The struggles for ACC Basketball in the non-conference have continued in the past week. More unfavorable results have occurred, including NC State losing to Wright State, as well as North Carolina nearly giving up 100 points to Kentucky.
The ACC overall (outside of Duke) have failed to get enough signature resume-building victories throughout the non-conference and those who did, then lost Quad 3 or 4 games to negate those results. From a Bracketolology standpoint, only Duke is viewed as a lock to make the NCAA Tournament, with the league overall in the 3-5 bid range at best.
Now that the non-conference is all but over, these ACC Basketball schools will be facing nothing but each other. There will be opportunities for some teams to separate themselves from the rest of the pack going forward. For now, here’s how I would rank the teams heading into the new year.
Although the Panthers are still clearly the worst team in the ACC at this point, they have made some big improvements in the past few weeks. Losses to Virginia, Minnesota, and Monmouth were by a combined nine points, while also getting wins over Colgate and Jacksonville, as well a big one in New York over St. John’s, who was missing Julian Champagnie.
Big man John Hugley (14.5 ppg and 8.1 rpg) continues to lead the way but Femi Odukale broke out of a big slump to tie his career-high of 28 points against Jacksonville. Texas Tech transfer Jamarius Burton had 20 points and the game-winning shot to beat the Red Storm, while Stony Brook transfer Mo Gueye has really come on as of late to give the Panthers a fourth capable scorer on the team.
Pittsburgh has gotten some momentum and looks to be more competitive heading into ACC play. Upcoming home matchups against Notre Dame and Boston College will be some of the best chances for them to get more wins. Can this team find a way to get double-digit wins overall or will even a bad ACC still be too much for the Panthers to overcome?