pfrduke
11-07-2011, 12:05 PM
First, off, I can't tell you how exciting it is to be writing these posts again. It seems both like it's been a long offseason since Arizona couldn't miss, and yet somehow the start of the season has snuck up on us (at least, it has on me). The 2012 season officially begins tonight with first round action in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, but no ACC teams are participating and there's no ACC action until Friday. All that said, let's see how everyone tips it off - as always, all ranks are Pomeroy as of the date of posting.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are dark.
Friday starts the season for 8 of 12, including every team on Tobacco road. The lead game is basketball on a boat, as UNC and Michigan State face off on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego. Everybody else is playing at home. Wake Forest hosts a Loyola (Md) squad coming off a 15-15 season and a 5th place finish in the MAAC (aka, a better season than Wake had). Miami gets Tennessee Tech, a 20-game winner from last season whose top scorers and rebounders are all back for the senior seasons - they were the pre-season pick to finish second in the OVC. NC State plays host to UNC-Asheville, also a 20-game winner last year and the pre-season pick to win the Big South. Florida State takes on Jacksonville, yet another 20-win team last year, picked this year to finish 3rd (behind Belmont) in the Atlantic Sun. And, of course, Duke plays host to Belmont in the mainland version of the Maui Invitational; the Bruins are coming off of a 30-5 season, are picked again to win the Atlantic Sun, and may be stalking the top 25 for much, if not all, of the season. We talked at some length in the off-season about how poor the ACC's scheduling was last season - taking on mid-majors with some degree of teeth is a step in the right direction. Clemson and Georgia Tech missed the memo a bit, though, as they play Gardner-Webb (11-21 last year, picked to finish 10th in the Big South), and Florida A&M (12-20 last year, picked to finish last in the MEAC).
[3]North Carolina in San Diego vs. [24]Michigan State
[156]Wake Forest hosts [148]Loyola Md.
[25]Miami hosts [163]Tennessee Tech
[65]NC States hosts [157]UNC-Asheville
[28]Florida State hosts [151]Jacksonville
[35]Clemson hosts [310]Gardner-Webb
[85]Georgia Tech hosts [321]Florida A&M
[4]Duke hosts [27]Belmont
Saturday introduces this season's Virginia Tech squad, who is already several men down and firmly on the bubble. They face an East Tennessee State squad that finished second to Belmont last year in the A-Sun with 24 wins and is picked to do the same again this season. ETSU also had more postseason wins last season than did the Hokies. Duke is also back in action for what could (knocking firmly on wood) by the Knight-tier. Although I think it's safe to say this - if one of Duke's first two opponents keeps K from tying Knight in the first two games, it won't be Presbyterian, who figures to be the worst team Duke plays all season.
[52]Virginia Tech hosts [152]East Tennessee State
[4]Duke hosts [254]Presbyterian
Sunday puts two more teams in action for the first time as Virginia and Maryland take to the court. Both teams have what should be easy contests - for Maryland, they face a UNC-Wilmington team that has come a long way down from the squad that was a Drew Nicholas buzzer beater away from taking out the Terps in the first round of the NCAAs way back when Maryland was the defending champion. Not that Maryland has completely avoided a similar fall itself - to say the very least, this figures not to be a championship caliber season in College Park. By the way, pay no mind if Maryland has 10 wins going into conference play - they play 7 opponents picked to finish 210th or worse in the country. Virginia is a bit of a trendy sleeper pick with Mike Scott back for another senior season. A match up against SC State, probably one of the worst 30 teams in the country, won't tell us much one way or the other. UNC travels to UNC-Asheville in a stop-over game on the way home from San Diego (I kid), while NC State kicks off the Legends Classic by hosting Morehead State, another mid-major that could show signs of friskiness.
[88]Virginia hosts [319]South Carolina State
[3]North Carolina at [157]UNC-Asheville
[65]NC State hosts [172]Morehead State
[47]Maryland hosts [234]UNC-Wilmington
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are dark.
Friday starts the season for 8 of 12, including every team on Tobacco road. The lead game is basketball on a boat, as UNC and Michigan State face off on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego. Everybody else is playing at home. Wake Forest hosts a Loyola (Md) squad coming off a 15-15 season and a 5th place finish in the MAAC (aka, a better season than Wake had). Miami gets Tennessee Tech, a 20-game winner from last season whose top scorers and rebounders are all back for the senior seasons - they were the pre-season pick to finish second in the OVC. NC State plays host to UNC-Asheville, also a 20-game winner last year and the pre-season pick to win the Big South. Florida State takes on Jacksonville, yet another 20-win team last year, picked this year to finish 3rd (behind Belmont) in the Atlantic Sun. And, of course, Duke plays host to Belmont in the mainland version of the Maui Invitational; the Bruins are coming off of a 30-5 season, are picked again to win the Atlantic Sun, and may be stalking the top 25 for much, if not all, of the season. We talked at some length in the off-season about how poor the ACC's scheduling was last season - taking on mid-majors with some degree of teeth is a step in the right direction. Clemson and Georgia Tech missed the memo a bit, though, as they play Gardner-Webb (11-21 last year, picked to finish 10th in the Big South), and Florida A&M (12-20 last year, picked to finish last in the MEAC).
[3]North Carolina in San Diego vs. [24]Michigan State
[156]Wake Forest hosts [148]Loyola Md.
[25]Miami hosts [163]Tennessee Tech
[65]NC States hosts [157]UNC-Asheville
[28]Florida State hosts [151]Jacksonville
[35]Clemson hosts [310]Gardner-Webb
[85]Georgia Tech hosts [321]Florida A&M
[4]Duke hosts [27]Belmont
Saturday introduces this season's Virginia Tech squad, who is already several men down and firmly on the bubble. They face an East Tennessee State squad that finished second to Belmont last year in the A-Sun with 24 wins and is picked to do the same again this season. ETSU also had more postseason wins last season than did the Hokies. Duke is also back in action for what could (knocking firmly on wood) by the Knight-tier. Although I think it's safe to say this - if one of Duke's first two opponents keeps K from tying Knight in the first two games, it won't be Presbyterian, who figures to be the worst team Duke plays all season.
[52]Virginia Tech hosts [152]East Tennessee State
[4]Duke hosts [254]Presbyterian
Sunday puts two more teams in action for the first time as Virginia and Maryland take to the court. Both teams have what should be easy contests - for Maryland, they face a UNC-Wilmington team that has come a long way down from the squad that was a Drew Nicholas buzzer beater away from taking out the Terps in the first round of the NCAAs way back when Maryland was the defending champion. Not that Maryland has completely avoided a similar fall itself - to say the very least, this figures not to be a championship caliber season in College Park. By the way, pay no mind if Maryland has 10 wins going into conference play - they play 7 opponents picked to finish 210th or worse in the country. Virginia is a bit of a trendy sleeper pick with Mike Scott back for another senior season. A match up against SC State, probably one of the worst 30 teams in the country, won't tell us much one way or the other. UNC travels to UNC-Asheville in a stop-over game on the way home from San Diego (I kid), while NC State kicks off the Legends Classic by hosting Morehead State, another mid-major that could show signs of friskiness.
[88]Virginia hosts [319]South Carolina State
[3]North Carolina at [157]UNC-Asheville
[65]NC State hosts [172]Morehead State
[47]Maryland hosts [234]UNC-Wilmington