pfrduke
03-19-2013, 10:34 AM
First off, a fond farewell to Boston College, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest. Some of you exceeded expectations, others fell short, others were, roughly, who we thought you would be, but all of you are done playing for 2013. As for the rest of the league, we've got three squads in the NIT and four in the NCAAs - interestingly enough, everyone opens on the same two days. Here's to the conference having a better postseason than regular season.
Monday was dark.
Tuesday tips off NIT play. Maryland gets things going, hosting regular season MAAC champions Niagara. Niagara had a rough non-conference season, with its only non-conference top 100 win coming over New Mexico State (it also went just 1-2 against Iona, the only top 100 team in the MAAC). Looking at opponents that rank somewhat similar to the Terps, Niagara got smoked by both Bucknell (88-71) and Notre Dame (89-67). FSU tips off next, hosting Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs were the darlings of the WAC before getting pasted by New Mexico State and Denver at the end of the regular season and dropping the opening round tournament game to UTSA. They come into this game on a 3-game losing streak after having won 17 straight just before that. Tech is awful on offense but very stingy on defense and particularly good at forcing turnovers, something that has been a weakness for the Noles all season. FSU is the slight favorite only because the game is in Tallahassee. Finally, Virginia hosts one of the darlings of last year's NCAAT - Norfolk State. This year's version went undefeated in regular season MEAC play before dropping an opening-round overtime game to Bethune-Cookman. No top 100 wins; the only 3 top 100 games were a 10 point loss to Illinois, a 22 point loss to NC State, and a 28 point loss to Iona. Virginia (the highest ranked team in Pomeroy not to get into the field) was lights out at home this season (Delaware game notwithstanding) and should be again tonight.
[55]Maryland hosts [130]Niagara
[117]Florida State hosts [86]Louisiana Tech
[27]Virginia hosts [224]Norfolk State
Wednesday and Thursday are dark (although Thursday may have second round NIT action - if they win, Maryland gets the winner of Denver/Ohio, Virginia gets the winner of St. Joseph's/St. John's, and FSU gets the winner of Southern Miss/Charleston Southern. This post will update as results/schedules develop).
Friday gets us the real thing - NCAA action for four ACC schools. Duke kicks things off against Albany. I know a lot of people here have PTSD from the Lehigh game, but Albany is a much worse team than Lehigh was last year and should not be quite as much of a threat. The Wolfpack get the Temple Owls, which may have had as schizophrenic a season as State did - Temple beat three top teams in Syracuse, St. Louis, and VCU (plus gave Kansas all it could handle in Allen Fieldhouse) but dropped games to Canisius, St. Bonaventure, and Duquesne (the Dukes' only A-10 win). Khalif Wyatt is really good, but Brown has the size to contain him. Temple's D is not particularly strong - and neither is NC State's - so this could be a high scoring game. Miami goes next against the Pacific Tigers out of the Big West. Pacific played a tough non-conference schedule (other than a couple non-DI games) and shouldn't be intimated by the Canes. Three-point shooting is their hallmark - 13th in the country at 39% as a team, they have 8 guys who made at least 20 threes and all shot better than 34%. While that could be the recipe for an upset, they will have an incredibly difficult time stopping Miami from scoring, particularly inside where they don't have anyone with the size to deal with Kadji, Johnson, or Gamble. Concluding the day is UNC against Villanova, another team with high-level wins (Louisville, Syracuse, Marquette, Georgetown) and low-level losses (Columbia, Seton Hall, Providence twice). The one thing they do best - literally, better than any other team in the country - is get to the line, but Carolina is excellent at avoiding fouls (insert snarky Carolina refs comment here) and Villanova is otherwise terrible on offense. The matchup between Jayvaughn Pinkston and PJ Hairston should be fun to watch - Pinkston is the focus of their offense and loves to play inside; PJ has the size to match him, but if he gets in foul trouble (Pinkston draws 7.8 fouls per 40 on opponents) and has to sit large chunks of the game, Carolina's offense could really struggle for it.
[6]Duke vs. [147]Albany in Philadelphia
[35]NC State vs. [68]Temple in Dayton
[14]Miami vs. [121]Pacific in Austin
[28]North Carolina vs. [45]Villanova in Kansas City
Saturday and Sunday hopefully will be filled with hoops - to be updated as results and schedules are announced.
Monday was dark.
Tuesday tips off NIT play. Maryland gets things going, hosting regular season MAAC champions Niagara. Niagara had a rough non-conference season, with its only non-conference top 100 win coming over New Mexico State (it also went just 1-2 against Iona, the only top 100 team in the MAAC). Looking at opponents that rank somewhat similar to the Terps, Niagara got smoked by both Bucknell (88-71) and Notre Dame (89-67). FSU tips off next, hosting Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs were the darlings of the WAC before getting pasted by New Mexico State and Denver at the end of the regular season and dropping the opening round tournament game to UTSA. They come into this game on a 3-game losing streak after having won 17 straight just before that. Tech is awful on offense but very stingy on defense and particularly good at forcing turnovers, something that has been a weakness for the Noles all season. FSU is the slight favorite only because the game is in Tallahassee. Finally, Virginia hosts one of the darlings of last year's NCAAT - Norfolk State. This year's version went undefeated in regular season MEAC play before dropping an opening-round overtime game to Bethune-Cookman. No top 100 wins; the only 3 top 100 games were a 10 point loss to Illinois, a 22 point loss to NC State, and a 28 point loss to Iona. Virginia (the highest ranked team in Pomeroy not to get into the field) was lights out at home this season (Delaware game notwithstanding) and should be again tonight.
[55]Maryland hosts [130]Niagara
[117]Florida State hosts [86]Louisiana Tech
[27]Virginia hosts [224]Norfolk State
Wednesday and Thursday are dark (although Thursday may have second round NIT action - if they win, Maryland gets the winner of Denver/Ohio, Virginia gets the winner of St. Joseph's/St. John's, and FSU gets the winner of Southern Miss/Charleston Southern. This post will update as results/schedules develop).
Friday gets us the real thing - NCAA action for four ACC schools. Duke kicks things off against Albany. I know a lot of people here have PTSD from the Lehigh game, but Albany is a much worse team than Lehigh was last year and should not be quite as much of a threat. The Wolfpack get the Temple Owls, which may have had as schizophrenic a season as State did - Temple beat three top teams in Syracuse, St. Louis, and VCU (plus gave Kansas all it could handle in Allen Fieldhouse) but dropped games to Canisius, St. Bonaventure, and Duquesne (the Dukes' only A-10 win). Khalif Wyatt is really good, but Brown has the size to contain him. Temple's D is not particularly strong - and neither is NC State's - so this could be a high scoring game. Miami goes next against the Pacific Tigers out of the Big West. Pacific played a tough non-conference schedule (other than a couple non-DI games) and shouldn't be intimated by the Canes. Three-point shooting is their hallmark - 13th in the country at 39% as a team, they have 8 guys who made at least 20 threes and all shot better than 34%. While that could be the recipe for an upset, they will have an incredibly difficult time stopping Miami from scoring, particularly inside where they don't have anyone with the size to deal with Kadji, Johnson, or Gamble. Concluding the day is UNC against Villanova, another team with high-level wins (Louisville, Syracuse, Marquette, Georgetown) and low-level losses (Columbia, Seton Hall, Providence twice). The one thing they do best - literally, better than any other team in the country - is get to the line, but Carolina is excellent at avoiding fouls (insert snarky Carolina refs comment here) and Villanova is otherwise terrible on offense. The matchup between Jayvaughn Pinkston and PJ Hairston should be fun to watch - Pinkston is the focus of their offense and loves to play inside; PJ has the size to match him, but if he gets in foul trouble (Pinkston draws 7.8 fouls per 40 on opponents) and has to sit large chunks of the game, Carolina's offense could really struggle for it.
[6]Duke vs. [147]Albany in Philadelphia
[35]NC State vs. [68]Temple in Dayton
[14]Miami vs. [121]Pacific in Austin
[28]North Carolina vs. [45]Villanova in Kansas City
Saturday and Sunday hopefully will be filled with hoops - to be updated as results and schedules are announced.