The Blue Devils have started their season strong with a thrilling win against No. 2 Michigan State while most teams have yet to play ranked opponents.
No. 1 Duke (4-0)
Outside of a dud that they still won by 17 points against Southern, the Blue Devils have played up to their lofty expectations thus far. Duke used its size to beat No. 2 Michigan State 88-81 and took care of business Elon and Utah Valley, in which head coach Mike Krzyzewski picked up career win No. 1,000. Marvin Bagley III has been everything promised and more, averaging 18 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. He has gotten a double-double in every game he has been fully healthy.
North Carolina State (4-0)
The Wolfpack haven’t had any real tests yet, but have beaten every lower-conference team it has played thus far by 18 or more points. Torin Dorn has led the way with 18.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. North Carolina State will have to take on No. 3 Arizona Wednesday in the Bahamas in the Battle 4 Atlantis. If it wins that game and its second round opponent, it will likely face No. 5 Villanova.
Virginia (4-0)
The Cavaliers have been strong early, beating a tough VCU team in a perfect start. Kyle Guy has filled the scoring void of London Perrantes and Marial Shayok, scoring 19.7 points per game. Devon Hall has also proven himself as a worthy second option.
No. 11 Miami (3-0)
The Hurricanes have dominated their opponents thus far by an average of 32 points and survived an injury scare to one of their top recruits, Lonnie Walker IV. Walker twisted his ankle Thursday against Florida A&M, but proclaimed himself ready to play Wednesday against La Salle. Ja'Quan Newton has led Miami with 14.0 points per game this season.
Florida State (3-0)
The Seminoles lost a lot on offense from a season ago when they were a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament with Dwayne Bacon, Jonathan Isaac and Xavier Rathan-Mayes all departing for the pros. While the defense should be solid for Florida State, there are question marks about who will produce on offense. While he had struggled in the Seminoles' first two games, highly-touted recruit M.J Walker exploded for 22 points off the bench against Colorado State Sunday. If Walker can continue to produce alongside leading scorer Terance Mann, Florida State could be a tough team to beat.
No. 13 Notre Dame (3-0)
ACC preseason player of the year Bonzie Colson is looking every bit the part so far, averaging 20.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in his fourth year with the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame has routed the likes of DePaul, Mt. Saint Mary's, and Chicago State so far, and will face its first ranked competition Nov. 30 against No. 2 Michigan State.
Syracuse (3-0)
On an inexperienced team, lone returning starter Tyus Battle has led the way with 22.3 points per game against inferior competition. Outside of that, the Orange hasn't gotten much production from anyone else, something to watch for going forward.
No. 9 North Carolina (2-0)
The Tar Heels have gotten out to an up-and-down start to the season after losing Joel Berry III briefly due to a video game-related injury. Berry returned in North Carolina’s second game, a win against Bucknell in which the Bison came close to pulling off an upset. The Tar Heels will also be without graduate transfer starting guard Cameron Johnson for four to six weeks after a knee injury.
No. 18 Louisville (2-0)
After head coach Rick Pitino was fired amid scandal, the Cardinals haven’t looked great—they had to rally to beat George Mason and hold on for dear life to beat Omaha. While Deng Adel has been a lights-out scorer, Louisville has struggled on defense, letting up nearly 70 points per game in the early going.
Boston College (4-1)
Outside of a tight loss to a Texas Tech team ranked No. 30 in efficiency, the Eagles have gotten off to a strong start to the season. Ky Bowman and Deonte Hawkins have played well for Boston College, but don't expect a team that has just six ACC wins in the last three years to keep up this pace—or anything close to it—once the schedule gets tougher.
Clemson (4-1)
The Tigers have gotten off to a solid start thus far, but lost their only tough matchup thus far—a 67-60 loss to a tough Temple team. After finishing 6-12 in conference play last year, expectations aren't high at Clemson, but the Tigers certainly have enough to play competitive ball in the ACC. Donte Grantham has been lights-out for the Tigers, averaging 18.3 points per game on a blistering 75.0 percent from the field before adding another hot 6-of-11 performance against the Owls.
Virginia Tech (3-1)
The Hokies haven’t exactly gotten off to the start they wanted. Virginia Tech fell to last year’s No. 273 ranked team in Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency rankings, Saint Louis, and struggled on defense, giving up at least 77 points in every game—including 93 against the Citadel. Justin Bibbs, Ahmed Hill and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have all scored more than 19 points per game, but the Hokies will have to clean up their defensive effort before conference play.
Georgia Tech (1-1)
Playing against a UCLA team without LiAngelo Ball and two other freshmen due to their shoplifting charges, the Yellow Jackets dropped a close one to the No. 21 Bruins in China 63-60. Ben Lammers led the way with a double-double and nearly had a triple-double against Bethune-Cookman to help Georgia Tech avoid an upset in a 65-62 win.
Pittsburgh (1-2)
It’s going to be a long season for the Panthers. Just two players from last year return to Pittsburgh's roster from a team that went 4-14 in the ACC, and the early results haven't been promising, to say the least. The Panthers lost to Montana and Navy and have beaten just UC Santa Barbara, a team that was No. 331 in efficiency last season.
Wake Forest (1-4)
You can’t spell “yikes” without Wake Forest University. After losing frontcourt stars John Collins and Dinos Mitoglou to the pros, the Demon Deacons are in tatters, with ugly losses against Georgia Southern, Liberty, Drake and Houston—with just a home win against Quinnipiac.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.