This Week in the ACC: 11/14-11/20

[pfrduke]

BC prevented the opening weekend from going perfectly for the conference, but when the worst team in the league plays like the worst team in the league, it's not really the end of the world. Clemson got the ACC off on the right side of the major conference opponent ledger, with much more action on that front this week. Plus we start pre-season tournaments - last year's performance was quite strong (5 wins) and this year the conference can definitely do better. Let's see how the week lines up.

Monday
[51]Pittsburgh hosts [265]Gardner-Webb (7:00, ACCN)
[8]Louisville hosts [92]William & Mary (7:00, ACCN)
[101]Georgia Tech hosts [285]Southern (7:30, ACCN)

Tuesday
[41]Florida State hosts [113]Iona (7:00, ACCN)
[11]Syracuse hosts [233]Holy Cross (7:00, ACCN)
[5]Virginia hosts [326]St. Francis (NY) (7:00, ACCN)
[47]Virginia Tech hosts [254]High Point (7:00, ACCN)
[190]Boston College hosts [335]Maryland-Eastern Shore (7:00, ACCN)
[3]North Carolina hosts [136]Long Beach State (8:00, ACCN)
[1]Duke vs. [6]Kansas in Madison Square Garden (9:30, ESPN)

Wednesday
[46]Notre Dame hosts [275]Seattle (7:00, ACCN)
[20]Miami at [200]North Florida (7:00, ACCN)

Thursday
[23]Clemson vs. [75]Davidson in Orlando (11:00 a.m., ESPNU)
[67]Wake Forest vs. [214]UTEP in Charleston (1:30, ESPN3)
[8]Louisville hosts [136]Long Beach (4:00, ACCN)
[51]Pittsburgh vs. [32]SMU in Madison Square Garden (7:00, ESPN2)

Friday
[23]Clemson vs. [15]Xavier/[146]Missouri in Orlando (11:30/1:30, ESPNU)
[67]Wake Forest vs. [2]Villanova/[140]Western Michigan in Charleston (1:30/3:30, ESPN2/ESPN3)
[51]Pittsburgh vs. [33]Marquette/[34]Michigan (4:30/6:30, ESPN2)
[45]NC State vs. [162]Montana in St. Thomas (6:00, CBSSN)
[41]Florida State hosts [127]Winthrop (7:00, ACCN)
[46]Notre Dame hosts [294]Loyola MD (7:00, ACCN)
[11]Syracuse hosts [94]Monmouth (7:00, ACCN)
[101]Georgia Tech hosts [109]Ohio (8:00, ACCN)
[3]North Carolina at [180]Hawaii (1:00 a.m. (8:00 p.m. HST))

Saturday
[1]Duke vs. [105]Penn State in Uncasville (12:30, ESPN3)
[20]Miami hosts [210]Penn (4:00, ACCN)
[47]Virginia Tech hosts [253]Virginia Military Institute (7:00, ACCN)

Sunday
[1]Duke vs. [26]Cincinnati/[40]Rhode Island in Uncasville (1:00/3:30, ESPN/ESPN2)
[5]Virginia hosts [130]Yale (1:00, ACCN)
[190]Boston College hosts [209]Stony Brook (1:00, ACCN)
[41]Florida State hosts [246]Detroit (5:00, ACCN)
[45]NC State vs. [42]Creighton/[155]Washington State in St. Thomas (9:30, CBSSN)

[Indoor66]

Ahhh, a cornucopia of basketball games to choose from...😁😎

[flyingdutchdevil]

BC prevented the opening weekend from going perfectly for the conference, but when the worst team in the league plays like the worst team in the league, it's not really the end of the world. Clemson got the ACC off on the right side of the major conference opponent ledger, with much more action on that front this week. Plus we start pre-season tournaments - last year's performance was quite strong (5 wins) and this year the conference can definitely do better. Let's see how the week lines up.

Monday
[51]Pittsburgh hosts [265]Gardner-Webb (7:00, ACCN)
[8]Louisville hosts [92]William & Mary (7:00, ACCN)
[101]Georgia Tech hosts [285]Southern (7:30, ACCN)

Tuesday
[41]Florida State hosts [113]Iona (7:00, ACCN)
[11]Syracuse hosts [233]Holy Cross (7:00, ACCN)
[5]Virginia hosts [326]St. Francis (NY) (7:00, ACCN)
[47]Virginia Tech hosts [254]High Point (7:00, ACCN)
[190]Boston College hosts [335]Maryland-Eastern Shore (7:00, ACCN)
[3]North Carolina hosts [136]Long Beach State (8:00, ACCN)
[1]Duke vs. [6]Kansas in Madison Square Garden (9:30, ESPN)

Wednesday
[46]Notre Dame hosts [275]Seattle (7:00, ACCN)
[20]Miami at [200]North Florida (7:00, ACCN)

Thursday
[23]Clemson vs. [75]Davidson in Orlando (11:00 a.m., ESPNU)
[67]Wake Forest vs. [214]UTEP in Charleston (1:30, ESPN3)
[8]Louisville hosts [136]Long Beach (4:00, ACCN)
[51]Pittsburgh vs. [32]SMU in Madison Square Garden (7:00, ESPN2)

Friday
[23]Clemson vs. [15]Xavier/[146]Missouri in Orlando (11:30/1:30, ESPNU)
[67]Wake Forest vs. [2]Villanova/[140]Western Michigan in Charleston (1:30/3:30, ESPN2/ESPN3)
[51]Pittsburgh vs. [33]Marquette/[34]Michigan (4:30/6:30, ESPN2)
[45]NC State vs. [162]Montana in St. Thomas (6:00, CBSSN)
[41]Florida State hosts [127]Winthrop (7:00, ACCN)
[46]Notre Dame hosts [294]Loyola MD (7:00, ACCN)
[11]Syracuse hosts [94]Monmouth (7:00, ACCN)
[101]Georgia Tech hosts [109]Ohio (8:00, ACCN)
[3]North Carolina at [180]Hawaii (1:00 a.m. (8:00 p.m. HST))

Saturday
[1]Duke vs. [105]Penn State in Uncasville (12:30, ESPN3)
[20]Miami hosts [210]Penn (4:00, ACCN)
[47]Virginia Tech hosts [253]Virginia Military Institute (7:00, ACCN)

Sunday
[1]Duke vs. [26]Cincinnati/[40]Rhode Island in Uncasville (1:00/3:30, ESPN/ESPN2)
[5]Virginia hosts [130]Yale (1:00, ACCN)
[190]Boston College hosts [209]Stony Brook (1:00, ACCN)
[41]Florida State hosts [246]Detroit (5:00, ACCN)
[45]NC State vs. [42]Creighton/[155]Washington State in St. Thomas (9:30, CBSSN)

Do the winners of the Basketball Tip-Off play at 1pm or 330pm? Need to plan my Sunday.

[Olympic Fan]

The ACC was off to a 29-2 start coming into Thursday and Clemson and Wake have already scored impressive victories today (and Louisville is on its way to another blowout win).

Obviously, the quality of competition has not been that great, but that starts to change Friday.

Nine games Friday and two are pretty significant games: Clemson will meet Xavier in Puerto Rico and Wake Forest will meet Villanova in Charleston. Some more good ones will be coming up this weekend (including a probable matchup between NC State and Creighton).

I like what Clemson has done so far, considering that they are missing two key pieces -- point guard Shelton Mitchell and PF Elijah Thomas. NC State will get a couple of significant additions soon -- PF Ted Kapita didn't make the trip to the Paradise Jam (visa) problems and C Omer Yurtseven still has six more games to sit out.

Plus, I think Duke might be getting an addition or two or three in the next couple of weeks.

[devildeac]

The ACC was off to a 29-2 start coming into Thursday and Clemson and Wake have already scored impressive victories today (and Louisville is on its way to another blowout win).

Obviously, the quality of competition has not been that great, but that starts to change Friday.

Nine games Friday and two are pretty significant games: Clemson will meet Xavier in Puerto Rico and Wake Forest will meet Villanova in Charleston. Some more good ones will be coming up this weekend (including a probable matchup between NC State and Creighton).

I like what Clemson has done so far, considering that they are missing two key pieces -- point guard Shelton Mitchell and PF Elijah Thomas. NC State will get a couple of significant additions soon -- PF Ted Kapita didn't make the trip to the Paradise Jam (visa) problems and C Omer Yurtseven still has six more games to sit out.

Plus, I think Duke might be getting an addition or two or three in the next couple of weeks.

Well, LBSU failed so, Go Hawaii!!

[dukelifer]

SMU beats Pitt and former Dukie Semi Ojeleye with 24 points.

[Saratoga2]

SMU beats Pitt and former Dukie Semi Ojeleye with 24 points.

I watched about 1/2 of the game and Ojeleye looked pretty good. He is about 6'7", strong and athletic. They say he has been a real gym rat for SMU. Good to see the kid get a chance and do so well.

[Troublemaker]

Clemson plays Xavier and Wake plays Villanova today.

It'll be nice if one or both can pull off the upset. Villanova and Xavier are, of course, the projected top 2 teams in the Big East.

[Olympic Fan]

Clemson plays Xavier and Wake plays Villanova today.

It'll be nice if one or both can pull off the upset. Villanova and Xavier are, of course, the projected top 2 teams in the Big East.

Oddly, both games start at 1:30 p.m.

Also, Pitt tries to bounce back against Marquette today.

[Gooch]

I watched about 1/2 of the game and Ojeleye looked pretty good. He is about 6'7", strong and athletic. They say he has been a real gym rat for SMU. Good to see the kid get a chance and do so well.

Was at the game in person and agree with this. Ojeleye looked huge! Pitt's guards were pretty good but no-one in the front court impressed me.

It was disappointing to see Wojo's Marquette get run out of the gym in the second game. The few diehard Marquette fans sitting near me were not pleased.

[JasonEvans]

Clemson plays Xavier and Wake plays Villanova today.

It'll be nice if one or both can pull off the upset. Villanova and Xavier are, of course, the projected top 2 teams in the Big East.

Nope.

Clemson came close. They were within 3 with 6 minutes left in the game, but ended up losing by 6, 83-77. Wake was never really in it. They were down double-digits pretty much the entire game and lost 96-77.

Clemson does not have many opportunities for impressive wins (outside of the ACC). The rest of their non-conference slate is either small schools or mediocre big conference teams like Nebraska, Alabama, and South Carolina. They will have precious little room for error in their non-conference schedule and will need to pick off a couple good ACC teams to have an impressive resume, I suspect.

-Jason "ummm, is pre-Thanksgiving too early to start thinking about NCAA bids?" Evans

[Olympic Fan]

Disappointing afternoon for the ACC.

I never expected Wake to threaten Nova, but I thought Clemson had a real chance vs. Xavier -- especially after Davidson (which Clemson hammered Thursday) destroyed Missouri (which lost to Xavier on a fluke foul in OT Thursday).

Pitt is off to a small early lead on Marquette, but mixed feelings on that one because I'd like to see Wojo get the win.

[Troublemaker]

Nope.

Clemson came close. They were within 3 with 6 minutes left in the game, but ended up losing by 6, 83-77. Wake was never really in it. They were down double-digits pretty much the entire game and lost 96-77.

Clemson does not have many opportunities for impressive wins (outside of the ACC). The rest of their non-conference slate is either small schools or mediocre big conference teams like Nebraska, Alabama, and South Carolina. They will have precious little room for error in their non-conference schedule and will need to pick off a couple good ACC teams to have an impressive resume, I suspect.

-Jason "ummm, is pre-Thanksgiving too early to start thinking about NCAA bids?" Evans

Clemson does get a chance to play the Oklahoma-Northern Iowa loser tomorrow, which could end up being a quality win. But you're right, they really need to take care of business in the other non-conference games. That's been Clemson's weakness recently because their ACC play by itself has probably warranted an NCAA bid in two of the past three seasons.

[Olympic Fan]

And Georgia Tech goes down, losing at home to Ohio University. That makes the ACC 37-6 going into the UNC-Hawaii game. Not too many quality wins in that record.

And, Jason, I don't think pre-Thanksgiving is too early to start thinking about NCAA bids -- not when 3-4-5 ACC teams will be right on the edge at Selection Time. Not saying Pitt's loss to SMU or Clemson's loss to Xavier are bad losses or anything, but they are games that might have made a difference for teams that are going to be in the 9-9 range in the ACC.

[Troublemaker]

Key neutral-site games for Clemson and NCSU tomorrow, as part of the preseason tourneys they're in:

5:00pm - Clemson vs Oklahoma, ESPNU

8:30pm - NCSU vs Creighton, CBSSN

[Olympic Fan]

Key neutral-site games for Clemson and NCSU tomorrow, as part of the preseason tourneys they're in:

5:00pm - Clemson vs Oklahoma, ESPNU

8:30pm - NCSU vs Creighton, CBSSN

And add Duke, playing a ranked (No. 21 in AP) Rhode Island team at 1 p.m. -- the ACC doesn't have a win over a ranked opponent yet this season (0-3 by my count). Duke and State (Creighton is No. 22 in AP) could correct that.

ACC is up to 41-6 overall.

[Troublemaker]

Key neutral-site games for Clemson and NCSU tomorrow, as part of the preseason tourneys they're in:

5:00pm - Clemson vs Oklahoma, ESPNU

8:30pm - NCSU vs Creighton, CBSSN

Exciting shootout alert! NCSU and Creighton are tied 31-31 with 8:30 left in 1H.

Clemson couldn't get it done earlier, but maybe NCSU can pull off this upset.

It's been up and down action! Tune in if you have CBS Sports Network.

[Troublemaker]

Exciting shootout alert! NCSU and Creighton are tied 31-31 with 8:30 left in 1H.

Clemson couldn't get it done earlier, but maybe NCSU can pull off this upset.

It's been up and down action! Tune in if you have CBS Sports Network.

Update: It's Creighton 93, NCSU 75 at the under 8 timeout 2H. Creighton is just chock full of great guards who can drive and shoot and big men who can shoot, too. They're also experienced and play much better together at this point than young NCSU, who can't keep up and look like they're going to allow 120 points in a blowout loss before this is over.

[PackMan97]

Update: It's Creighton 93, NCSU 75 at the under 8 timeout 2H. Creighton is just chock full of great guards who can drive and shoot and big men who can shoot, too. They're also experienced and play much better together at this point than young NCSU, who can't keep up and look like they're going to allow 120 points in a blowout loss before this is over.

NC State is missing three guys for this game (and unfortunately, we don't quite have the same talent stockpile Duke has to survive that).
* Maverick Rowan - out concussion
* Ted Kapita - out - unable to leave the US due to possible re-entry problems with his student visa (he's from Congo originally)
* Omar Yurtsevn - out serving NCAA suspension

I would say that's 3 of our top 7 players that didn't play tonight.

Toss in the fact that four of our players either had 3 or 4 fouls at the 12:00 mark in the second half and it was a reciepie for disaster and that's about the time that Creighton pulled away and put the game out of reach.

[Olympic Fan]

No bad losses so far -- not for any of the ACC's top and middle-level teams.

But Clemson has missed two chances to post significant wins on their resume and now State -- shorthanded as you mention -- also misses a chance for a good win.

Not bad news, exactly ... but these missed chances could end up hurting if teams finish in the 10-8/9-9/8-10 ACC range.

Personally, I think State has a bit more leeway at the moment than Clemson (which is playing without starting PG Sheldon Mitchell).

ACC now 45-8 non-conference, but just 1-4 vs. ranked opponents