This Week in the ACC: 12/22-12/28
Another week brings more of the same. The top of the conference continues to look good, with Duke taking down Elon and UConn (albeit somewhat sloppily in both instances), Virginia absolutely dismantling a good Harvard team, Louisville taking care of business against the Hilltoppers (notwithstanding losing Montrezl Harrell to a punch), UNC, which seems to have slipped solidly into the #4 spot, taking down Ohio State, and Notre Dame, which has been very frisky in the non-conference, destroying Purdue. The middle of the conference was less impressive, with Syracuse literally giving away a chance at a marquee win, Miami looking the precise opposite of impressive against Eastern Kentucky, and NC State not able to get by West Virginia. Still, if it's any consolation, our week was not as bad as the Big Ten's.
Monday
[113]Florida State beat [331]Stetson 63-59 - as a result of this game, FSU dropped from 113 to 121.
[24]Notre Dame hosts [258]Northern Illinois (7:00, ESPN3)
[127]Wake Forest hosts [249]Bucknell (7:00, ESPN3)
[36]Syracuse hosts [203]Colgate (7:00, ESPNU)
[128]Clemson hosts [198]Oakland (7:00, ESPN3)
[181]Virginia Tech hosts [286]Virginia Military Institute (7:00, ESPN3)
[65]Miami vs. [60]Providence in Brooklyn (9:00, Fox Sports 1) - both of these teams have Jekyll and Hyde-d their way through the first couple months, with Providence beating Notre Dame but losing to BC and Brown and Miami beating Florida and Illinois but losing to Green Bay and Eastern Kentucky.
Tuesday
[5]Louisville hosts [287]Cal State Northridge (7:00, ESPNU) - let's hope none of the Cardinals throws a punch in this one
[69]Pittsburgh hosts [197]Holy Cross (7:00)
[52]NC State hosts [71]Louisiana Tech (7:00)
[84]Georgia Tech at [63]Dayton (8:00, CBSSN)
Wednesday - Friday is dark. Happy holidays all!
Saturday is, with all due apologies to Duke and Wisconsin, the non-conference game of the year, once quality of team and intensity of rivalry are both taken into account. I'll leave the analysis to others more capable, but let me just say that I likely will never root harder for a Rick Pitino-coached team.
[5]Louisville hosts [1]Kentucky (2:00, ESPN2)
[12]North Carolina hosts [222]Alabama-Birmingham (4:00, ESPN2)
[181]Virginia Tech hosts [349]Presbyterian (7:00)
Sunday
[36]Syracuse hosts [104]Long Beach (2:00, ESPNU)
[127]Wake Forest at [78]Richmond (4:00, NBCSN)
ACC Non-Conference Record: 117-39
ACC Record vs. BCS:* 25-22
America East: 4-0
American Athletic: 7-0
Atlantic Sun: 3-1
Atlantic Ten: 9-3
Big 12: 1-2
Big East: 1-6
Big South: 6-3
B1G Ten: 13-8
Big West: 0-1
Colonial: 5-1
Conference USA: 6-0
Horizon: 3-1
Ivy: 1-0
MAAC: 6-1
MAC: 2-0
MEAC: 11-1
Missouri Valley: 0-1
Mountain West: 3-1
Northeast: 4-0
Ohio Valley: 2-1
Pac-12: 2-2
Patriot: 4-0
SEC: 8-4
Southern: 6-1
Southland: 1-0
Summit: 1-0
Sun Belt: 2-1
SWAC: 4-0
WAC: 1-0
Non D-1: 1-0
*refers to Big XII, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC. The AAC is just a completely mediocre basketball conference and crediting wins over the likes of Tulane and South Florida as wins over major conference caliber opponents is just silly. And yes, BCS is now a completely outdated reference derived from an entirely separate sport, but it's handy shorthand.
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke