Ranking the ACC: Chaos ensues, but Syracuse steady at the top

The ACC is in a state off flux following consecutive losses from Duke and North Carolina.

By Brendan Darr Jan 14, 2014, 4:00pm EST

1. Syracuse (1) -- 17-0 (4-0) -- #2 in the country

So steady. The Orange, no matter how close they come to getting upset, avoid it.

2. Pittsburgh (3) -- 15-1 (3-0) -- #22 in the country

Safe to say they are firmly in the second spot with Duke's consecutive losses. The lack of out of conference opponents will come back to hurt them in the long run, but if they can keep winning in the ACC everyone should forget it.

3. Duke (2) -- 13-4 (2-2) -- #23 in the country

Back-to-back losses, including one to Clemson (whom everyone killed for being higher than Maryland in my rankings last week) before beating Virginia Monday night. Still, a superior team and record to those beneath them.

Yes really, Tam Honks.

4. Florida State -- 11-4 (2-1)

15+ point wins over Clemson and Maryland in the last week are big. With North Carolina collapsing, the Noles seem entrenched in the top-4 of the ACC and a name the rest of the league should really take notice of.

5/6. Clemson/Virginia

Both of these are a little higher than they should be, but both had big wins over teams in the triangle last week. Virginia beat NC State by 31 points. I'm continually surprised Virginia scores 31 points, let alone wins by 31 points.

7/8. NC State/Wake Forest

Both teams drop in the rankings following down weeks and can't really be separated. They're both kind of meh, but not quite as bad as Notre Dame or Georgia Tech. They just need a pep talk.