Jack Nevins gives his Christmas ACC basketball power rankings heading into week 8 of the 2025-26 season.
Week 7 team of the week: Virginia Cavaliers
Week 7 game of the week: No. 3 Duke vs. No.19 Texas Tech
Week 7 player of the week: Cameron Boozer, Duke
Week 8 matchup of the week: CSU Northridge at Stanford (Dec. 27 – 8 p.m.)
Week 8 under-the-radar matchup of the week:Â Le Moyne at Boston College (Dec. 28 – 2 p.m.)
1) Duke Blue Devils
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 10-1 (0-0)
Last week: W vs Lipscomb (97-73), L vs No. 19 Texas Tech (82-81)
Next week: None
Quality wins: at Michigan State, Florida, Kansas (Neutral), Arkansas, Texas
Bad losses: None
Duke got handed their first loss of the season, coming to #19 Texas Tech in Madison Square Garden. Christian Anderson helped lead the Red Raiders to a victory with 27 points, but Duke fans, this is certainly not a panic. A loss to a ranked team in Texas Tech and dropping two spots in the ranking from number one to number three should not worry the Blue Devils. With conference play coming up, Duke looks to go undefeated and rule the ACC Basketball Power Rankings.
2) North Carolina Tar Heels
Last week’s ranking: 3 (+1)
Record: 12-1 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. ETSU (77-58), W vs. Ohio State (71-70), W vs. East Carolina (99-51)
Next week: None
Quality wins: Kansas, at Kentucky, Ohio State, Georgetown
Bad losses: None
Although Duke finally drops a game, UNC still sits in the second spot in the ACC Basketball Power Rankings. They have the chance now to claim that number 1 spot as the ACC is truly up for grabs right now.
3) Louisville Cardinals
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-1)
Record: 10-2 (0-0)
Last week: L at No. 20 Tennessee (83-62), W vs. Montana (94-54)
Next week: None
Quality wins: at Indiana, Kentucky, Cincinnati
Bad losses: None
The Cardinals now have two losses to top 25 teams in the NCAA, but this loss to Tennessee is a weird one. This is a Tennessee team that lost to Syracuse, and Louisville managed to get blown out by 20+ points.
4) Virginia Cavaliers
Last week’s ranking: 5 (+1)
Record: 11-1 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. Maryland (80-72), W vs. American (95-51)
Next week: vs. Maryland (Dec. 20 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Texas, Dayton, Maryland
Bad losses: Butler
When Virginia is playing well, you know ACC basketball is back. The Virginia Cavaliers are 11-1 and ranked 21st in the AP Poll. Thijs De Ridder continues to lead the Cavs, averaging 16 points per game and putting up his career high of 27 points against American. Head coach Ryan Odom has completely flipped the script in Virginia in just his first year as head coach.
5) California Golden Bears
Last week’s ranking: 6 (+1)
Record: 12-1 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. Morgan State (97-50), W vs. Columbia (74-56)
Next week: None
Quality wins: UCLA, Utah
Bad losses: None
The Golden Bears just keep on rolling, as they are now 12-1. The key to the success for Cal has been the fact that they have four players scoring in the double-digits. While they are on their high right now, they come back from this short intermission and get hit with Louisville, their toughest opponent so fathe r, and ACC will help their case to see if the Golden Bears are legit or not.
6) Virginia Tech Hokies
Last week’s ranking: 8 (+2)
Record: 11-2 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. Elon (82-81)
Next week: None
Quality wins: at South Carolina, George Mason, Colorado State
Bad losses: VCU
VT stays in the same spot in the ACC Basketball Power Rankings as last week, and now adds onto their win streak, making it five, after holding off Elon 82-81 in overtime.
7) Miami Hurricanes
Last week’s ranking: 7 (-)
Record: 11-2 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. FIU (98-81), North Florida (105-67)
Next week: None
Quality wins: at Ole Miss, Georgetown
Bad losses: None
Just like Virginia Tech, Miami stays in the same spot and extends its win streak to five games. Not only that, but the Canes open their conference play with a very good chance to stay undefeated. Malik Reneau is the front and center of this offense, averaging 20.4 points per game, leading the Hurricanes.
8) SMU Mustangs
Last week’s ranking: 4 (-4)
Record: 10-2 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. Central Arkansas (99-82)
Next week: vs. Cal Fullerton (Dec. 28 – 3 p.m.)
Quality wins: Texas A&M, Butler
Bad losses: None
Boopie Miller continues to show off why he is a true star, being third in ACC basketball with 20.4 points per game. After a hot start, but a slight decline recently, if SMU continues to stay in this spot and gets a few more wins in conference play, the Stangs will be promising.
9)Â Stanford Cardinal
Last week’s ranking: 10 (+1)
Record: 10-2 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. UT Arlington (76-60), W vs. Colorado (77-68)
Next week: vs. CSU Northridge (Dec. 27 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: Saint Louis, Colorado
Bad losses: Seattle U, UNLV
Stanford has found their footing after two scary losses to below .500 teams. The win over 10-1 Colorado proved they can play, and Ebuke Okorie once again showed out, putting up 32 points in the win. The Cardinal are trending in the right direction.
10) Clemson Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 11 (+1)
Record: 10-3 (0-0)
Last week: W vs South Carolina (68-61), W vs. Cincinnati (68-65)
Next week: None
Quality wins: Georgia, West Virginia, Cincinnati
Bad losses: None
After losing two straight to two top 12 teams in Alabama and BYU, Clemson follows up and wins three straight wins. What seems to be an issue for the Tigers is blowing leads. They blew a 21-point lead against BYU and this time a 27-point lead, where they led by 20 at halftime. If the Tigers want any chance at competing, they need to figure out how not to have these leads blown.
11) NC State Wolfpack
Last week’s ranking: 12 (+1)
Record: 9-4 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. Texas Southern (108-72), W vs. Ole Miss (76-62)
Next week: No games
Quality wins: VCU
Bad losses: None
NC State is a hard team to judge because of the streak they went on to start the season, and crept into the top 25 in the AP Poll. Although they have a couple of losses recently, they have been to two ranked teams. I still think NC State will be alive in March, but they need to scratch non-conference play and move forward.
12) Syracuse Orange
Last week’s ranking: 14 (+2)
Record: 9-4 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. Mercyhurst (76-62), W vs. Northeastern (91-83), W vs. Stonehill (77-48)
Next week: None
Quality wins: Tennessee
Bad losses: Hofstra
Syracuse had the chance to bounce back after Las Vegas and did with a win over number 13 Tennessee, but followed that up with a loss to Hofstra!? The Orange are now on a three-game winning streak, and have left some games closer than most fans would like. Without Donnie Freeman, it makes it harder to get anything going offensively as well.
13) Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Last week’s ranking: 9 (-4)
Record: 9-4 (0-0)
Last week: L vs. Purdue Fort-Wayne (72-69)
Next week: No games
Quality wins: Missouri, TCU
Bad losses: Purdue Fort-Wayne
Notre Dame was on a four-game winning streak with two great wins over TCU and Missouri, but the Fighting Irish just got upset by Purdue Fort-Wayne. ND is still without star Markus Burton, which is affecting the Irish.
14) Wake Forest
Last week’s ranking: 13 (-1)
Record: 9-4 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. Longwood (71-68), L vs. No. 13 Vanderbilt (98-67)
Next week: None
Quality wins: Memphis, West Virginia
Bad losses: None
The hard thing about the ACC is teams like Wake Forest, which is 9-4 and 14th in the conference. The Demon Deacons have only lost to ranked teams and a good Oklahoma team. WF is not even a bad basketball team; the ACC is just loaded, and they are just average in the league.
15) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 8-4 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. Marist (87-76), W vs. Lafayette (95-81)
Next week: vs. Florida A&M (Dec. 28 – 2:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: None
Bad losses: DePaul
GT is on a three-game winning streak and doesn’t look terrible, but they keep games closer than they would like at times. This finds them towards the bottom of the ACC Basketball Power Rankings with nothing really special on their resume.
16) Florida State Seminoles
Last week’s ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 7-6 (0-0)
Last week: L at Dayton (97-69), W vs. Mississippi Valley State (96-49), W vs. Jacksonville (87-63)
Next week: None
Quality wins: None
Bad losses: UMass
FSU has stayed at the bottom of the ACC, and after a five-game losing streak, they find two wins to close out non-conference play. The Seminoles do not have one scorer within the top 25 in the ACC, and the funniest part is they sit above average in points scored, but still cannot find a way to get over the hump.
17) Pittsburgh Panthers
Last week’s ranking: 18 (+1)
Record: 7-6 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. Binghamton (103-68), W vs. Penn State (80-46)
Next week: None
Quality wins: Ohio State
Bad losses: Quinnipiac, Hofstra
Although it has felt like Pitt has practically done nothing this season, they have still found ways to win against Power Five teams, including Ohio State, and pulled out a good win by 30+ over Penn State. The Panthers are just unable to squeeze past those outside mid-major teams, and that is causing them to be placed at the bottom of the ACC.
18) Boston College Eagles
Last week’s ranking: 17 (+1)
Record: 6-6 (0-0)
Last week: W vs. FDU (72-61)
Next week: None
Quality wins: None
Bad losses: CCSU, at FAU, UMass
In what seemed to be a glimmer of hope, it got shot down quickly. Boston College finally moved up a spot in the ACC Basketball Power Rankings for the first time this season, only to get its hopes up. Buckle up, BC fans, because once ACC play comes this season will look even rougher for the Eagles.