ACC Basketball: Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh rises in latest power rankings
2. Florida State Seminoles (8-2, 4-1)
The Seminoles have been great in the month of January, winning three straight that includes scoring over 100 points against NC State and beating Louisville, 78-65. What has been more impressive is that freshman Scottie Barnes missed two of those contests due to injuries. It’s been a true team effort, led by leading scorer MJ Walker and Raiquan Gray and Rayquan Evans to have Florida State all of a sudden become an offensive juggernaut.
They get a chance to avenge their lone ACC loss of the season against Clemson this Saturday. But between the Seminoles improving offense and the Tigers defense struggling, the betting odds are likely to go to Florida State’s favor. They have a favorable schedule coming up and will need to win most of them in order to stay in the regular-season title race. But unlike a fair amount of teams in the ACC, the Seminoles are playing their best basketball of the season.
1. Virginia Cavaliers (9-2, 5-0)
It’s now five straight wins for the Cavaliers after dominating a ranked Clemson team by 35 points last Saturday. Five players were in double figures for them, in their best performance on both ends of the court in the season. It also was Virginia’s first win in ACC against a team not at the bottom three of the standings.
The schedule will heat up considerably for the Cavaliers the rest of the way, with almost everyone currently scheduled to face them are at least in the bubble conversation. That includes at home against Georgia Tech this Saturday.
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As the lone unbeaten team in the ACC and both Duke and North Carolina taking a step back, Virginia is now the team that will have a target on its back. They’ve proven they can beat the bottom-tier of the league but can they consistently do it against better competition?