pfrduke
11-12-2012, 09:37 AM
Florida State's home loss to South Alabama (a team the 'Noles beat by 41 last season) turned the opening weekend into a bit of a disappointment for the conference, something that Maryland almost managed to turn around before falling short to Kentucky in Brooklyn. 9-3 is certainly below where the conference would like to be. Plenty of opportunities to turn things around in the coming week.
Before we get to the slate ahead, it's worth noting that the first pre-season tournaments start in earnest this week. Like the season before, last year was not a particularly good showing for the conference. Duke, of course, won the Maui invitational, but that was the only hardware that the ACC took home. UNC was the only other team even to make the finals of its tournament, losing to UNLV. Let's break down the entire performance:
BC was 1-2 in Anaheim, finishing 6th. Clemson was 1-2 in Honolulu, finishing 6th. Duke was 3-0 in Lahaina to win. FSU was 1-2 in the Bahamas, finishing 4th. Georgia Tech was 1-2 in Charleston, finishing 6th. Maryland was 1-2 in Puerto Rico, finishing 6th. UNC was 1-1 in Vegas (3-1 overall, if you count two home games that didn't matter for reaching the semis, which I don't). NC State was 1-1 in East Rutherford, finishing 3rd (of 4). Virginia managed to go 2-1 in the Virgin Islands, but thanks to a first-round loss to TCU finished 5th (in a tournament that Norfolk State won). The Hokies went 1-1 in the Garden, finishing 3rd (of 4). And Wake went 1-2 in Orlando, finishing 7th. To sum up, in the neutral site games, the ACC went 14-16 and had a grand total of 3 teams that finished even in the top half of the neutral court slate. Ugh. Once again, the ACC has 11 of 12 teams suiting up for pre-season tournaments (Miami sat out last year; Maryland is taking a pass this year). Hopefully the conference can get back above .500 and start putting some teams in the finals.
Let's see what's on tap for a busy week ahead:
Monday puts Clemson on the court for the first time, rounding out the ACC openers. They host a Presbyterian team that shouldn't be too much of a test (although note what the Blue Hose managed to do to Cincinnati last year around this time). FSU and UVA get their tournaments started at home. The Preseason NIT (now, officially, the NIT Season Tip-Off) at least has its opening round games count - a UVA loss to any of Fairfield, Delaware, or Penn will keep the Cavaliers from going to New York. The Coaches vs. Cancer is less strict - FSU is heading to Brooklyn to play BYU despite the loss to South Alabama in the tournament's "opening round."
[75]Clemson hosts [284]Presbyterian
[63]Florida State hosts [129]Buffalo
[74]Virginia hosts [136]Fairfield
[72]Virginia Tech hosts [268]Rhode Island
[118]Maryland hosts [170]Morehead State
Tuesday brings one of the marquee early season game not just for the conference but for the country as a whole with Duke taking on Kentucky in the nightcap of the Champions Classic in Atlanta. This is one of those neutral site games where the crowd in SEC country will not exactly be neutral (yes, I know, you could make the argument that Atlanta is technically more ACC country than SEC country given the presence of Georgia Tech, but you would be wrong). Neither team looked particularly polished in wins on Friday, but then again, it's early in the season. Virginia gets its second round PNIT game, and Miami has a road date with the Eagles of Florida-Gulf Coast.
[10]Duke vs. [3]Kentucky in Atlanta
[74]Virginia hosts [214]Penn/[115]Delaware
[44]Miami at [131]Florida-Gulf Coast
Wednesday offers a bit of a breather with Presbyterian continuing its pre-season ACC tour with a trip to Georgia Tech.
[99]Georgia Tech hosts [284]Presbyterian
Two more pre-season tournaments get underway on Thursday with NC State traveling to Puerto Rico and Boston College making its way to Charleston. To be blunt, the NCSU that wants to be a national player this year simply should win this tournament. None of the other teams in the lineup are ranked, and the kindest words anyone has for the rest of the field is that a couple of the teams "have a real shot to be on the bubble in March." BC, on the other hand, has a much more uphill battle, having to open the Charleston Classic against the favorite, Baylor. Win or lose, a second round matchup against Dayton or Colorado will put the Eagles in the underdog role as well. I hate to say it, because I want to be able to expect more out of our conference brethren, but simply staying out of the 7th place game would be a big accomplishment for BC.
[20]NC State vs. [78]Penn State in Puerto Rico
[153]Boston College vs. [15]Baylor in Charleston
[72]Virginia Tech hosts [277]Virginia Military Institute
Friday will be another full day with one more tournament getting under way (plus the "real" games starting in the Coaches vs. Cancer). For Florida State, wins over BYU and either Notre Dame or St. Joe's would make the South Alabama loss at lot easier to stomach. Wake, like BC, will be playing the role of massive underdog in its opening round game against UConn. Unlike BC, Quinnipiac and Iona represent more beatable second round opponents - for Wake, ending up in the 5th-place game is not an unreasonable expectation, even though they will still be somewhat significant underdogs against either squad (let's all pause and reflect on an ACC team being an underdog on a neutral court against teams from the Metro Atlantic and Northeast conferences - sigh). UNC stops over in Long Beach on the way to Maui in what could be a bit of a trap game. Clemson hits the road but stays in state, traveling to Furman, while Miami continues its pre-conference slate of Florida schools with a home date against Jacksonville.
[149]Boston College vs. [105]Dayton in Charleston
[16]NC State vs. [61]Massachusetts in Puerto Rico
[208]Wake Forest vs. [37]Connecticut in St. Thomas
[63]Florida State vs. [47]BYU in Brooklyn
[16]North Carolina at [114]Long Beach State
[118]Maryland hosts [141]Long Island
[75]Clemson at [264]Furman
[44]Miami hosts [240]Jacksonville
Saturday is final round play in the Coaches vs. Cancer and second round play in the USVI. UVA also steps into the slate, getting a (knock on wood) pre-NY warmup against Seattle U (newly minted member of the WAC).
[63]Florida State vs. [21]Notre Dame/[39]St. Joseph's
[208]Wake Forest vs. [103]Iona/[117]Quinnipiac*
[74]Virginia hosts [249]Seattle U
*note - Wake plays Saturday with a first round loss, or Sunday with a first round win.
Sunday gives us final round play in Puerto Rico and Charleston. I'll update these entries once we see what the slate will be. Duke also gets a pre-Atlantis warm up with Florida Gulf Coast
[15]NC State vs. [42]Oklahoma State in Puerto Rico
[159]Boston College vs. [155]Charleston in Charleston
[10]Duke hosts [131]Florida-Gulf Coast
ACC Non-Conference Record: 9-3
ACC Record vs. BCS: 0-1
Atlantic Sun: 2-0
Big South: 2-0
Colonial: 1-1
CUSA: 1-0
MAC: 1-0
SEC: 0-1
Sun Belt: 2-1
Before we get to the slate ahead, it's worth noting that the first pre-season tournaments start in earnest this week. Like the season before, last year was not a particularly good showing for the conference. Duke, of course, won the Maui invitational, but that was the only hardware that the ACC took home. UNC was the only other team even to make the finals of its tournament, losing to UNLV. Let's break down the entire performance:
BC was 1-2 in Anaheim, finishing 6th. Clemson was 1-2 in Honolulu, finishing 6th. Duke was 3-0 in Lahaina to win. FSU was 1-2 in the Bahamas, finishing 4th. Georgia Tech was 1-2 in Charleston, finishing 6th. Maryland was 1-2 in Puerto Rico, finishing 6th. UNC was 1-1 in Vegas (3-1 overall, if you count two home games that didn't matter for reaching the semis, which I don't). NC State was 1-1 in East Rutherford, finishing 3rd (of 4). Virginia managed to go 2-1 in the Virgin Islands, but thanks to a first-round loss to TCU finished 5th (in a tournament that Norfolk State won). The Hokies went 1-1 in the Garden, finishing 3rd (of 4). And Wake went 1-2 in Orlando, finishing 7th. To sum up, in the neutral site games, the ACC went 14-16 and had a grand total of 3 teams that finished even in the top half of the neutral court slate. Ugh. Once again, the ACC has 11 of 12 teams suiting up for pre-season tournaments (Miami sat out last year; Maryland is taking a pass this year). Hopefully the conference can get back above .500 and start putting some teams in the finals.
Let's see what's on tap for a busy week ahead:
Monday puts Clemson on the court for the first time, rounding out the ACC openers. They host a Presbyterian team that shouldn't be too much of a test (although note what the Blue Hose managed to do to Cincinnati last year around this time). FSU and UVA get their tournaments started at home. The Preseason NIT (now, officially, the NIT Season Tip-Off) at least has its opening round games count - a UVA loss to any of Fairfield, Delaware, or Penn will keep the Cavaliers from going to New York. The Coaches vs. Cancer is less strict - FSU is heading to Brooklyn to play BYU despite the loss to South Alabama in the tournament's "opening round."
[75]Clemson hosts [284]Presbyterian
[63]Florida State hosts [129]Buffalo
[74]Virginia hosts [136]Fairfield
[72]Virginia Tech hosts [268]Rhode Island
[118]Maryland hosts [170]Morehead State
Tuesday brings one of the marquee early season game not just for the conference but for the country as a whole with Duke taking on Kentucky in the nightcap of the Champions Classic in Atlanta. This is one of those neutral site games where the crowd in SEC country will not exactly be neutral (yes, I know, you could make the argument that Atlanta is technically more ACC country than SEC country given the presence of Georgia Tech, but you would be wrong). Neither team looked particularly polished in wins on Friday, but then again, it's early in the season. Virginia gets its second round PNIT game, and Miami has a road date with the Eagles of Florida-Gulf Coast.
[10]Duke vs. [3]Kentucky in Atlanta
[74]Virginia hosts [214]Penn/[115]Delaware
[44]Miami at [131]Florida-Gulf Coast
Wednesday offers a bit of a breather with Presbyterian continuing its pre-season ACC tour with a trip to Georgia Tech.
[99]Georgia Tech hosts [284]Presbyterian
Two more pre-season tournaments get underway on Thursday with NC State traveling to Puerto Rico and Boston College making its way to Charleston. To be blunt, the NCSU that wants to be a national player this year simply should win this tournament. None of the other teams in the lineup are ranked, and the kindest words anyone has for the rest of the field is that a couple of the teams "have a real shot to be on the bubble in March." BC, on the other hand, has a much more uphill battle, having to open the Charleston Classic against the favorite, Baylor. Win or lose, a second round matchup against Dayton or Colorado will put the Eagles in the underdog role as well. I hate to say it, because I want to be able to expect more out of our conference brethren, but simply staying out of the 7th place game would be a big accomplishment for BC.
[20]NC State vs. [78]Penn State in Puerto Rico
[153]Boston College vs. [15]Baylor in Charleston
[72]Virginia Tech hosts [277]Virginia Military Institute
Friday will be another full day with one more tournament getting under way (plus the "real" games starting in the Coaches vs. Cancer). For Florida State, wins over BYU and either Notre Dame or St. Joe's would make the South Alabama loss at lot easier to stomach. Wake, like BC, will be playing the role of massive underdog in its opening round game against UConn. Unlike BC, Quinnipiac and Iona represent more beatable second round opponents - for Wake, ending up in the 5th-place game is not an unreasonable expectation, even though they will still be somewhat significant underdogs against either squad (let's all pause and reflect on an ACC team being an underdog on a neutral court against teams from the Metro Atlantic and Northeast conferences - sigh). UNC stops over in Long Beach on the way to Maui in what could be a bit of a trap game. Clemson hits the road but stays in state, traveling to Furman, while Miami continues its pre-conference slate of Florida schools with a home date against Jacksonville.
[149]Boston College vs. [105]Dayton in Charleston
[16]NC State vs. [61]Massachusetts in Puerto Rico
[208]Wake Forest vs. [37]Connecticut in St. Thomas
[63]Florida State vs. [47]BYU in Brooklyn
[16]North Carolina at [114]Long Beach State
[118]Maryland hosts [141]Long Island
[75]Clemson at [264]Furman
[44]Miami hosts [240]Jacksonville
Saturday is final round play in the Coaches vs. Cancer and second round play in the USVI. UVA also steps into the slate, getting a (knock on wood) pre-NY warmup against Seattle U (newly minted member of the WAC).
[63]Florida State vs. [21]Notre Dame/[39]St. Joseph's
[208]Wake Forest vs. [103]Iona/[117]Quinnipiac*
[74]Virginia hosts [249]Seattle U
*note - Wake plays Saturday with a first round loss, or Sunday with a first round win.
Sunday gives us final round play in Puerto Rico and Charleston. I'll update these entries once we see what the slate will be. Duke also gets a pre-Atlantis warm up with Florida Gulf Coast
[15]NC State vs. [42]Oklahoma State in Puerto Rico
[159]Boston College vs. [155]Charleston in Charleston
[10]Duke hosts [131]Florida-Gulf Coast
ACC Non-Conference Record: 9-3
ACC Record vs. BCS: 0-1
Atlantic Sun: 2-0
Big South: 2-0
Colonial: 1-1
CUSA: 1-0
MAC: 1-0
SEC: 0-1
Sun Belt: 2-1