This Week in the ACC: 12/22-12/28

[pfrduke]

Another week brings more of the same. The top of the conference continues to look good, with Duke taking down Elon and UConn (albeit somewhat sloppily in both instances), Virginia absolutely dismantling a good Harvard team, Louisville taking care of business against the Hilltoppers (notwithstanding losing Montrezl Harrell to a punch), UNC, which seems to have slipped solidly into the #4 spot, taking down Ohio State, and Notre Dame, which has been very frisky in the non-conference, destroying Purdue. The middle of the conference was less impressive, with Syracuse literally giving away a chance at a marquee win, Miami looking the precise opposite of impressive against Eastern Kentucky, and NC State not able to get by West Virginia. Still, if it's any consolation, our week was not (http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400586741) as (http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400595420) bad (http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400595422) as (http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400586377) the (http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400587455) Big Ten's.

Monday

[113]Florida State beat [331]Stetson 63-59 - as a result of this game, FSU dropped from 113 to 121.
[24]Notre Dame hosts [258]Northern Illinois (7:00, ESPN3)
[127]Wake Forest hosts [249]Bucknell (7:00, ESPN3)
[36]Syracuse hosts [203]Colgate (7:00, ESPNU)
[128]Clemson hosts [198]Oakland (7:00, ESPN3)
[181]Virginia Tech hosts [286]Virginia Military Institute (7:00, ESPN3)
[65]Miami vs. [60]Providence in Brooklyn (9:00, Fox Sports 1) - both of these teams have Jekyll and Hyde-d their way through the first couple months, with Providence beating Notre Dame but losing to BC and Brown and Miami beating Florida and Illinois but losing to Green Bay and Eastern Kentucky.

Tuesday

[5]Louisville hosts [287]Cal State Northridge (7:00, ESPNU) - let's hope none of the Cardinals throws a punch in this one
[69]Pittsburgh hosts [197]Holy Cross (7:00)
[52]NC State hosts [71]Louisiana Tech (7:00)
[84]Georgia Tech at [63]Dayton (8:00, CBSSN)

Wednesday - Friday is dark. Happy holidays all!

Saturday is, with all due apologies to Duke and Wisconsin, the non-conference game of the year, once quality of team and intensity of rivalry are both taken into account. I'll leave the analysis to others more capable, but let me just say that I likely will never root harder for a Rick Pitino-coached team.

[5]Louisville hosts [1]Kentucky (2:00, ESPN2)
[12]North Carolina hosts [222]Alabama-Birmingham (4:00, ESPN2)
[181]Virginia Tech hosts [349]Presbyterian (7:00)

Sunday

[36]Syracuse hosts [104]Long Beach (2:00, ESPNU)
[127]Wake Forest at [78]Richmond (4:00, NBCSN)

ACC Non-Conference Record: 117-39
ACC Record vs. BCS:* 25-22
America East: 4-0
American Athletic: 7-0
Atlantic Sun: 3-1
Atlantic Ten: 9-3
Big 12: 1-2
Big East: 1-6
Big South: 6-3
B1G Ten: 13-8
Big West: 0-1
Colonial: 5-1
Conference USA: 6-0
Horizon: 3-1
Ivy: 1-0
MAAC: 6-1
MAC: 2-0
MEAC: 11-1
Missouri Valley: 0-1
Mountain West: 3-1
Northeast: 4-0
Ohio Valley: 2-1
Pac-12: 2-2
Patriot: 4-0
SEC: 8-4
Southern: 6-1
Southland: 1-0
Summit: 1-0
Sun Belt: 2-1
SWAC: 4-0
WAC: 1-0
Non D-1: 1-0

*refers to Big XII, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC. The AAC is just a completely mediocre basketball conference and crediting wins over the likes of Tulane and South Florida as wins over major conference caliber opponents is just silly. And yes, BCS is now a completely outdated reference derived from an entirely separate sport, but it's handy shorthand.

[SCMatt33]

Not sure they really earned it, but a very good win for Wake at Richmond, easily their best of the season so far. For those who didn't see wake led by a couple of possessions for much of the game before getting down 4 in the final minute. They hit a good three to draw within one, and then a very fortunate sequence ensued. After nearly forcing a 5 second call on the inbounds (saved by a very late timeout), Wake gave up a homerun ball to go down three, on the next possession, Wake banked in a three pointer from NBA range to tie. Richmond got a decent look at the rim (though it was contested) but missed and Wake had about 5 seconds to run up up the court. Danny Manning decided not to use his timeout and after nearly traveling, they threw up a long 2 point shot/pass the Devin Thomas beautifully tipped in at the buzzer.

I'd probably be sick about that final sequence if I were a Richmond fan, but it will instead go down as a nice moment, dare I say miracle (sorry, couldn't resist) for Danny Mannings fledgling ball club.