The Week in Review
It wasn’t a great week for the ACC outside of Duke beating Kentucky on opening night.
Of the 15 teams in the conference, 5 (Pitt, GT, UVA, Louisville, Miami) have lost to non-Power 5 opponents and, in my opinion, 3 (NC State, UNC, Clemson) have survived games against non-Power 5 opponents that could have gone either way.
BC and Wake are both 2-0 and their fan bases are excited…but let’s not forget how lackluster their opponents were this week.
NC State had some unfortunate news as they learned Manny Bates will be out for the remainder of the season.
FSU took a loss on the chin to rival Florida to close things out on Sunday
Who Had the Best Win Last Week?
It’s hard to argue that anyone had a bigger win than Duke over Kentucky on opening night at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils tipped off the season with a win against a top 20 KenPom opponent, started the buzz about their big-time freshmen, and ignited “can they win it all?” talk.
Who Had the Worst Loss Last Week?
I’m going with The Citadel over Pittsburgh…with Navy over UVA coming in as a close second.
The Citadel absolutely dominated Pittsburgh in a 78-63 victory. They came into the game ranked 228th in the country.
To add insult to injury, Judah Mintz, one of Pitt’s biggest recruit commitments for next year…decomitted after the loss.
Not a good look.
Who Had the Biggest Comeback Last Week?
NC State was down by 12 against Bucknell. They were down 13-1 with just under 16 minutes to go in the game…and won by 18.
Who Were the Biggest KenPom Movers This Week?
BIG GAINERS
Virginia Tech +11 (39 to 28)
BIG LOSERS
Pittsburgh -26 (145 to 171)
Louisville -15 (36 to 51)
UNC -10 (40 to 50)
UVA -7 (45 to 52)
ACC Standings
KenPom Rankings
Duke (11)
Virginia Tech (28)
Florida State (30)
Notre Dame (31)
Syracuse (38)
UNC (50)
Louisville (51)
UVA (52)
Georgia Tech (55)
NC State (56)
Clemson (59)
Miami (87)
Wake Forest (105)
Boston College (131)
Pittsburgh (171)
This Week’s 5 Most Interesting Games
UVA (52) at Houston (10) - TUES - UVA has an opportunity to quiet the haters in a big-time road test.
NC State (56) vs. Oklahoma State (43) - WED - This is NC State’s first tough competition after losing Manny Bates
Georgia Tech (55) at Georgia (165) - In-state rivalry games are always fun
UNC (50) vs. Purdue (5) - The Heels will face their first legitimate opponent after struggling to defend very well last week
Boston College (131) at Rhode Island (91) - This isn’t a huge opponent, but at least we get to see BC against someone who can put up some resistance. How for real are the Eagles?
HONORABLE MENTION
Miami (87) at Florida Atlantic (201) - TUES - It’s not often Miami travels to a smaller in-state school for a game; here’s an exception
Clemson (59) vs. Temple (108) - THURS - This is the first semi-test for the Tigers.
Boston College (131) vs. Utah (82) - SAT - Another opportunity for BC to show us their progress.
Syracuse (38) vs. Colgate (114) - SAT - Colgate is almost a top 100 team. This will be a tougher matchup for Syracuse than most believe.
Florida State (30) vs. Loyola Marymount (79) - SUN - Loyola Marymount is almost a top 75 team. Expect them to give FSU everything they can handle on Sunday.
There are a TON of potential matchups that are very interesting…but they’re in bracket play…and I can’t see into the future :)
This Week’s 3 Most Lackluster Games
UVA (52) vs. Coppin State (351) - FRI - Coppin State is literally one of the 10 worst ranked teams in the country
Miami (87) vs. Florida A&M (282) - FAMU is ranked 282nd in the country. Won’t be much to see here.
Wake Forest (105) vs. Charleston Southern (338) - WED - Cupcake season continues for Wake as they play bottom-of-the-barrel Charleston Southern.
This Week’s Master Schedule
**Rankings based on Sunday evening KenPom rankings - there were 5 late night games remaining when I typed this
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15
**VT vs. Radford is interesting only for the fact that these schools are about 15 minutes away from each other
**Navy continues it’s ACC tour (previously played UVA and VT) when they face Louisville. The Midshipmen shot it well against UVA…not so much against VT.
Louisville (51) vs. Navy (178)
Clemson (59) vs. Bryant (211)
Virginia Tech (27) vs. Radford (265)
Georgia Tech (55) vs. Lamar (288)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
**The obvious big game here is UVA on the road at Houston - the rest of the slate is pretty tame. This is a big-time opportunity for UVA to silence the Tony Bennett haters.
**UNC should be fine, but it’s rare that they play Charleston AT Charleston
**Miami is in a potential tough spot when they make a rare trip to Florida Atlantic…who isn’t awful
Virginia (52) AT Houston (10)
Miami (87) AT Florida Atlantic (201)
UNC (50) AT Charleston (233)
Pittsburgh (171) vs. UNC-Wilmington (277)
Duke (11) vs. Gardner-Webb (207)
Notre Dame (30) vs. High Point (286)
NC State (56) vs. Central Connecticut State (349) - Basketball Hall of Fame Classic
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17
**Rhode Island isn’t a marquee matchup, but this will be BC’s first real test of the year. We will learn something about the Eagles today.
**NC State will face a challenge in their first big game without Manny Bates when they face OK State
NC State (56) vs. Oklahoma State (43) - Basketball Hall of Fame Classic
Boston College (131) -AT- Rhode Island (91)
Wake Forest (105) vs. Charleston Southern (338)
Florida State (29) vs. Tulane (145)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18
**The Hokies are good, but man their non-conference schedule so far has mostly been a snoozer. I know Navy is decent…but…
**Clemson tips off in the Shriner’s Children’s Classic Tournament today - you can see the bracket below.
Clemson (59) vs. Temple (108) (Shriner’s Children’s Classic)
Virginia Tech (27) vs. St. Francis (245)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19
**I love early in-state rivalry games. GT should be fine against Georgia - they aren’t very good - but you never know what can happen in games like this.
**Clemson continues bracket play…I’m hoping against St. Bonaventure
Clemson (59) vs. St. Bonaventure/Boise State (Shriner’s Children’s Classic)
Georgia Tech (55) -AT- Georgia (165)
Pittsburgh (171) vs. Towson (232)
Duke (11) vs. Lafayette (304)
UVA (52) vs. Coppin State (351)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20
**This is a fun slate of games.
**UNC will be majorly tested all weekend..starting with a top 5 team in Purdue.
**Syracuse faces a major potential upset against a talented Colgate team
UNC (50) vs. Purdue (5) (Basketball Hall Of Fame Tip-Off Tournament)
Syracuse (38) vs. Colgate (114)
Boston College (131) vs. Utah (82) (Sunshine Slam)
Wake Forest (105) vs. North Carolina A&T (254)
Louisville (51) vs. Detroit-Mercy (237)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21
**UNC will face one of the best teams in the country regardless
**Clemson’s bracket play will come to a close
**FSU faces a major (and underrated) challenge in 79th Loyola Marymount
UNC (50) vs. Villanova/Tennessee (Basketball Hall Of Fame Tip-Off Tournament)
Clemson (59) vs. Marquette/Ole Miss/Elon/WVU (Shriner’s Children’s Classic)
Boston College (131) vs. Rhode Island/Tulsa (Sunshine Slam)
Florida State (29) vs. Loyola Marymount (79) (Jacksonville Classic)
Virginia Tech (27) vs. Merrimack (197)
NC State (56) vs. Texas Southern (229)
Miami (87) vs. Florida A&M (282)
Top 50 Matchups Around the Country This Week
BYU (39) vs. Oregon (22) - TUES
Seton Hall (35) at Michigan (2) - TUES
St. John’s (46) at Indiana (36) - WED
Ohio State (19) at Xavier (37) - THURS
Villanova (8) vs. Tennessee (9) - SAT
UNC (50) vs. Purdue (5) - SAT
**There are plenty of other potential Top 50 matchups…but they will come in tournaments and we don’t have that data at the time this will be published**
Random (and perhaps meaningless) KenPom Stats
Top 3 and Bottom 3 Offenses After Week 1 (national rank in parentheses)
Notre Dame (9)
Duke (16)
Syracuse (17)
Wake Forest (112)
Boston College (129)
Pittsburgh (191)
Top 3 and Bottom 3 Defenses After Week 1
Duke (11)
Florida State (27)
Louisville (32)
Miami (125)
Boston College (141)
Pittsburgh (153)
Top 3 and Bottom 3 Tempos After Week 1
Florida State (57)
UNC (91)
Georgia Tech (145)
Boston College (322)
Notre Dame (323)
UVA (358 - dead last)
Top 3 and Bottom 3 Non-Conference Schedule Rankings
Florida State (120)
Pittsburgh (126)
Duke (171)
Boston College (305)
Notre Dame (310)
Wake Forest (313)