This Week(end) in the ACC: 11/11-13

[pfrduke]

I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to post this and know that we're back to basketball. Plenty of activity on opening weekend, and although most of it is against teams that charitably could be described as not very likely to win, there are at least a couple of major conference challenges before the calendar hits next week and the real action starts in earnest. Let's go right to the lineup (all times Eastern, all ratings Kenpom):

Friday

[1]Duke hosts [241]Marist (7:00, ACCN Extra)
[23]Clemson hosts [58]Georgia (7:00, ACCN Extra)
[24]Miami hosts [298]Western Carolina (7:00, ACCN Extra)
[35]NC State hosts [139]Georgia Southern (7:00, ACCN Extra)
[12]Syracuse hosts [245]Colgate (7:00, ACCN Extra)
[51]Pittsburgh hosts [87]Eastern Michigan (7:00, ACCN Extra)
[9]Louisville hosts [143]Evansville (7:00, ACCN Extra)
[154]Boston College hosts [321]Nicholls State (7:00, ACCN Extra)
[7]Virginia at [174]UNC-Greensboro (7:00, ESPN3)
[76]Wake Forest hosts [282]Radford (7:30, ACCN Extra)
[107]Georgia Tech hosts [267]Tennessee Tech (8:00, ACCN Extra)
[5]North Carolina at [233]Tulane (9:00, ESPNU)
[39]Virginia Tech hosts [345]Maine (9:00, ACCN Extra)

Saturday

[50]Notre Dame hosts [327]Bryant (12:00, ACCN Extra)
[40]Florida State hosts [286]Charleston Southern (1:00, ACCN Extra)
[1]Duke hosts [187]Grand Canyon (5:30, ACCN Extra)

Sunday

[35]NC State hosts [324]St. Francis (NY) (2:00, ACCN Extra)
[76]Wake Forest hosts [189]Bucknell (2:00, ACCN Extra)
[5]North Carolina hosts [96]Chattanooga (4:00, ESPN2)

[Wahoo2000]

Really hope Clemson is able to buck their tendency to start seasons off slowly. If the ACC is going to get 9 or more teams in the tourney, we need to have a sparkling OOC record.

I'll also have one eye on that Pitt-E Mich game. Interested in seeing how Stallings will have Pitt competing out of the gate.

Not sure there's any other contest this weekend that we'll be able to draw much from.

ACC aggregate weekend record "success meter":
19-0 - Woo-Hoo! :D
18-1 or 17-2 - Boo-Hoo... :(
16-3 (or worse) - Poo-Poo :mad:

[rasputin]

Really hope Clemson is able to buck their tendency to start seasons off slowly. If the ACC is going to get 9 or more teams in the tourney, we need to have a sparkling OOC record.

I'll also have one eye on that Pitt-E Mich game. Interested in seeing how Stallings will have Pitt competing out of the gate.

Not sure there's any other contest this weekend that we'll be able to draw much from.

ACC aggregate weekend record "success meter":
19-0 - Woo-Hoo! :D
18-1 or 17-2 - Boo-Hoo... :(
16-3 (or worse) - Poo-Poo :mad:

My success meter is different:

Woo-Hoo! would apply if the league's record for the weekend is 17-2, because the cheaters are playing twice.

[devildeac]

Really hope Clemson is able to buck their tendency to start seasons off slowly. If the ACC is going to get 9 or more teams in the tourney, we need to have a sparkling OOC record.

I'll also have one eye on that Pitt-E Mich game. Interested in seeing how Stallings will have Pitt competing out of the gate.

Not sure there's any other contest this weekend that we'll be able to draw much from.

ACC aggregate weekend record "success meter":
19-0 - Woo-Hoo! :D
18-1 or 17-2 - Boo-Hoo... :(
16-3 (or worse) - Poo-Poo :mad:

Go Tulane. Go Chattanooga.

[Wahoo2000]

Is it an upset if a mid-100s rated BC loses at home to 300-something Nicholls? Logic says yes, but I have a hard time quantifying any BC loss as an "upset".

[-jk]

Is it an upset if a mid-100s rated BC loses at home to 300-something Nicholls? Logic says yes, but I have a hard time quantifying any BC loss as an "upset".

And State and Pitt barely squeak by.

A win's a win!

-jk

[OldPhiKap]

ACC starts 12-1. BC must be hating the switch to the ACC, but for the fact that the Big East imploded behind it.

[Olympic Fan]

12-1 start wasn't bad, considering the loss was by BC, which wasn't going to sniff the NCAA Tournament.

Two of our mid-level teams -- teams that need every non-conference win for their postseason resumes -- flirted with disaster, but Pitt and N.C. State each avoided the home court upset. Close wins don't usually hurt when the committee meets, but a close loss -- especially to a nothing team -- can haunt you forever.

Best win -- definitely Clemson over Georgia. The Tigers in command the whole way against a mid-level SEC school, despite playing without PG Sheldon Mitchell. Props to the Tigers ... a good start to their bid for an NCAA bid,

[Troublemaker]

12-1 start wasn't bad, considering the loss was by BC, which wasn't going to sniff the NCAA Tournament.

Two of our mid-level teams -- teams that need every non-conference win for their postseason resumes -- flirted with disaster, but Pitt and N.C. State each avoided the home court upset. Close wins don't usually hurt when the committee meets, but a close loss -- especially to a nothing team -- can haunt you forever.

Best win -- definitely Clemson over Georgia. The Tigers in command the whole way against a mid-level SEC school, despite playing without PG Sheldon Mitchell. Props to the Tigers ... a good start to their bid for an NCAA bid,

Agreed 100%. When Shelton Mitchell returns from his meniscus tear, Clemson will be a legit top-35 team nationally. (I wish Klemnop were around to offer his perspective.) Hopefully the Tigers continue building their resume during this non-conference season, winning the games they should win.

[Olympic Fan]

So with Wake, N.C. State and the Cheats winning today, the ACC completes the first weekend with an 18-1 record -- the only loss is BC at home to Nichols State; the only close calls NC State over Georgia Southern and Pitt over Eastern Michigan (in 2 OTs).

Not bad, but not particularly impressive either. As noted after Friday's games, the only significant win on the list was Clemson's victory over Georgia.

[PackMan97]

Two of our mid-level teams -- teams that need every non-conference win for their postseason resumes -- flirted with disaster, but Pitt and N.C. State each avoided the home court upset. Close wins don't usually hurt when the committee meets, but a close loss -- especially to a nothing team -- can haunt you forever.

NC State will not be a mid-level team this season.

I consder a 2pt win to be a 21 point turnaround from last seasons 19pt drubbing at the hands of William and Mary in last seasons openor. Even more so when you consider Dennis Smith Jr hasn't played a "real" game in a year, Torin Dorn has also be sidelined for a season. Terry Henderson hasn't played in two years. and Markell Johnson and Darius Hicks are freshman. We esentially have two returning players in Rowan Maverick and Abdul-Malik Abu (I'm sorry Beejay Anya, you might be the size of two players, but that's the problem you aren't going to be a contributor) and we had to play without two guys we practice with in Kapita and Yurtseven....I'll take it. If we have a bad case of indegistion against another cupcake, I'll get worried...but I'm willing to chalk this up to opening night jitters.

[Olympic Fan]

NC State will not be a mid-level team this season.

I consder a 2pt win to be a 21 point turnaround from last seasons 19pt drubbing at the hands of William and Mary in last seasons openor. Even more so when you consider Dennis Smith Jr hasn't played a "real" game in a year, Torin Dorn has also be sidelined for a season. Terry Henderson hasn't played in two years. and Markell Johnson and Darius Hicks are freshman. We esentially have two returning players in Rowan Maverick and Abdul-Malik Abu (I'm sorry Beejay Anya, you might be the size of two players, but that's the problem you aren't going to be a contributor) and we had to play without two guys we practice with in Kapita and Yurtseven...I'll take it. If we have a bad case of indegistion against another cupcake, I'll get worried...but I'm willing to chalk this up to opening night jitters.

I actually have NC State as one of my tourney teams, but they have to prove it.

Also, midlevel ACC ain't bad -- I don't think they are as good as the top four (Duke, UNC, Virginia and Louisville), but they are right in the mix with Virginia Tech, FSU, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Clemson, Pitt and Miami. Those are ALL NCAA-quality teams.

I too think Dennis Smith will be special, but he's now had two sub-par games .... it reminds me of Phil Ford's awkward debut. He was the most comparable player in my lifetime to Smith -- a celebrated point guard recruit from Eastern North Carolina, who struggled in the first weeks of his college career. He did eventually become the best PG in ACC history, but it took awhile.

[newclasspack]

We (may) be without Kapita for Paradise Jam after JUST getting him eligible. Issues with his passport and i-20 paper work.

[JasonEvans]

ACC starts 12-1. BC must be hating the switch to the ACC, but for the fact that the Big East imploded behind it.

We brought them in for football and the Boston market but they have been on a downward spiral since coming over.

In the 6 years leading up to them joining the ACC, the BC football team made a bowl every year. In their last 4 years in the BE, they won 8 games twice and 9 games twice. They seemed like a team that would be around the top 25 pretty consistently going forward. And that is exactly what happened the first few years in the ACC. Their first four years in the conference they won 9, 10, 11, and 9 games. The year they won 11 games they were ranked in the top 10. But they have been on a downward trajectory since then. They've only made 2 bowl games the past 5 years and need to win their final 2 games to have a shot at a bowl this year. In retrospect, Tom O'Brien's move from BC to NC State was a killer for BC as the talent level has really dropped since he left.

In hoops, they are godawful. They were good when they first joined the conference. Jared Dudley was ACC POY their second year in the league and they made a Sweet 16. But they have not been to the NCAA tourney since 2009 and haven't even made the NIT since 2011.

0, 4, 4, 7, 4... that's how many basketball games they have won each season in the conference in each of the past 5 years... an average of just over 3 wins per season. This year they appear to again be the worst team in the conference and it is not like they have some talented newcomers around whom the program could build. Their best recruit in the 2016 class is a kid who was not even among the top 250 recruits in the nation. As far as I can tell, BC has not brought in a top 100 recruit since Reggie Jackson in 2008. Now, recruiting rankings are not a perfect predictor of success (Olivier Hanlan, who was a pretty darn good little player, was ranked outside the top 200 in 2012) but at some point you probably need to bring in some decent recruits if you hope to keep up with the rest of the ACC.

I don't know what kind of TV ratings the conference gets in New England or what being up there is worth. Does having Syracuse give us access to those markets at all? But, from a competition standpoint, BC has been a terrible fit. Ironically, the one sport they are really good at (ice hockey) is not an ACC sport.

-Jason "of course, if we want 9 or 10 or 11 ACC teams to make the dance this year, there need to be teams on the bottom without a prayer of beating those tourney teams... BC is most assuredly on the bottom" Evans

[sagegrouse]

I actually have NC State as one of my tourney teams, but they have to prove it.

Also, midlevel ACC ain't bad -- I don't think they are as good as the top four (Duke, UNC, Virginia and Louisville), but they are right in the mix with Virginia Tech, FSU, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Clemson, Pitt and Miami. Those are ALL NCAA-quality teams.

I too think Dennis Smith will be special, but he's now had two sub-par games ... it reminds me of Phil Ford's awkward debut. He was the most comparable player in my lifetime to Smith -- a celebrated point guard recruit from Eastern North Carolina, who struggled in the first weeks of his college career. He did eventually become the best PG in ACC history, but it took awhile.

Yep, and freshman Brandon Ingram got benched after four games last season and ended up really, really good.

[PackMan97]

We brought them in for football and the Boston market but they have been on a downward spiral since coming over.

In the 6 years leading up to them joining the ACC, the BC football team made a bowl every year. In their last 4 years in the BE, they won 8 games twice and 9 games twice. They seemed like a team that would be around the top 25 pretty consistently going forward. And that is exactly what happened the first few years in the ACC. Their first four years in the conference they won 9, 10, 11, and 9 games. The year they won 11 games they were ranked in the top 10. But they have been on a downward trajectory since then. They've only made 2 bowl games the past 5 years and need to win their final 2 games to have a shot at a bowl this year. In retrospect, Tom O'Brien's move from BC to NC State was a killer for BC as the talent level has really dropped since he left.

The FB problems didn't stemp from Tom O'Brien leaving, they stem from the BC AD, DeFilippo, firing Jeff Jagodzinski on whim. Jagodzinski had taken BC to back to back ACC championship game appearances. He went to interview with a vacant job with the NY Jets and his AD said if you interview for it, you are gone...DeFillipo did and he was. BC sports have been been the same since then.