The ACC has seven ranked teams, all of which have crucial flaws but are still interesting to watch and whom could do some NCAA tournament damage. With just three or four games left for more teams, let's take a quick look at them all, from top to bottom, starting with the top three.
Florida State (#4 AP, #7 USA Today, #6 RPI, #10 SOS): 23-3, 11-1 ACC. This is the most balanced team in the ACC, with six players near double-figure scoring. They have an elite slashing wing in Shakayla Thomas (15 ppg), a solid passer and shooter in Letty Romero (13 ppg, 3 apg), a potent gunner in Baylor transfer Imani Wright (11 ppg, 43% 3FG), an experienced point guard in Brittany Brown (9 ppg, 5 apg), a tough forward in Ivey Slaughter (10 ppg, 6 rpg) and a solid post in Chartrice White (9 ppg, 5 rpg). They have three other solid reserves who can soak up minutes. Their starting five is very athletic and spaces the floor like an NBA team. They gave UConn all they could handle, lost to Texas because of some unusually bad foul shooting, and got out-shot by NC State. Other than that, they've beaten everyone. They play Notre Dame in the final regular season game, and the winner of that game will win the ACC.
Strengths: Balanced and efficient scoring, rebounding from all positions, depth
Weaknesses: Susceptible to three point shooting teams, not a lot of skilled size, no dominant go-to player who can bail them out
Notre Dame (#7 AP, #6 USA Today, #2 RPI, #2 SOS): 23-3, 11-1 ACC. The ACC's most dominant program has looked sort of human this year. Don't get me wrong: there's still a ton of talent and they still are beating almost everyone, but the margins are getting slimmer and their efficiency level is not what it once was. The Irish are desperately missing leadership this year, and the kind of glue players (think Madison Cable) who made connecting plays and key shots down the stretch. You would think senior point guard Lindsay Allen would be that kind of player, but it hasn't really happened. She's still good: 9 ppg, 5 rpg and a league-leading 7.5 apg are All-ACC kinds of numbers (second or third team, that is). She's just always been a support player, and that's what she continues to be. The most talented player on the team, post Brianna Turner (15 ppg, 8 rpg) is not the leader type, and she's ideally a second banana type of player despite her talent. That's left Arike Ogunbowale as the alpha player on the team as just a sophomore, which means that the team occasionally suffers some hiccups due to her young mistakes. Still, she's a potent scorer (15 ppg, 42% 3FG) who can put up huge numbers. The team's other big-time shooter is Marina Mabrey (13 ppg, 37% 3FG), though she runs hot and cold. Forward Kathryn Westbeld (9 ppg, 5 rpg), guard Jackie Young (7 ppg, 4 rpg), and guard Erin Boley (6 ppg) round out the main part of the rotation, though veteran guard Mychal Young and veteran post Kristina Nelson get double-digit minutes.
Strengths: Size, balance, playmaking, depth
Weaknesses: Susceptible to the three, no go-to player, not as mentally tough as in recent years
NC State (#15 AP, #18 USA Today, #28 RPI, #55 SOS): 19-6, 9-3 ACC. If NC State holds on to finish in third place, then Wes Moore will deserve serious consideration for ACC coach of the year. This is a rag-tag group of weird players that shouldn't fit together that constantly plays at a surprisingly high level and with unflagging enthusiasm and guts. They are facing a serious problem at the moment: the absence of frosh guard Aislinn Konig (8 ppg, 38% 3FG), who gave the Pack a floor-spacer off the bench. State's bench is very thin in terms of impact play without here, though post Akela Maize, guard Lucky Rudd, guard Kaila Ealey and forward DD Rogers have their moments when pressed into service. The heart of the Wolfpack is their starting five, starting with undersized bigs Jennifer Mathurin (9 ppg, 6 rpg, 30% 3FG) and Chelsea Nelson (11 ppg, 6 rpg), who stand at 6-1 and 6-2 respectively, yet still give opposing posts fits. Dominique Wilson is a multifaceted scorer (12 ppg, 34% 3FG), Miah Spencer (12 ppg, 5 apg, 36% 3FG) makes the team run and Ashley Williams is the team's stand-still bomber (8 ppg, 41% 3FG). Despite their flaws, they are solid across the board statistically and just know how to win, having defeated the top three teams in the ACC as well as having won two recent overtime games.
Strengths: Volume shooting, discipline, mental toughness, teamwork
Weaknesses: Size, quality depth, no rim protection
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