This Week in the ACC - 11/28-12/4

[pfrduke]

Better late than never, right? Last week was decidedly so-so, with some decent wins over BCS opponents, but some unfortunate losses. Most disappointing is that, unless Clemson shows well at the Diamond Head next month, for the second straight year Duke will be the only ACC team to win its preseason tournament (and again, the vast majority of the ACC teams in pre-season tourney play did not reach the tournament finals).

This week, of course, is ripe with opportunities against BCS opponents, and although the prevailing wisdom is that the ACC is likely to draw the short straw, you never know what can happen once the ball gets tipped.

Monday was dark.

Tuesday features 2 of the 3 ACC teams hosting undefeated B1G opponents, with the marquee matchup between Duke and OSU. The goal of Tuesday is to avoid a huge deficit for the ACC - very few of these games look to be favorable matchups.

[37]Virginia hosts [33]Michigan
[70]Georgia Tech hosts [43]Northwestern
[104]Maryland hosts [45]Illinois
[40]Miami at [13]Purdue
[50]Clemson at [109]Iowa
[6]Duke at [3]Ohio State

Avoiding a deficit on Tuesday is critical because Wednesday presents an even less favorable slate. Per Pomeroy (who seems unusually high on the B1G teams), the ACC is the favorite in precisely zero second-day matchups (although I'm not sure you could find many people willing to back Wisconsin straight up on the road against the Heels)

[247]Boston College hosts [142]Penn State
[62]NC State hosts [22]Indiana
[18]Florida State at [14]Michigan State
[39]Virginia Tech at [47]Minnesota
[176]Wake Forest at [60]Nebraska
[5]North Carolina hosts [2]Wisconsin

Thursday and Friday are dark (and hopefully not filled with the licking of wounds)

Saturday kicks off with a UNC-Kentucky matchup that should feature the most future NBA professionals of any contest this season. I haven't watched a ton of Kentucky, but from the few games I've seen, I think they might be the best team in the country when everyone is clicking on all cylinders. Davis, Gilchrist, and Jones are an impressive frontcourt. UMass continues its tour of the ACC with a trip to Miami, BC squares off against in-city rival BU, and Georgia Tech travels to a Tulane squad that has beaten all comers thus far (which mostly include the little sisters of the poor - Tulane is ranked as the third-worst remaining unbeaten, ahead of North Dakota State and Auburn).

[5]North Carolina at [1]Kentucky
[176]Wake Forest hosts [81]Richmond
[37]Virginia hosts [319]Longwood
[40]Miami hosts [129]Massachusetts
[247]Boston College hosts [166]Boston University
[70]Georgia Tech at [108]Tulane

Sunday puts four squads in action, all against BCS opposition. Clemson has a rivalry game with South Carolina, NC State heads west to play a rejuvenated Stanford squad, Maryland hosts Notre Dame in the annual BB&T event, and Virginia Tech gets a home rematch of last year's game in Manhattan (neither the Hokies nor Kansas State are as good as last year).

[50]Clemson hosts [139]South Carolina
[62]NC State at [21]Stanford
[104]Maryland vs. [55]Notre Dame in D.C.
[39]Virginia Tech hosts [42]Kansas State

Standings to come.

[loran16]

Better late than never, right? Last week was decidedly so-so, with some decent wins over BCS opponents, but some unfortunate losses. Most disappointing is that, unless Clemson shows well at the Diamond Head next month, for the second straight year Duke will be the only ACC team to win its preseason tournament (and again, the vast majority of the ACC teams in pre-season tourney play did not reach the tournament finals).

This week, of course, is ripe with opportunities against BCS opponents, and although the prevailing wisdom is that the ACC is likely to draw the short straw, you never know what can happen once the ball gets tipped.

Monday was dark.

Tuesday features 2 of the 3 ACC teams hosting undefeated B1G opponents, with the marquee matchup between Duke and OSU. The goal of Tuesday is to avoid a huge deficit for the ACC - very few of these games look to be favorable matchups.

[37]Virginia hosts [33]Michigan
[70]Georgia Tech hosts [43]Northwestern
[104]Maryland hosts [45]Illinois
[40]Miami at [13]Purdue
[50]Clemson at [109]Iowa
[6]Duke at [3]Ohio State

Avoiding a deficit on Tuesday is critical because Wednesday presents an even less favorable slate. Per Pomeroy (who seems unusually high on the B1G teams), the ACC is the favorite in precisely zero second-day matchups (although I'm not sure you could find many people willing to back Wisconsin straight up on the road against the Heels)

[247]Boston College hosts [142]Penn State
[62]NC State hosts [22]Indiana
[18]Florida State at [14]Michigan State
[39]Virginia Tech at [47]Minnesota
[176]Wake Forest at [60]Nebraska
[5]North Carolina hosts [2]Wisconsin

Thursday and Friday are dark (and hopefully not filled with the licking of wounds)

Saturday kicks off with a UNC-Kentucky matchup that should feature the most future NBA professionals of any contest this season. I haven't watched a ton of Kentucky, but from the few games I've seen, I think they might be the best team in the country when everyone is clicking on all cylinders. Davis, Gilchrist, and Jones are an impressive frontcourt. UMass continues its tour of the ACC with a trip to Miami, BC squares off against in-city rival BU, and Georgia Tech travels to a Tulane squad that has beaten all comers thus far (which mostly include the little sisters of the poor - Tulane is ranked as the third-worst remaining unbeaten, ahead of North Dakota State and Auburn).

[5]North Carolina at [1]Kentucky
[176]Wake Forest hosts [81]Richmond
[37]Virginia hosts [319]Longwood
[40]Miami hosts [129]Massachusetts
[247]Boston College hosts [166]Boston University
[70]Georgia Tech at [108]Tulane

Sunday puts four squads in action, all against BCS opposition. Clemson has a rivalry game with South Carolina, NC State heads west to play a rejuvenated Stanford squad, Maryland hosts Notre Dame in the annual BB&T event, and Virginia Tech gets a home rematch of last year's game in Manhattan (neither the Hokies nor Kansas State are as good as last year).

[50]Clemson hosts [139]South Carolina
[62]NC State at [21]Stanford
[104]Maryland vs. [55]Notre Dame in D.C.
[39]Virginia Tech hosts [42]Kansas State

Standings to come.

UNC goes down to UK (fine).
Tulane is beating GT.

And Boston College....good god.....loses to Boston University AT BC (A home game!) by 14. (Oh and Wake lost to Richmond). BC is TERRIBLE.

[Kedsy]

And Boston College....good god.....loses to Boston University AT BC (A home game!) by 14. (Oh and Wake lost to Richmond). BC is TERRIBLE.

Well, if Pomeroy rated BC as 247 and BU as 166, you'd expect BU to win, even at BC, probably by low double-digits, wouldn't you?

[loran16]

Well, if Pomeroy rated BC as 247 and BU as 166, you'd expect BU to win, even at BC, probably by low double-digits, wouldn't you?

Pomeroy expected a 2 point BU win to be sure. But:
1. It's still embarrassing for BC to not even be the favorite and for it to do nothing to change that situation.
2. They didn't lose by 2. They lost by 14. And in the last 10 minutes, it wasn't close.

[Olympic Fan]

Saturday was a pretty dismal day for the ACC.

UNC's loss to kentucky was hardly embarrassing -- especially not in Lexington -- but the accumulation of disappointments is helping to sink the ACC again.

Wake Forest falls at home to a two-loss Richmond game, kind of killing the momentum of their ACC-Big Ten win over Nebraska. The Deacs were down 23 midway through the second half, made a nice little surge, but never got closer than five.

Boston College continues its downward spiral, losing at home to Boston U. -- it's first loss to the Terriers since 1974. It was a close game -- with just over three minutes left, the Eagles were down four ... but BU pulled away at the end and won going away.

Worse was Georgia Tech's late loss at Tulane. The Jackets trailed most of the game, but took the lead on a couple of nice plays by Udofia -- a driving shot and a feed to Holsey for the dunk. But with just about a nimune left, GT had two possessions with a one-point lead. On the first, Rice launched a 3-point air ball with over 25 seconds left on the shot clock. On the second, Tulane intercepts a crosscourt pass at the top of the key and races for a breakaway dunk to recapture the lead. The last 45 seconds or so are a disaster as Tech bombs away from three and Tulane makes their FTs.

the ACC drops to 58-31 on the season (67.4 percent). It's early, but that's on pace to be the ACC's worst non-conference percentage since 1967.

Hopefully, things will look better after Sunday's four games, but I suspect that the ACC will only be favored in one (South Carolina at Clemson).

[DukieInBrasil]

UVA is playing well vs. Geo. Mason. Mike Scott looks good. Up 14.