This Week in the ACC - 11/15-11/21

[pfrduke]

Lots of action this week in conference play, with some early tests for some of teams who are hoping for big years.

Monday's marquee matchup is the Miami-Memphis game as the Canes look to show they should be taken seriously this season. Grant and Scott were electric in the opener against Jacksonville - doing it against Memphis's backcourt will be a tougher task.

[46]Miami at [7]Memphis
[132]Wake Forest hosts [264]Hampton (NIT Tip-off)
[29]Clemson hosts [94]Wofford
[57]Virginia hosts [331]USC-Upstate
[78]Georgia Tech at [278]Kennesaw St

Tuesday features Virginia Tech visiting the other Manhattan to take on the Wildcats of K-State. Also, Chris Singleton tries to repeat his triple double (10 steals last night!) as the Noles head to Gardner-Webb.

[1]Duke hosts [142]Miami OH
[25]Virginia Tech at [13]Kansas State
[27]Florida State hosts [308]Gardner Webb
[132]Wake Forest hosts [65]VCU/[230]Winthrop

Wednesday
[78]Georgia Tech hosts [269]Albany

Thursday has a big Maryland/Pittsburgh matchup. Watching Jordan Williams do battle with Gary McGhee should give a better sense for whether he's ready to go up against marquee post defenders. It also features the start of two holiday tournaments, with UNC living up the island life, while NC State heads south (but stateside) to Charleston.

[23]Maryland in NY vs. [2]Pittsburgh (2ksports semis)
[16]UNC in Puerto Rico vs. [174]Hofstra (Puerto Rico Tip-off)
[41]NC State in Charleston vs. [118]East Carolina (Charleston Classic)
[38]Boston College hosts [268]Yale
[27]Florida State at [234]Florida International
[57]Virginia at [80]Stanford

Friday has more tournament play, including the potential (if Maryland upsets Pitt) for the ACC to play for what would hopefully be one of many pre-season tourney titles.

[23]Maryland in NY vs. [9]Illinois/[14]Texas
[16]UNC in Puerto Rico vs. [43]Minnesota/[108]Western Kentucky
[41]NC State in Charleston vs. [76]George Mason/[136]Charlotte
[1]Duke hosts [293]Colgate
[29]Clemson hosts [110]Long Beach St
[46]Miami hosts [298]NCCU
[78]Georgia Tech hosts [209]Niagara

Saturday
[132]Wake Forest at [257]Elon

Sunday
[16]UNC in Puerto Rico (TBD)
[41]NC State in Charleston (TBD)
[25]Virginia Tech at [303]UNC-Greensboro
[46]Miami at [159]Rutgers

ACC Non-Conference Record 14-1
AEC: 1-0
A-Sun: 4-1
Big South: 1-0
Colonial: 1-0
Ind: 1-0
Ivy: 1-0
NEC: 1-0
OVC: 1-0
Southern: 3-0

[gw67]

pfr,

Thanks for the great intro to each week's ACC games. I really look forward to the college basketball season and your input is value added for those of us who not only follow the Devils but the whole league as well. I assume that the numbers in the [ ] are the opposing team's national ranking. What is the source?

gw67

[JasonEvans]

pfr bringing it!! Great stuff. This is the exact kind of post that deserves mondo pitchfork points!!

A few additional comments--

1) Do not ignore the Clemson-Wofford matchup on Monday. Wofford was Southern Conference champs last year and won 26 games. They return almost everyone from that team and think they can put together the kind of record that would get them an at-large NCAA bid if they somehow do not win their conference tournament. This is a team that beat Georgia and South Carolina last year and took Pitt to the wire before losing. This is a major test for Clemson and a win would be a nice mark on their resume. Last year, Wofford ended the season with an RPI of 69.

2) Wake and Hampton may seem like a laugher, but Wake really sucks. Wake lost to Stetson who is actually rated lower than Hampton.

3) You seem to be unclear about NC State's opponents in the Charleston Classic. Depending on who wins and loses, State could play the previously mentioned Wofford Terriers in the semi-finals of the tournament. ESPN hopes to get a Championship matchup between NC State and Georgetown on Sunday. That would be a huge game for State!

4) As you point out, it is a huge week for the mid-top ACC teams to test themselves against significant opponents. Miami, Va Tech, UNC, Maryland, and NC State all see themselves as NCAA Tourney teams and contenders for 2nd in the ACC (behind Duke). By the end of this week, we should have a much better idea about these aspirations.

--Jason "ahhh, so good to finally have games that matter!!!" Evans

[Olympic Fan]

Great summary ... you've picked out most of the key games. Just a few additional observations:

(1) The Memphis-Miami game starts at midnight -- the kickoff of ESPN's 24-hour marathon (that includes Duke-Miami).

(2) The two games Wake has to play in the preseason NIT are set up to get the Deacs to New York, but after their meltdown against Stetson, they will have to struggle to get two home wins and thus earn the two more games in New York (unlike the CBE event Duke is in, the preseason NIT is a real tournament -- there will be a consolation game if Wake loses to Hampton, but the two games in New York are contingent on winning twice in Joel).

(3) It's put up or shut up for the Hokies. K-State in Mahattan is tough, but this group of Virginia Tech players has to beat somebody to justify their top 25 status (for all their whining and their great ACC finish a year ago, they didn't beat anybody better than Wake Forest).

(4) North Carolina's trip to Puerto Rico should offer at least two games of interest. Not so much Hofstra, but they'll probably get Minnesota in the second round and the Gophers expect to be a NCAA team. Unless there is an upset, UNC will get West Virginia in the finals Sunday -- if they get back to the states unbeaten, I'd have to say their high ranking is justified.

(5) Duke pretty much coasts through this week. I know Miami played Kentucky tough a year ago (losing by a last-second shot by Wall in Lexington), but they should not be as good as Princeton. And Colgate Friday is another breather ... Duke begins playing significant games next week, when they travel to Kansas City for Marquette and either K-State or Gonzaga.

[MChambers]

pfr,

Thanks for the great intro to each week's ACC games. I really look forward to the college basketball season and your input is value added for those of us who not only follow the Devils but the whole league as well. I assume that the numbers in the [ ] are the opposing team's national ranking. What is the source?

gw67

Pomeroy. www.kenpom.com.

[sagegrouse]

Thanks for teeing this up for us so well. A great post!

One reaction: college hoops season starts like an avalanche -- a couple of unimportant games last week -- and then it is full bore. It helps when there are 100 or so teams who can cause anyone problems at some time or another.

Wow! Virginia Tech at Kansas State. A win for the Hokies would be mo-MENT-ous.

I think we will know a lot more about Wake Forest after the two games this week. 2-0 would right the ship; 0-2 might sink it.

We will also know a lot more about early season State with a potential match-up with Georgetown in the finals.

sagegrouse

[gw67]

Pomeroy. www.kenpom.com.

Thanks. I suspected Pomeroy but I recall that a couple of the DBR posters have their own blogs/rating systems and thought that pfr might be one of those.

gw67

[pfrduke]

pfr bringing it!! Great stuff. This is the exact kind of post that deserves mondo pitchfork points!!

2) Wake and Hampton may seem like a laugher, but Wake really sucks. Wake lost to Stetson who is actually rated lower than Hampton.

And even if Wake does manage to sneak by Hampton, they have to be underdogs to VCU (unlikely that Winthrop pulls the upset there). Should Wake manage to sneak into New York, the other PNIT host schools are Tennessee, Villanova, and UCLA (Wake's on Tennessee's side of the bracket).

3) You seem to be unclear about NC State's opponents in the Charleston Classic. Depending on who wins and loses, State could play the previously mentioned Wofford Terriers in the semi-finals of the tournament. ESPN hopes to get a Championship matchup between NC State and Georgetown on Sunday. That would be a huge game for State!

It wasn't on NCSU's schedule webpage, and I was too lazy to look up the Charleston Classic. But it looks like they will play one of George Mason or Charlotte, both of whom have been good in recent years but look to be a bit less good this season. Stats edited in the original post.

4) As you point out, it is a huge week for the mid-top ACC teams to test themselves against significant opponents. Miami, Va Tech, UNC, Maryland, and NC State all see themselves as NCAA Tourney teams and contenders for 2nd in the ACC (behind Duke). By the end of this week, we should have a much better idea about these aspirations.

--Jason "ahhh, so good to finally have games that matter!!!" Evans

Realistically, if the conference comes through this week with fewer than 5 losses on the week, that will be a strong performance. VT will have a very difficult time at K-State (although is Curtis Kelly still out?); ditto Miami at Memphis; Wake just looks like a bad basketball team; Maryland has two very difficult opponents; and State and Carolina could both either win their tourney or suffer multiple losses. Not to mention that both Virginia and Miami could face trap road games against slightly worse big conference opponents in Stanford and Rutgers.

[JasonEvans]

VT will have a very difficult time at K-State (although is Curtis Kelly still out?)

Looks like he might still be out.

-Jason "above link contains reference to an article that the Ky AD may be looking to get out because he thinks Calipari will go on probation soon" Evans

[loran16]

GTech is down 15 at half against Kennesaw State.

[dchen09]

Wake 56-50 against Hampton with 3:47 left,
Clemson 63-53 against Wofford with 3:45 left,
Georgia Tech 37-48 against Kennesaw St 15:35 left

Seriously?!?

[dchen09]

Though NCCU is leading Oklahoma by 3 right now...

[loran16]

Wake 56-50 against Hampton with 3:47 left,
Clemson 63-53 against Wofford with 3:45 left,
Georgia Tech 37-48 against Kennesaw St 15:35 left

Seriously?!?

Wake survives to beat Hampton, no thanks to FT shooting.
GT is coming back.

To be fair to Clemson, Wofford was projected to win their mid major conference, and they were up by like 20 at one point.

(Oh and lol @ Oklahoma)

[dchen09]

I would be alot happier for NCCU if Jeff Capel weren't the coach at OU.

[SuperTurkey]

GT is coming back.

Well, that didn't pan out. GT lost big, 80-63.

[ThePublisher]

So a friend of mine graduated from State and has season tickets. I was offered to come to the State v Tennessee Tech game and obliged.

Some notes on state. Leslie and Brown are very, very good. Their main weakness this year is still going to be at the point. Harrow is very fast. Not quite Irving fast, but very fast. His problem is that he is basically a short Henson. The boy has no muscle on him. He did ok against TT but still got thrown around some. I can see Irving and other more built guards manning him up and shutting him down.

Wood looks more comfortable and still has his effortless shot. Somewhat similar to how Kelly shoots. Just a flick of the wrist. Like last year, he still looked kind of lost on defense to me.

Their bevy of post guys should be solid. Smith looked like he was disinterested, but look at their opponent. He may not be super happy that his spotlight is gone, but we'll see how that plays out.

Overall, I can see State getting it together and ending up 3 or 4 in the ACC. Or they could never mesh and end up somewhere in the middle. Time will tell.

I don't see them beating Duke again this year. Unless we play them under the same 'tired' circumstances as we did last year. Anyone could be us at the 3rd game of only 1 day rest. Anyway...

[loran16]

Central choked away the lead by giving up a tying 3 with 15 secs left and is going to lose in OT. Shame.

[JasonEvans]

Central choked away the lead by giving up a tying 3 with 15 secs left and is going to lose in OT. Shame.

But good for Capel. I root for him more than I do for NC-Central.

-Jason "Jeff needs some breaks - he's had a tough time at Okie since Griffin left" Evans

[Olympic Fan]

Virginia goes to 2-0, pulling away from USC-Upstate after trailing most of the first half.

Miami takes on Memphis on ESPN in a little over an hour.

I admit I'm a little shocked by Georgia Tech's loss ... although it was on the road.

On the other hand, even a narrow win at home over Hampton is a step up for Wake. We'll get a better read on them tomorrow night, when they face (probably) VCU.

And I agree that Clemson's victory over a very good Wofford team is not a poor showing.

[Bluedog]

Memphis had a 9-point lead and Miami has just got themselves within 3 with 8:30 to go. Let's go Canes! This would be a pretty big win for the ACC.