The first week of the 2021-22 college basketball season is officially in the books. While most are still locked in on the college football season, there were, and will be many more, great non-conference games for ACC basketball teams. It may still be a long way off, but we are starting to see early signs of what to expect from teams in this conference for this season.
With some early crazy games and performances from teams and players in the ACC, let us take a look at a recap from the first week of ACC basketball.
ACC Basketball Opening Week Headlines
After a poor season from the ACC last year, this season has not been much better. The top-tier teams, like North Carolina and Duke, are off to good starts, but they seem to be the only two teams that can contend. The ACC had four ranked teams in the last FlurrySports Top-25, but after a couple of losses, that number may be cut in half. ACC programs had plenty of strong performances and made several headlines during college basketball’s opening week.
Virginia Fallas to Navy
One of the storylines surrounding the ACC this season was how will Virginia respond after losing many of their key players from last year? Tony Bennett is obviously a top-tier coach, but a coach can only do so much. We saw this in Virginia’s first game of the year, as they lost to Navy, 66-58. This was Navy’s first win against a ranked opponent since the David Robinson days.
Jayden Gardner leads the way for the Cavaliers, with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Kihei Clark added 12 points. The story of this game was Navy hitting seven more three-pointers than Virginia and out-rebounding them, 34-27. The Cavaliers played their defensive style of basketball, turning Navy over 17 times. They were unable to capitalize, as they only scored 20 points off of turnovers.
There is a lot to be desired from Virginia’s half-court offense. However, they were able to come back and take down Radford in their next game.
Duke Outlasts Kentucky
The Coach K reunion tour started out with a bang for the Blue Devils, as they took down Kentucky, 79-71. This game saw star-freshman Paolo Banchero score 22 points on 7/11 shooting from the field. Trevor Keels added another 25 points. If this game is indicative of how the season will progress, the Blue Devils look like they will have a strong 1-2 punch in the ACC.
Although they beat Kentucky, it is worrisome to see Duke shoot 1/13 from beyond the arc. They were also taken advantage of on the boards, as Kentucky finished with 16 offensive rebounds. The lack of a true, dominant big guy could spell a problem for the Blue Devils this year.
During the first week, the Blue Devils also took down Army and Campbell to move to 3-0 on the year.
RELATED | FlurrySports Top 25 College Basketball Rankings
Florida State Loses to In-State Rival Florida
Florida State laid an egg against a good Florida team. In a grind-it-out kind of game, the Gators were able to control the boards. The Seminoles were out-rebounded, 40-28, with 16 out of Florida’s rebounds coming on the offensive glass. Malik Osborne poured in 18 points on 6/10 shooting for the Seminoles. He did not get much help, as only one other player for Florida State scored in double figures.
Florida State is an excellently-coached team, but you could tell they were missing their guys in this game. How do you replace Scottie Barnes? You really can’t. What Florida State needs to work on is rebounding the ball, something that they have become accustomed to in recent years.
This Seminoles team may find themselves in the middle of the ACC basketball standings if that rebounding and low-post defense does not improve.
Updated ACC Basketball Standings
| Team | Conf. Record | Overall Record |
| Boston College | 0-0 | 3-0 |
| Duke | 0-0 | 3-0 |
| Clemson | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| North Carolina State | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| North Carolina | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Syracuse | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Virginia Tech | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Wake Forest | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Notre Dame | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Florida State | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Georgia Tech | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Louisville | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Miami | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Virginia | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Pittsburgh | 0-0 | 0-2 |
Upcoming ACC Basketball Games to Note
Here are a handful of ACC games to watch for as week two in college basketball is hours away.
Virginia vs. Houston
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 16
Time: 8 pm EST
TV Coverage: ESPN
Tulane vs. Florida State
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 17
Time: 8 pm EST
TV Coverage: ACC Network
Lafayette vs. Duke
Date: Friday, Nov. 19
Time: 8 pm EST
TV Coverage: ACC Network
North Carolina vs. Purdue
Date: Saturday, Nov. 20
Time: 4 pm EST
TV Coverage: ESPNews
Boston College vs. Utah
Date: Saturday, Nov. 20
Time: 5 pm EST
TV Coverage: N/A
