3-point range (first in the ACC) against the Fighting Irish in conference games.

They’ve already suffered a 15-point loss to Virginia Tech back on Jan. 1 to open conference play and a 27-point loss to Virginia this past Saturday. In their only win in ACC action, they squeaked out a 69-66 victory against Boston College back on Jan. 12.

6-foot-9 big man John Mooney is their current scoring leader, averaging 17.4 points, 13.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in conference games. Behind him, there’s been T.J. Gibbs and D.J. Harvey with 11.8 points and 10.6 points per game, respectively, but it’s been their reserves who have been absent.

Their bench is averaging just 11.3 points per contest, 12th in the ACC. They’ll need to find some depth with five weeks left in the season, or it could be another early end come March. They’ll host Duke on Monday night then travel to Boston College on Saturday afternoon.