{"id":169289,"date":"2025-12-10T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=169289"},"modified":"2025-12-09T17:57:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:57:09","slug":"college-basketball-acc-rankings-for-december-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/12\/10\/college-basketball-acc-rankings-for-december-9\/","title":{"rendered":"College Basketball ACC Rankings for December 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just like the McRib, the ACC is back. After a few down years of getting fewer than 5 teams in the NCAA Tournament, the conference is going to have around 10 teams vying for a bid once conference play starts. It\u2019s going to be fun to watch. Here\u2019s how I would rank them right now:<\/p>\n

NCAA Basketball: ACC Rankings for December 10<\/h2>\n

1. Duke<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Blue Devils sit at 10-0<\/a>, with five wins over the KenPom top-60. This is a dream start for a team that had to replace most of its starting 5 from last season. Cameron Boozer is looking like the perfect succession plan to Cooper Flagg.<\/p>\n

2. Louisville<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If not for an unusually poor shooting night at Bud Walton Arena (8-37 from 3), the Cardinals may still be undefeated. The freshman Mikel Brown and transfer Ryan Conwell have been every bit as good as advertised. The rivalry win over Kentucky will feel good for another 365 days.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Virginia<\/h3>\n
\"ACC
Photo Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cavaliers are the surprise team in the ACC thus far in non-conference play, and it will be interesting to see if it will hold up within the conference. Wins over Northwestern, Texas, and Dayton should age well. Ryan Odom is looking like one of the gems from this coaching hiring cycle.<\/p>\n

4. North Carolina<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What this team has done without Seth Trimble in the lineup has been impressive. They\u2019ve played three Q1 or Q2 opponents (Kansas, Michigan State, and Kentucky) and are 2-1 in those games. Not too shabby. If not for Cameron Boozer, we would be talking about Caleb Wilson as the best freshman in the ACC.<\/p>\n

5. Wake Forest<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Oh, what could have been. Narrow losses to Michigan and Texas Tech could have been program-defining wins if they had been able to close them out. The development of Juke Harris has been key for a team that is looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in almost a decade.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

6. Clemson<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Is it just me, or does Clemson seemingly have the same team every year? They always have a guard named Hunter (this year\u2019s is Chase\u2019s younger brother, Dillon), and a pair of 7-footers that block out the sun. This year, it\u2019s Carter Welling and Nick Davidson who fit that bill.<\/p>\n

7. NC State<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Love them or hate them, college basketball is better when NC State is good, and Will Wade is looking to bring that back. A win over VCU in non-conference play should age well, but the near no-show in Maui does bring a little concern back to the mainland.<\/p>\n

8. Miami<\/h3>\n
\"NCAA
Photo Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jai Lucas did a solid job building a roster in his first year, as Tre Donaldson and Malik Reneau appear to be big-time adds from the portal. But the cause for concern is the two non-competitive losses to the only top-25 teams that they have played so far.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

9. Notre Dame<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For three years in South Bend, the Irish have been searching for someone to take a little load off the plate of Markus Burton. They may have finally found it in freshman Jalen Haralson. This duo powered them over Missouri and TCU just this week.<\/p>\n

10. Syracuse<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Dec 2, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Donnie Freeman (left) and forward Tyler Betsey (5) and guard Kiyan Anthony (7) react from the sideline against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My expectations for the Orange were quite low this season, but they have surpassed them. Even without Donnie Freeman and not yet bringing Kiyan Anthony into a prominent role, they were competitive against great competition at the Players Era. And they just beat Tennessee, a legitimate Final Four threat, at home.<\/p>\n

For more great NCAA Basketball analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just like the McRib, the ACC is back. After a few down years of getting fewer than 5 teams in the NCAA Tournament, the conference is going to have around 10 teams vying for a bid once conference play starts. It\u2019s going to be fun to watch. Here\u2019s how I would rank them right now: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":169300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773],"tags":[3120,1457,861,882,1498,481,2422,914,856,1075,876,4220],"class_list":["post-169289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","tag-acc-basketball","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-louisville-cardinals","tag-miami-hurricanes","tag-ncaa","tag-north-carolina-state-wolfpack","tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-syracuse-orange","tag-virginia-cavaliers","tag-wake-forest-demon-deacons"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169289"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169306,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169289\/revisions\/169306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}