ACC Men's Basketball Power Rankings, Week 9

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 9:

SBNATION ACC MEN'S BASKETBALL POWER POLL, WEEK 9

1. Virginia Cavaliers, 150 (10 first-place votes)
2. Duke Blue Devils, 139
3. Louisville Cardinals, 125
4. North Carolina Tar Heels, 120
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 115
6. North Carolina State Wolfpack, 100
7. Syracuse Orange, 89
8. Miami-Florida Hurricanes, 82
9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 59
10. Pittsburgh Panthers, 47
11t. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 46
11t. Clemson Tigers, 46
13. Florida State Seminoles, 40
14. Boston College Eagles, 29
15. Virginia Tech Hokies, 14

1. Virginia Cavaliers (13-0, 1-0)

Last week: Defeated N.C. State (61-51), Defeated Notre Dame (62-56)
This week: Clemson (1/13), @ Boston College (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 2 (up 1)

There's a new #1 in the power rankings this week as Virginia dispatched N.C. State and Notre Dame to remain perfect on the year. The Cavaliers take the top spot from Duke, which fell to the same N.C. State team Virginia played earlier in the week on Sunday. This week, the #2 ranked 'Hoos host Clemson tonight and travel to Chestnut Hill to take on BC on Saturday.

2. Duke Blue Devils (14-1, 2-1 ACC)

Last week: Defeated Wake Forest (73-65), Lost to N.C. State (87-75)
This week: Miami (1/13), @ Louisville (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 1 (down 1)

The Blue Devils were knocked from their perch atop these weekly power rankings after falling to N.C. State, 87-75, in Raleigh. Okafor finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds, but the Blue Devils couldn't overcome a poor shooting performance (37 percent from the floor) and couldn't keep pace with N.C. State's offense. The Blue Devils will look to bounce back tonight as they host Miami. A matchup of top-10 teams looks large this Saturday in Louisville.

3. Louisville Cardinals (14-2, 2-1)

Last week: Defeated Clemson (58-52), Lost to North Carolina (72-71)
This week: Virginia Tech (1/13), Duke (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 3 (--)

The Cardinals rallied to knock off Clemson in the program's ACC home debut, defeating the Tigers 58-52. Louisville followed that up with a 72-71 loss at North Carolina. The Heels erased a 13-point deficit in the final 8 1/2 minutes, beating Louisville on a Paige's scooping layup with 8.5 seconds to play. Louisville welcomes Virginia Tech and Duke to the YUM! Center this week.

4. North Carolina Tar Heels (12-4, 2-1)

Last week: Lost to Notre Dame (71-70), Defeated Louisville (72-71)
This week: @ N.C. State (1/14), Virginia Tech (1/18)

Last week's ranking: 4 (--)

A pair of 1-point losses marked North Carolina's week. The Heels nearly came all the way back from 11 down to beat the Irish, but Marcus Paige missed a three-pointer with a second left as UNC fell to Notre Dame, 71-70. Paige would redeem himself over the weekend, hitting the game-winner over Louisville. This week, North Carolina travels to Raleigh to face the streaking Wolfpack, and returns home to host the Hokies on Sunday.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (15-2, 3-1)

Last week: Defeated North Carolina (71-70), Lost to Virginia (62-56)
This week: @ Georgia Tech (1/14), Miami (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 5 (--)

A 1-point win over North Carolina wasn't enough to lift the Irish over the Heels this week, as Notre Dame fell to Virginia, 62-56, over the weekend. This week, Mike Brey's boys travel to Georgia Tech for a mid-week game against the Jackets, and return home to face Miami on Saturday.

6. North Carolina State Wolfpack (12-5, 3-1)

Last week: Lost to Virginia (61-51), Defeated Duke (87-75)
This week: North Carolina (1/14), @ Florida State (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 7 (up 1)

The Pack put a scare in unbeaten Virginia, but ultimately fell to the Cavaliers, 61-51. Though the close call to UVA was a sign of good things to come, as N.C. State knocked off the other the second unbeaten team faced that week. Trevor Lacey scored 21 points and N.C. State shot 55 percent to beat Duke 87-75 on Sunday, knocking off one of the last three undefeated teams in the country.

7. Syracuse Orange (12-4, 3-0)

Last week: Defeated Georgia Tech (46-45), Defeated Florida State (70-57)
This week: Wake Forest (1/13), @ Clemson (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 6 (down 1)

The Orange continued their winning ways with a pair of victories over Georgia Tech and Florida State, but suffered a big loss when star freshman Chris McCullough suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during the game against the Seminoles. He'll miss the remainder of the season. Syracuse hosts Wake Forest tonight, then travels to Clemson to take on the Tigers on Saturday.

8. Miami Hurricanes (11-4, 1-1)

Last week: Defeated Boston College (60-56)
This week: @ Duke (1/13), @ Notre Dame (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 8 (--)

Only one game for the 'Canes this past week. Miami jumped out to a big first half lead and held on in the second frame to beat Boston College, 60-56, on Saturday. Tonye Jekiri led the way with 13 points and 15 boards; no rebound bigger than the one with just four ticks left after BC missed a potential game-tying shot. It was the 'Canes' first ACC win of the season. A quick turnaround for Miami, which travels to Durham to take on the Blue Devils tonight at Cameron Indoor. The Hurricanes complete a two-game road stretch of games at Notre Dame on Saturday.

9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-8, 1-3)

Last week: Lost to Duke (73-65), Defeated Georgia Tech (76-69)
This week: @ Syracuse (1/13)

Last week's ranking: 14 (up 5)

The Demon Deacons are all the way up to 9 this week with a solid effort against Duke and Danny Manning's first-ever ACC victory over Georgia Tech (76-69). Devin Thomas scored 17 and added 14 boards to pace the Deacons in victory. The Deacons have just one game this week; a road trip to the Carrier Dome to take on Syracuse tonight.

10. Pittsburgh Panthers (11-5, 1-2)

Last week: Defeated Boston College (61-60 OT), Lost to Clemson (71-62)
This week: Florida State (1/14), Georgia Tech (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 9 (down 1)

Pitt erased a 10-point deficit with three minutes to play to force overtime and then hit the game-winning shot with 31.2 seconds left in the first overtime to steal a 61-60 decision over the Eagles in Chestnut Hill. The Panthers are now 6-0 in overtime games since joining the ACC, with five of those victories coming over league opponents. It wasn't all good news for the Panthers, however, as Pitt followed up a win over BC with a 71-62 home loss to Clemson. Pitt is back in action this week with a pair of home games against FSU and Georgia Tech.

11t. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-6, 0-3)

Last week: Lost to Syracuse (46-45), Lost to Wake Forest (76-69)
This week: Notre Dame (1/14), @ Pittsburgh (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 10 (down 1)

Rough week for Brian Gregory's boys, who dropped a pair of league games to Syracuse and Wake Forest to fall to 0-3 in conference play to start the year. Things get harder before they get easier, as Georgia Tech hosts 12th ranked Notre Dame at McCamish Pavilion on Wednesday night. The Jackets end the week with a road game at Pittsburgh on Saturday.

11t. Clemson Tigers (9-6, 1-2)

Last week: Lost to Louisville (58-52), Defeated Pittsburgh (71-62)
This week: @ Virginia (1/13), Syracuse (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 13 (up 2)

Clemson would put a scare into Louisville then go on to defeat Pittsburgh—on the road—to notch their first ACC victory of the year. The Tigers held Pitt to 39.6 percent shooting and Jaron Blossomgame scored 18 points to lead the Tigers to a 71-62 win. Clemson will try to keep things rolling this week with games at Virginia and home vs. Syracuse.

13. Florida State Seminoles (9-7, 1-2)

Last week: Defeated Virginia Tech (86-75), Lost to Syracuse (70-57)
This week: @ Pittsburgh (1/14), N.C. State (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 11 (down 2)

Florida State got into the ACC win column with an 86-75 victory over Virginia Tech, but would go on to lose to Syracuse, 70-57, later in the week. The Seminoles are now 1-2 in the conference. Florida State travels to Pittsburgh on Wednesday and later returns home to host the red-hot Wolfpack on Saturday.

14. Boston College Eagles (7-7, 0-3)

Last week: Lost to Pittsburgh (61-60 OT), Lost to Miami (60-56)
This week: Harvard (1/14), Virginia (1/17)

Last week's ranking: 12 (down 2)

Like Georgia Tech, the Eagles had a rough week. Boston College coughed up a 10-point lead with 3 minutes to play, eventually falling to Pitt 61-60 in overtime at home, and then dug themselves too deep a first-half hole to come back and defeat Miami on the road on Saturday. BC takes a break from conference play this week as they host Harvard. The Crimson have won six straight in the series.

15. Virginia Tech Hokies (8-7, 0-2)

Last week: Lost to Florida State (86-75)
This week: @ Louisville (1/13), @ North Carolina (1/18)

Last week's ranking: 15 (--)

Freshman Justin Bibbs scored a season-high 25 points and Adam Smith had 24 points for Virginia Tech, but it wasn't enough as the Hokies fell to Florida State, 86-75, in their only game of the week. The loss was the Hokies' third straight. Virginia Tech will look to snap a three-game losing streak this week with a pair of road games at Louisville and North Carolina. Yeesh.