Syracuse Basketball: Collectively, ACC not all that stellar for the moment

Syracuse basketball didn’t receive any votes in either major poll this week.

Not too long ago, I wrote about how the Atlantic Coast Conference is a tad topsy-turvy to begin the 2020-21 campaign, a season that itself is a bit unpredictable for Syracuse basketball and its peers around the country given the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As the Orange announced on Monday that it had to pause its basketball-related activities yet again due to Covid-19 protocols, the ACC finds itself a notch, or two, or three below several other leagues in the national conversation (namely, the Big Ten Conference and the Big 12 Conference, both of which are totally stacked).

In the Associated Press and Coaches’ top-25 polls that got released on Monday, no ACC squad is higher than 15th in either major poll, which is pretty amazing.

Virginia, entering college basketball games on Monday evening, had only suited up for four games due to recent Covid-19 issues within its program. The Cavaliers are No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 15 in the Coaches ballot.

In the AP poll, North Carolina checks in at No. 17 and dispatched of struggling Kentucky over the weekend. Duke is No. 20 but doesn’t have any fantastic wins.

Florida State, at No. 21, fell from the ranks of the unbeaten. So, too, did Clemson and Louisville, and both fell out of the top-25 ballots. Louisville got blasted by Wisconsin over the weekend, while Clemson lost to Virginia Tech, which is No. 24 in the AP poll.

In the Coaches poll, besides UVA at No. 15, the Tar Heels are No. 17, the Seminoles are No. 21 and the Blue Devils are No. 25. The Hokies didn’t crack the top 25 in the Coaches’ ballot.

Syracuse basketball (6-1), by the way, didn’t receive a single vote in either major poll, which kind of surprises me. Sure, the Orange barely got by Northeastern and Buffalo at home in the past week, but the ‘Cuse has one setback in 2020-21, and that was by 10 points to a highly rated Rutgers group on the road minus two of its starters.

I have every confidence that some squads from the ACC will eventually make positive jumps in the top-25 polls, but for now, this league is significantly trailing a few others for the designation of the best conference in the sport.