ACC Weekly Roundup: Power Rankings and the Good, Bad, and Ugly

Matt Newton | Jan 5, 2025

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

With the news of Coach Jim Larrañaga’s immediate retirement at Miami, that now marks the sixth departure of a long-tenured ACC coach from the sport since the spring of 2021; Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, and Virginia’s Tony Bennett all called it quits recently. Notre Dame’s Mike Brey also hung it up in 2023, yet he continues to coach as an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks. Those six combined for 158 seasons as coaches of their respective ACC programs.

Both Larrañaga and Bennett cited the current landscape — bent on NIL and a hyperactive transfer portal — as a factor for their retirement. Now, Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton and Clemson’s Brad Brownell are the torchbearers of a dying coaching generation.

Here are my ACC men's basketball power rankings for the first week of 2025.

In a League of their Own:

1. Duke (12-2, 4-0 ACC)

2nd Tier:

2. Pitt (12-2, 3-0)
3. Clemson (12-3, 4-0)
4. Louisville (10-5, 3-1)
5. North Carolina (9-6, 2-1)
6. SMU (11-3, 2-1)
7. Wake Forest (11-4, 3-1)

3rd Tier:

8. Florida State (10-4, 1-2)
9. N.C. State (8-6, 1-2)
10. Georgia Tech (8-7, 2-2)
11. Virginia (8-6, 1-2)
12. Stanford (9-5, 1-2)
13. Notre Dame (7-7, 1-2)

4th Tier:

14. Syracuse (6-8, 0-3)
15. Boston College (9-6, 1-3)
16. California (7-7, 0-3)
17. Virginia Tech (6-8, 1-2)
18. Miami (4-10, 0-4)

The Good: Louisville’s resurgence, Georgia Tech’s reasons for optimism, Duke’s dominance

Despite losing two contributors — fifth-year Kasean Pryor (12.0 PPG) and junior Koren Johnson (3.0 PPG) — to season-ending injuries, the Cardinals are riding a four-game win streak and beat North Carolina by double-digits. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Coach Pat Kelsey has manifested himself as Louisville’s saving grace. Senior guard Chucky Hepburn has provided a consistent defensive spark while playing selfless basketball, while fellow senior Reyne Smith is a much-needed floor stretcher who is shooting threes at a high volume. A tightened rotation, moreover, hasn’t hurt the Cardinals at all; in fact, they’re playing better, more defensive-oriented basketball.

A 20-point curb stomp over Virginia on the road marks an entrance into unchartered territory. Louisville’s last five coaches — Kenny Payne, Mike Pegues, Chris Mack, David Padgett, and Rick Pitino — lost 18 of their 19 contests against Virginia. Kelsey is already one for one. 

Georgia Tech has a world of potential, yet a sluggish non-conference slate had many wondering whether Coach Damon Stoudamire could put the pieces together. Now, they’re 2-2 in the ACC, with double-digit wins over Notre Dame and Boston College somewhat encouraging as they head into road matchups against Syracuse and SMU. I still don’t think they’re getting enough out of sophomore forward Baye Ndongo (12.7 PPG) — a popular candidate for a breakout campaign. Encouragingly enough, three of Stoudamire’s guards are shooting at least 40% from behind the arc, and a highly-touted transfer — ex-Oklahoma guard Javian McCollum — has finally looked the part with two 20-point performances in his last two games. 

Two in-conference losses to North Carolina and Duke shouldn’t be reason for concern, even though the Blue Devils embarrassed the Yellow Jackets on their home court. Duke is on a completely different level, while the jury’s still out on Georgia Tech.

Duke is dominant. Since a neutral site loss to Kansas in November, the Blue Devils have notched eight consecutive wins, including a home defeat of a previously undefeated Auburn. They’ve also won by an average of 20.2 points in that span. Coach Jon Scheyer’s roster might be the most complete (and most defensively sound) that we’ve seen from Duke since their national championship-winning team in 2015; while I know that 2019’s unit boasted four five-stars in the starting lineup, Scheyer possesses a unique combination of youth, experience, and players suited to fill niche roles alongside freshman phenom Cooper Flagg (17.4 PPG). It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the Blue Devils to finish conference play undefeated.

You’re looking at a potential No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Duke, already bolstered by the non-conference win over Auburn, will only get better as the season progresses. They’ll just have to stay sharp throughout a weak ACC slate.

The Bad: Stanford’s welcome to the ACC, Syracuse’s mediocrity

Stanford’s 6-0 start has turned into a 9-5 record at this juncture in ACC play. An unfortunate stretch of three games against Oregon, Clemson, and Pitt has soured their entry into a new conference, and the cross-country travel might be taking its toll already. Granted, both the Tigers and Panthers look poised to finish in the top-five of the conference. So much rides on the shoulders of senior center Maxime Raynaud (20.9 PPG), fifth-year guard Jaylen Blakes (14.6 PPG), and junior guard Oziyah Sellers (13.8 PPG), who aren’t helped much by the supporting cast that Coach Kyle Smith has assembled in his first year in Palo Alto. Easier matchups loom against Virginia Tech and Virginia at home, so Stanford has some opportunities to get back into the win column before traveling east to take on Wake Forest and North Carolina.

Coach Adrian Autry is firmly on the hot seat in year two at Syracuse. The Orange’s starting five, which features a five-star freshman and a prolific scorer in junior guard JJ Starling, hasn’t given fans any reason to believe that a new chapter is beginning in New York. Their best win this season came against Cornell. A 6-8 record and an 0-2 start to conference play has all but eliminated Syracuse from postseason contention; now, they’ll have to wait for Carmelo Anthony’s son, Kiyan, to revitalize a program that hasn’t reached the Big Dance since 2021. 

What has happened to a program that headlined the sport in the early 2010s? Perhaps the move from the Big East to the ACC will forever haunt the Orange, even if football remains the main culprit for their departure…

The Ugly: Miami’s nightmarish season without Larrañaga, Cal’s losing streak

While it’s possible that the athletic department forced him out, Miami’s beloved Jim Larranaga navigated one-and-a-half catastrophic seasons after reaching the Final Four in 2022-23. The ‘Canes, who are still talented on paper, have carried over their struggles from the season prior, one in which they turned an ACC co-regular season title into a six-win, 14th place finish. There doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel for a program that looked to ascend after their near-perfect campaign two years ago. Senior guard Nijel Pack (13.9 PPG) has been battling injuries since early December, and five-star guard Jalil Bethea (7.0 PPG) hasn’t been nearly consistent enough for a thin backcourt rotation.

Miami’s best win this year came against an 8-9 Presbyterian, and their worst loss came against a 5-12 Charleston Southern. They’ll await a coaching change and a fresh start following two inexplicably underwhelming seasons. The ‘Canes’ vacancy will likely overlap with that of Virginia’s, who will almost certainly be in the market for a splash hire this offseason.

California’s cross-country transition hasn’t been smooth, either. The Golden Bears started 6-1 with a win over USC, but they’ve gone 1-6 since. They’ve followed a similar formula as Stanford: start the tour out west against a formidable opponent (San Diego State), and then take on two dangerous ACC programs — Clemson and Pitt — in a brutal doubleheader on the East Coast. The loss to Cornell, however, is the one that stands out the most on their non-conference résumé. They’ve allowed teams to score at will and have perhaps leaned too heavily on sophomore guard Andrej Stojakovic (19.9 PPG) — a promising scorer who may head to the draft this year. Thus, Coach Mark Madsen needs some defensive improvement from Stojakovic and company to keep the pace in the ACC.