dukejunkie
01-26-2009, 09:07 PM
While watching Notre Dame versus Marquette tonight I thought it was odd that they just played UConn Saturday. Coach K likes to compartmentalize two tightly scheduled games as preparation for the NCAA Tournament. While it seems like a great idea, it doesn't happen after the regular season starts in the ACC.
After looking at Big East scheduling, the top teams get more than one shot at a Monday game. It seems a quick match-up versus two Big East teams is better preparation than Duke will ever get. Teams like UConn get two chances at such mini tourneys (Sat-Mon).
Coach K likes to plan tough out of conference games during the regular season so the squad is prepared for other styles it doesn’t see in the ACC. However, back-to-back games in two days versus top ten teams makes the first rounds of tournament competition seem easy. Is it possible (and I haven't looked at the empirical statistics) that is part of the reason the ACC hasn't done as well in the NCAAs recently?
I seem to recall ACC games on Tuesdays in the past. This would allow for Sunday-Tuesday games. If they used to play on Tuesday, did this change because of ESPN? Can the ACC set some of these "tourney tests" up?
After looking at Big East scheduling, the top teams get more than one shot at a Monday game. It seems a quick match-up versus two Big East teams is better preparation than Duke will ever get. Teams like UConn get two chances at such mini tourneys (Sat-Mon).
Coach K likes to plan tough out of conference games during the regular season so the squad is prepared for other styles it doesn’t see in the ACC. However, back-to-back games in two days versus top ten teams makes the first rounds of tournament competition seem easy. Is it possible (and I haven't looked at the empirical statistics) that is part of the reason the ACC hasn't done as well in the NCAAs recently?
I seem to recall ACC games on Tuesdays in the past. This would allow for Sunday-Tuesday games. If they used to play on Tuesday, did this change because of ESPN? Can the ACC set some of these "tourney tests" up?