Power Rankings

Nation's strength shifts back to ACC, Tobacco Road

By Stewart Mandel, SI.com

Battle of the Williamses: Wake's Eric shoots over UNC's Jawad in the Demon Deacons' 119-114 win on Dec. 20. AP

How fitting it was that the first game of ACC conference play -- Wake Forest's 119-114 victory at North Carolina on Dec. 20 -- went into triple overtime.

If the first month of the season has been any indication, that conference's race will be the most hotly contested in the country.

Four ACC teams -- Duke, Georgia Tech, Wake and UNC -- have already graced the top 10 in 2003. A fifth, Maryland, has flirted with the top 20, while Florida State, 11-1 after beating the Terps on Sunday, appears to have its strongest squad in a decade.

Just a year after the venerable conference failed to send a team past the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1979, it seems that once league play begins in earnest next week we could be seeing potential Final Four teams square off on an almost regular basis.

So how did the balance of power shift back to Tobacco Road this season? Perhaps because while last year's Final Four teams -- Syracuse, Kansas, Texas and Marquette -- are struggling to replace departed superstars, the Blue Devils, Jackets, Deacons and Tar Heels are breaking in new ones. Players like Wake's Eric Williams, UNC's Raymond Felton, Tech's Jarrett Jack and Duke's Shelden Williams, all sophomores, have taken their games to the next level, while freshmen like the Deacons' Chris Paul and the Devils' Luol Deng have had instant impacts.

The ACC's resurgence, albeit largely expected, couldn't have come at a better time. Following the various conference realignments of earlier this year, many observers predicted that the new Big East -- with Cincinnati, Louisville and Marquette -- would eclipse the ACC as the nation's top hoops conference next year.

Maybe so, but there's not much question which is on top right now.

(Previous rankings are from Dec. 15).

NCAA Basketball Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-0) OK, so the Jackets haven't exactly been playing heavyweights (Alabama A&M, Marist), but they haven't been slacking either, winning by scores like 74-41 and 90-40. Stat of the week: No. 2 scorer Isma'il Muhammad is shooting 64 percent. This week: Mon. vs. Virginia Commonwealth, Sat. at Georgia. 2 2 Duke Blue Devils (8-1) The Blue Devils turned in another statement-type performance in their 89-61 thrashing of Texas at Madison Square Garden, with Chris Duhon looking more comfortable than ever running the point, scoring 15 points while dishing out nine assists. This week: Mon. vs. Davidson, Sat. at Clemson. 3 3 Arizona Wildcats (7-1) The Wildcats suffered quite a scare against St. Mary's, trailing by seven with three minutes to go before rallying, but have played better since. Serbian freshman Ivan Radenovic notched 17 points and nine rebounds in his debut Saturday. This week: Mon. vs. San Diego, Sat. at Arizona State. 4 5 Connecticut Huskies (9-1) The Huskies have turned up their offense in a big way, albeit against patsies, the past three games, averaging 97.7 points and shooting over 50 percent from the field, which has coincided with swingman Denham Brown stepping up his scoring. This week: Tue. vs. UMass, Fri. at Rice 5 6 Stanford Cardinal (9-0) Think the traditional four-year college basketball player is extinct? Better take a look at Stanford guard Matt Lottich, who's gradually gone from benchwarmer to sub to starter to star, scoring a career-high 34 in the Cardinal's win over Gonzaga. This week: Fri. vs. Washington St., Sun. vs. Washington. 6 10 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-0) What was most impressive about the Demon Deacons' triple-overtime win over UNC was that Wake hadn't been in a tight situation all season, yet freshman point guard Chris Paul never flinched, scoring 18 points and dishing eight assists. This week: Tue. vs. North Carolina A&T, Sat. vs. New Mexico. 7 7 Oklahoma Sooners (8-0) The Sooners arrived in New Orleans on Saturday, eager to erase the memory of their Kansas State loss and start regaining their practice rhythm following a long layoff. ... Oh, the basketball team? They beat Jackson State by 22. This week: Mon. vs. Texas-Pan American, Sat. vs. Princeton. 8 -- Louisville Cardinals (7-1) How does Rick Pitino do it? He's back in the top 10 after knocking off both Florida and Kentucky, despite having basically two outside shooters (Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean) and undersized Luke Whitehead as his best rebounder. This week: Tues. vs. Toledo, Sat. vs. Murray State. 9 13 Florida Gators (8-2) David Lee is officially en fuego. The junior has gone a perfect 16-for-16 from the field his past two games, lopsided wins over Northeastern and Eastern Kentucky. It must have rubbed off, too. The Gators shot 63 percent as a team in the victories. This week: Sat. vs. Florida State. 10 4 Kentucky Wildcats (7-1) The Wildcats' loss to Louisville wasn't for lack of defensive effort -- in typical fashion, the 'Cats held the Cards to 42.6 percent shooting. Their crutch appears to be inside, getting outrebounded and missed several easy scoring opportunities. This week: Wed. vs. Austin Peay, Sat. vs. North Carolina. 11 -- Cincinnati Bearcats (8-0) The toughness of the Bearcats' press this season has observers harkening back to some of Bob Huggins' great teams of the past. They demoralized a very good Dayton team 82-53 by forcing 28 turnovers while committing only nine themselves. This week: Tue. vs. Elon. 12 8 North Carolina Tar Heels (7-1) The Heels responded to the disappointment of the Wake loss and an eight-day layoff with a nice win over UNC-Wilmington, but it came with familiar, unwelcome sight: Sean May going down with an injury, this one hopefully a minor ankle sprain. This week: Tue. vs. Coastal Carolina, Sat. at Kentucky. 13 16 St. Joseph's Hawks (9-0) Jameer Nelson continues to be one of the most clutch players on the planet, drilling an 18-foot jumper with four seconds left to beat Cal 59-57. Most impressive was the fancy dribbling he employed to break free from his defender before the shot. This week: Tue. vs. Delaware, Sat. vs. George Washington. 14 -- Wisconsin Badgers (8-1) At this early stage of the game, the Badgers would appear to be the class of the Big Ten, their only setback coming in overtime at Maryland, and that was before the return of forward Alando Tucker, who's averaged 14.0 points in four games. This week: Tue. at Alabama, Sat. vs. College of Charleston. 15 -- Pittsburgh Panthers (11-0) The Panthers have literally played almost no one, but they did pass their first semi-test last week with a 63-56 win over Florida State. It appears they're playing the same rugged brand of defense under Jamie Dixon as they did with Ben Howland. This week: Tue. vs. Georgia, Sat. vs. William & Mary. 16 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs (8-2) It's hard to find much fault with the 'Zags, whose only losses have come by seven points each to teams -- Stanford and St. Joe's -- ranked in this poll. In fact, they finished 5-2 against the major conferences, beating both Maryland and Missouri. This week: Wed. vs. Eastern Washington, Sun. vs. Montana.

Dropped out: Kansas, Missouri, Purdue, Texas

Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com. His college basketball power rankings will appear weekly on Mondays beginning Jan. 12.