The ACC is expected to be a tight race most seasons. Duke, North Carolina, and Miami all entered the season ranked in the top 20, expecting to compete for a title. Teams like Virginia and Clemson also impressed early, and it looked like the ACC had more top teams than in years. Now, almost every one of these teams has struggled at some point this season, except North Carolina. North Carolina is now 9-0 in conference play for the first time in 23 years and the clear ACC favorite.
North Carolina Is the Clear ACC Favorite
RJ Davis and North Carolina stayed perfect in ACC play on Saturday, winning a hard-fought game against Florida St. 75-68. This extends their current winning streak to 10 games and is their first time being 9-0 in the ACC since 2001. Now nearly halfway through conference play, they look like the clear favorite to win the ACC regular season. With second-place Duke 2.5 games back, North Carolina controls their destiny. While it’s not impossible for Duke or another team to catch the Tar Heels, it seems unlikely due to some factors, including the play of Davis and other team’s struggles.
The Play of RJ Davis
Davis is one of the country’s best, if not the best, point guards this season. He is not only the clear frontrunner for ACC Player of the Year but also makes a case for First Team All-American. While North Carolina has other great players, like Preseason All-American Armando Bacot, Davis is the biggest reason for Carolina’s success and status as an ACC favorite. He is averaging 21.2 points per game while shooting over 40% from three and over 90% from the charity stripe. He is an elite scorer and averages a team-leading 1.4 steals per game, proving he brings it on both ends of the court.
Bacot was considered North Carolina’s leader and best player entering the season, but that has changed. The offense now runs through Davis. He has led the team in scoring in 14 of 20 games this season, and Bacot, while still great, is in a smaller role. If other teams hope to catch the Tar Heels, they must find a way to shut down Davis.
Underperforming Teams
Not taking anything away from North Carolina’s accomplishments and talent, but another reason they are the ACC favorite is that other teams are underperforming. Whether they started great and struggled recently or struggled early and picked it up since, every other team in the conference has had low points. Take Duke, who was picked to finish first in the preseason. They didn’t look good early, starting 5-3, then won nine in a row, and are now struggling again. Wake Forest and Florida St., while not expected to be contenders in the preseason, also fit this profile.
Other teams, including Clemson, Miami (FL), and Virginia looked like competitors in the early season. Now they look like fringe tournament teams. This has given North Carolina a two-game lead on second-place Duke, which could easily have been three if not for a fortunate call in their game against Clemson this weekend. So, whether Tar Heels fans will admit it or not, they have been aided by the rest of the ACC’s inconsistencies and sub-par play.
What’s Next
Next up for Carolina is a game at Georgia Tech on Tuesday. They then host in-state rival Duke on February 3. If the Tar Heels win both games, they are all but locked into first place. However, if Duke goes 2-0 next week with a win over UNC, it makes things a lot more interesting. Still, though, at this point, North Carolina is the clear ACC favorite. They will be looking to compete not only for an ACC title but also for a National Championship come March.
