So John Gasaway over at basketball prospectus used to run a weekly column (Tuesday Truths) showcasing the offensive and defensive efficiencies of each team during conference play. This identified Duke and MD as the runaway favorites in the ACC last year pretty early.
Unfortunately, BBall Prospectus has gone premium, and I at the very least don't have the spare change to pay up. SO I decided I'd calculate the same #s myself.
So, after 1-2 ACC Games, here's how the ACC stacks up:
Acc Stats Week 1.png
(Click to read a better sized image...I apologize, but I can't find a way to make it a chart so I saved it as an image).
The #s are points per possession. A Higher Efficiency Margin means a team is better than a team with a lower efficiency margin.
Obviously the #s don't mean much at this point...4 teams have only played 1 game, leading to NC State being the most efficient team because their one game was against Wake. But I'll be keeping track all season and by 4 games in, it should be very relevant.
Note that Duke's D has been the key in its first two games, especially because of the Miami game, with no other 2-game team having a good D performance. Also BC's offensive performance has been pretty damn good to date, though their Defense isn't particularly good. And that's with BC playing MD ON THE ROAD, a team that Duke couldn't score a point per possession against.