ACC Basketball: Duke falls, North Carolina rises in latest power rankings

ACC Basketball: Duke falls flat, North Carolina rises in latest power rankings

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 02: Caleb Love #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts following a play during the first half of their game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Dean Smith Center on January 02, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

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ACC Basketball Cormac Ryan Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-10, 5-7)

It’s probably going to be too little too late for the Irish after the brutal start to the season but they’ve won 5 of 7 games to get towards the middle of the standings. The latest has come against Duke, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest and only lost to Georgia Tech by two points last week.

The offense has exploded, scoring on average 84 ppg in the last four games, with the defense stepping up as well. Notre Dame only plays seven guys each game but has gotten contributions from nearly all of them in the late winning run, including 28 points from Cormack Ryan in the win over Duke and forward Juwan Durham becoming a consistent double-digit contributor, one of five on the team for the season.

The Irish are going to be real spoilers in the next couple of weeks, especially if the offense continues to look like this. They take on Miami and Clemson at home up next, before traveling on the road to face Syracuse and Louisville.

9. Syracuse Orange (11-6, 5-5)

The only consistency with the Orange is the fact that they’re inconsistent. They haven’t had any streaks good or bad or more than two games and have more or less beaten and lost to teams that they were supposed to. The two recent wins over NC State now mean nothing due to their injuries, leaving just a win over Virginia Tech as anything meaningful on the Orange’s resume.

What has been consistent for Syracuse is the wing/forward duo of Alan Griffin and the team’s leading scorer Quincy Guerrier. They combined for 38 points in this week’s win over NC State and has made up for the struggles of Joe Girard III in the scoring department. The defensive issues have plagued the Orange in a way that prevents them from getting signature resume builders but they’ll have potentially one next week in Louisville.