ACC: Final regular-season rankings

North Carolina secured the No. 1 seed for the ACC tournament and remains the conference’s most talented team. But with seven wins in a row and three stable senior starters, Maryland might be the most dangerous team heading into the tournament despite failing to secure a first-round bye.

1. North Carolina
2. Maryland
3. Virginia
4. Virginia Tech
5. Boston College
6. Duke
7. Georgia Tech
8. Clemson
9. Florida State
10. N.C. State
11. Wake Forest
12. Miami

Player of the week: Senior Al Thornton scored 45 points in a game Florida State had to win to keep its at-large NCAA tournament hopes alive. Thornton came up one point short of the school scoring record in a 98-90 overtime win.

Coach of the week: Needing to win twice to have a realistic chance at an at-large NCAA tournament bid, Clemson won in overtime over Miami and by one point at Virginia Tech. Give Oliver Purnell credit for winning two close ones under tremendous pressure.

Play of the week: Duke freshman Gerald Henderson’s hard foul made blood stream from Tyler Hansbrough’s nose, ratcheting up the animosity in a Duke-North Carolina rivalry that has been tame since Roy Williams took over as the Tar Heels’ coach.

Dunk of the week: Henderson drove baseline for a wicked, two-handed, second-half jam that was easily forgotten – along with his 16 points – because of his foul on Hansbrough and subsequent ejection.

On deck: The best game in the first round of the ACC tournament should be No. 8 seed Clemson vs. No. 9 seed Florida State. Both teams finished 7-9 in the ACC and have NCAA tournament hopes that could be bolstered with a first-round win.

- Ken Tysiac