ACC Power Rankings: Where's U of L before opener?

• No. 11 Virginia at No. 7 Louisville, 7 p.m., Wednesday, KFC Yum! Center. TV: ESPN2. Radio: WHAS-840.

The ACC begins league play on Wednesday when No. 7 Louisville hosts No. 11 Virginia at 7 p.m. following a 5 p.m. tilt between No. 20 Florida State and Wake Forest.

For the most part, the non-conference segment has played out as many expected, with Duke standing as the clear league favorite and Louisville, North Carolina and Virginia appearing to be the primary challengers. But there have still been a few surprises, namely Syracuse, which began the season ranked No. 17 and has since lost five times, including a 33-point demolition at the hands of St. John's. Yes, that St. John's.

The Resume: A look at Louisville's NCAA tournament profile

With all that in mind, it' time to reassess the ACC power rankings and see where Louisville stacks up in the nation's toughest conference.

1. Duke (12-1): The Blue Devils have dealt with their fair share of drama and tumult to start the season, from Grayson Allen's outburst and indefinite suspension to a rash of injuries. But there's a reason Mike Krzyzewski's team was the clear preseason No. 1. Sure, Villanova, UCLA, Kansas and Baylor are ranked ahead of Duke, but I don't think anyone would argue that Duke is the best team in the land.

2. Louisville (11-1): U of L enters conference play with the best NCAA tournament resume of the bunch. The Cards have already beaten Kentucky, Purdue and Wichita State, and they have one more non-league game against No. 16 Indiana on Saturday. U of L's only loss is to Baylor, the No. 4 team in the nation. Rick Pitino's squad has a balanced scoring attack and the most efficient defense in college basketball, according to Ken Pomeroy's analytics site.

More U of L coverage: Cards Numbers You Should Know

3. North Carolina (11-2): The Tar Heels have veteran talent and the experience of reaching last season's title game. They beat a very good Wisconsin team, but they dropped their two other marquee matchups, losing to Indiana and Kentucky. There is no doubt that UNC will serve as one of the top challengers to Duke, but the Heels have left a lot to be desired on the defensive end in their two biggest games.

4. Virginia (10-1): Wednesday's game against Louisville is just the second time this season that UVA will have played a team in the top 40 of Pomeroy's efficiency ratings, so it'll be a good barometer of how good Tony Bennett's squad actually is. The Cavaliers dropped their only big game, at home vs. West Virginia, but they appear to be the same old defensive juggernaut they have been. The biggest question: Can Kyle Guy emerge as Virginia's second scorer behind London Perrantes? UVA could use more scoring threats.

5. Florida State (12-1): The talent was never the question in Tallahassee. FSU has at least two future NBA players, Jonathan Isaac and Dwayne Bacon, and a lot of size. The Seminoles' win over Florida serves as the top victory on their resume so far, but they also have solid wins against Minnesota and Illinois. We'll find out real fast where FSU truly stands in the league, with Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Louisville on the schedule between Dec. 31 and Jan. 21.

6. Notre Dame (10-2): Virginia Tech and Clemson both have better wins on their ledgers, but we're betting on the Irish who gave Villanova and Purdue all they could handle. The quartet of Bonzie Colson, V.J. Beachem, Matt Farrell and Steve Vasturia has produced at a high level. It's still unclear if Notre Dame can defend well enough to climb into the ACC title race.

7. Virginia Tech (10-1): Tech has three solid wins against Michigan, Nebraska and Ole Miss, and no bad losses. Zach LeDay has been the star Virginia Tech hoped he'd be, averaging 16.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. But the same question that faces Notre Dame persists with Virginia Tech: Can the Hokies defend?

8. Clemson (9-2): That the Tigers are eighth shows how tough the ACC could be this season. Clemson is off to a strong start, with an impressive victory over in-state nemesis South Carolina. What will help Clemson down the line is having five of its toughest conference games at home: North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Florida State and NC State. If the league plays out similarly to these power rankings, that is five opportunities to notch resume-building wins.

9. Miami (9-2): There is a lot to like, from freshman Bruce Brown's great start (10.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists per game) to the Hurricanes' stout defense. Opponents are shooting 27.8 percent from 3-point range against Miami - and 40.5 percent on 2-pointers. But Jim Larranaga's team whiffed on its two tough non-conference games, Iowa State and Florida, so we're not sure how good Miami is.

10. Pittsburgh (10-2): Michael Young and Jamel Artis have quietly put together two quality four-year careers, but Pitt is still hobbling around with a miserable loss to Duquesne and an uncharacteristically bad defense. The Marquette and Maryland wins are nice, but I'm not sure Pitt has enough talent and depth to keep up in the ACC. It'll be a wire-to-wire bubble fight for the Panthers.

11. NC State (10-2): I think the Wolfpack's ceiling is higher than that of Pittsburgh and probably higher than those of Virginia Tech, Clemson and Miami, too. That's because freshmen Dennis Smith Jr. and Omer Yurtseven have first-round talent. But NC State hasn't beaten anyone yet, and Creighton and Illinois both dispatched Mark Gottfried's guys by double digits. A week's worth of games against Miami, Virginia Tech and North Carolina to start ACC play will test them.

12. Wake Forest (9-3): There isn't a bad loss on Wake Forest's resume so far, as the Demon Deacons have represented themselves well in close losses to Northwestern and Xavier. But they were 9-3 last year at this time before imploding, losing 17 of their final 19 games. John Collins and Bryant Crawford look good enough to avoid that fate again this season.

13. Syracuse (7-5): Billed as a potential sleeper in the ACC title race, the Orange look like anything but that. Syracuse has enough talent to bother big-name opponents and pick a few of them off. Instead, we're wondering how the Orange lost by a million to St. John's and dropped games to not-very-good Connecticut and Georgetown.

14. Georgia Tech (7-4): The Yellow Jackets don't look awful. The win over VCU stands as a positive in the early portion of the schedule. A run of 11 games against teams ranked in the top 60 of Pomeroy's efficiency ratings from Dec. 31-Feb. 4 will probably demoralize a rebuilding Tech program, though.

15. Boston College (7-6): The losses to Nicholls State, Hartford and Fairfield don't look good. They actually look like the kind of losses that get Power Five coaches fired. And just when I thought BC couldn't possibly be any worse, the Eagles go and beat Providence ... and totally redeem themselves. Kind of. I think it's a good bet BC wins at least one league game this season.