ACC Basketball power rankings: Florida State takes top spot, Duke slides

ACC Basketball power rankings: Florida State takes top spot as Duke tumbles

SUNRISE, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 21: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles looks on against the South Florida Bulls during the second half of the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at BB&T Center on December 21, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

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LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 27: Landers Nolley II #2 of the Virginia Tech Hokies (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

. 13-5 (4-3). . Hokies . 4. team. 447

Virginia Tech is currently tied or third in the ACC, with Saturday’s loss to Syracuse ending a winning streak at three games. Prior to Saturday’s loss the Hokies three consecutive wins came over Syracuse, NC State, and Wake Forest. In his first year as head coach of Virginia Tech, Miike Young has their guards playing with a great deal of confidence.

Freshman guard Jalen Cone is scoring 7.6 points per game on the season but is putting up 14.5 points per game over his last four games, three of which were Virginia Tech wins. Fellow freshman Tyrece Radford has been as inconsistent as you would expect but his 21-point outburst in the win over Wake Forest—as well as his 18 points in the win over NC State—shows what type of team the Hokies can be when he is locked in. And of course, we would be remiss not to mention the name NBA scouts are likely most interested in, Landers Nolley II.

The 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman has had a great season so far, putting up 17.8 points per game, including 38.3% from the 3-point line. In Virginia Tech’s win over Syracuse at the beginning of the month, Nolley was extremely cold from deep and made his biggest impact with his passing (four assists) and driving (4-for-6 on FTs). But Nolley has been on quite the tear since then. He racked up 29 points against NC State and 21 against Wake Forest before Syracuse’s zone again stymied him on Saturday.

With Virginia Tech sitting at 4-3 in the ACC with matchups against woeful North Carolina and Boston College on the way, the Hokies have as good a chance as anyone to climb the standings.