Boston College Men's Basketball

ACC Men's Basketball Power Rankings, Week 3

Krzyzewski and Pitino notch milestone victories.

By Brian F. Dec 1, 2014, 12:21pm EST

Fifteen of the finest ACC blogs on the internet get together on a weekly basis to rank the conference's men's basketball teams.

Here are the results for week 3:

SBNATION ACC MEN'S BASKETBALL POWER POLL, WEEK 3

1. Duke Blue Devils, 118 (6 first-place votes)
2. Louisville Cardinals, 109 (1)
3. Virginia Cavaliers, 106 (1)
4. North Carolina Tar Heels, 94
5. Miami Hurricanes, 93
6. Syracuse Orange, 75
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 71
8. North Carolina State Wolfpack, 64
9. Pittsburgh Panthers, 58
10. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 50
11. Florida State Seminoles, 34
12. Clemson Tigers, 32
13. Boston College Eagles, 20
14t. Virginia Tech Hokies, 18
14t. Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 18

1. Duke Blue Devils (7-0)

Last week: Defeated Furman (93-54), Defeated Army (93-73)
This week: @ Wisconsin (12/3)

Last week's ranking: 1 (--)

Duke made quick work of Furman and Army this week. The Army win marked Coach K's 990th career victory. The Blue Devils travel to Madison this week to take on the Badgers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

2. Louisville Cardinals (5-0)

Last week: Defeated Savannah State (87-26), Defeated Cleveland State (45-33)
This week: Ohio State (12/2), FIU (12/5)

Last week's ranking: 2 (--)

There have been some crazy scores across college basketball already this season. Here are two of them. The Cardinals defeated Savannah State 87-26 (!) and then followed that up with a 45-33 victory over Cleveland State. Huh? The win over Cleveland State was Rick Pitino's 700th college victory.

3. Virginia Cavaliers (7-0)

Last week: Defeated Tennessee State (79-36), Defeated LaSalle (64-56), Defeated Rutgers (45-26)
This week: @ Maryland (12/3), @ VCU (12/6)

Last week's ranking: 4 (up 1)

Speaking of strange final scores, Virginia continues to hold opponents to ridiculously low point totals. LaSalle mustered 56 points against the Cavaliers, but Tennessee State managed just 36. On Saturday, Virginia held Rutgers to just 26 points at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Virginia held the Scarlet Knights to 25 percent shooting. Rutgers' 26 points were the fewest since scoring 24 in a 40-24 loss to Princeton...during the 1942-43 season.

26 points. In the shot-clock era. With a three-point line. B1G.

4. North Carolina Tar Heels (5-1)

Last week: Lost to Butler (74-66), Defeated UCLA (78-56), Defeated Florida (75-64)
This week: Iowa (12/3), East Carolina (12/7)

Last week's ranking: 4 (down 1)

The Heels fell to Butler in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis, but rebounded by notching back-to-back victories over ranked opponents in UCLA (78-56) and Florida (75-64). The Heels host Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday and host ECU on Sunday.

5. Miami Hurricanes (7-0)

Last week: Defeated Charlotte (77-74), Defeated South Alabama (87-75)
This week: Illinois (12/2), Green Bay (12/6)

Last week's ranking: 5 (--)

The Hurricanes started the week by notching its second win over Charlotte in as many games, this time on Charlotte's home floor and to a much closer result. Miami knocked off South Alabama, 87-75, to improve to 7-0 on the year. This week, Miami hosts Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge as well as Green Bay later in the week.

6. Syracuse Orange (5-1)

Last week: Defeated Loyola (Maryland) (70-37), Defeated Holy Cross (72-48)
This week: @ Michigan (12/2), St. John's (12/6)

Last week's ranking: 6 (--)

The Orange bounced back with a perfect 2-0 week, cruising to victories over Loyola (Maryland) and Holy Cross. Syracuse travels to Michigan as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday and hosts St. John's at the Dome on Saturday.

7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-1)

Last week: Defeated Grambling State (81-54), Defeated Chicago State (90-42)
This week: Michigan State (12/3), Fairleigh Dickinson (12/6)

Last week's ranking: 7 (--)

A light week for the Irish, which dispatched Grambling State and Chicago State last week. This week, the Irish welcome #20 Michigan State to South Bend in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and host Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday.

8. North Carolina State Wolfpack (6-0)

Last week: Defeated Richmond (84-72), Defeated Boise State (60-54)
This week: @ Purdue (12/2), Wake Forest (12/6)

Last week's ranking: 8 (--)

State continues to do just enough to stay unbeaten, sneaking past Boise State 60-54 on Friday. The 6-0 start is the Wolfpack's best start in a decade. N.C. State travels to Purdue this week and returns to Raleigh to host Wake Forest in a rare, early December ACC battle.

9. Pittsburgh Panthers (4-2)

Last week: Defeated Chaminade (81-68), Lost to San Diego State (74-57), Defeated Kansas State (70-47)
This week: @ Indiana (12/2), Duquesne (12/5)

Last week's ranking: 9 (--)

Pitt...confuses me. I suppose this is the sign of a young team. Loses to Hawaii, follows that up with a huge 23 point victory over K-State in the Maui Invitational third-place game. Pitt shot 55 percent and made 8 of 15 3-pointers after going cold against San Diego State in the second round.

10. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-1)

Last week: Lost to Marquette (72-70), Defeated Rider (61-54), Defeated Rhode Island (64-61)
This week: @ Northwestern (12/3), South Carolina-Upstate (12/6)

Last week's ranking: 10 (--)

Georgia Tech nearly pulled off the upset over Marquette in the opening round of the Orlando Classic earlier in the week, but a desperation three fell way short and the Golden Eagles escaped with a 72-70 victory. Tech would rebound nicely, however, with victories over Rider and Rhode Island to take fifth-place in the Orlando Classic. Georgia Tech travels to Evanston this week to take on Northwestern and returns to Atlanta to host South Carolina-Upstate on Saturday.

11. Florida State Seminoles (3-3)

Last week: Defeated The Citadel (66-55), Defeated Charleston Southern (58-47)
This week: @ Nebraska (12/1), Central Florida (12/6)

Last week's ranking: 11 (--)

After a disastrous 0-for-New-England week, Florida State clawed back to .500 with victories over The Citadel and Charleston Southern.

12. Clemson Tigers (4-2)

Last week: Defeated LSU (64-61), Defeated High Point (62-59)
This week: Rutgers (12/1), Arkansas (12/7)

Last week's ranking: 13 (up 1)

The Tigers squeaked past LSU and High Point earlier in the week to improve to 4-2 on the year. Jaron Blossomgame blocked a potential game-tying basket in the final minute to preserve the victory over High Point.

13. Boston College Eagles (2-3)

Last week: Idle
This week: Marist (12/1), Providence (12/5)

Last week's ranking: 12 (down 1)

BC was off this past week and is back in action tonight against Marist. On Friday, the Eagles host long-time rivals Providence at Conte Forum. The Eagles are the odd-team out of this year's ACC/Big Ten Challenge because reasons.

14t. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-3)

Last week: Defeated Nicholls State (75-48), Defeated Mount St. Mary's (83-49), Lost to Delaware State (72-65)
This week: Minnesota (12/2), @ N.C. State (12/6)

Last week's ranking: 14 (--)

The young Demon Deacons took care of Nicholls State and Mount St. Mary's, but suffered another disastrous early season loss on Friday night, falling to Delaware State, 72-65. The Hornets went into that game 0-19 all-time vs. ACC opponents.

14t. Virginia Tech Hokies (4-2)

Last week: Lost to Northern Iowa (73-54), Defeated Miami (Ohio) (78-63), Defeated Morgan State (83-63)
This week: @ Penn State (12/3), Radford (12/7)