This Week in the ACC: 12/12-12/18

[pfrduke]

A pretty good week, as the ACC won almost all of the important out of conference games (and Notre Dame looked pretty good in its matchup against Villanova before going cold the last ten minutes). Now we're in the thick of exams with a very slow week before some fun matchups on the weekend.

Monday
[218]Boston College vs. [99]Auburn in Madison Square Garden (6:30, FS1)

Tuesday
[25]Clemson hosts [320]South Carolina State (7:00, ESPNU)

Wednesday is dark

Thursday
[65]NC State hosts [285]Appalachian State (7:00, ESPNU)

Friday
[26]Miami hosts [221]Florida Atlantic (7:00, ACCN)

Saturday
[27]Syracuse hosts [58]Georgetown (12:00, ESPN)
[7]Louisville hosts [201]Eastern Kentucky (12:00, ACCN)
[37]Virginia Tech hosts [308]The Citadel (1:00, ACCN)
[25]Florida State hosts [226]Manhattan (1:30, FS2)
[24]Notre Dame vs. [11]Purdue in Indianapolis (2:00, ESPN2)
[5]Virginia hosts [291]Robert Morris (4:30, ESPNU)
[6]North Carolina vs. [3]Kentucky in Las Vegas (5:45, CBS)
[59]Pittsburgh hosts [97]Rice (7:00, ACCN)
[52]Wake Forest at [19]Xavier (8:00, FS1)

Sunday
[218]Boston College hosts [317]Sacred Heart (1:00, ACCN)
[117]Georgia Tech hosts [344]Alcorn State (2:00, ACCN)
[65]NC State hosts [173]Fairfield (2:00, ACCN)
[28]Clemson vs. [82]Alabama in Birmingham (4:00, ESPNU)

ACC Non-Conference Record: 115-28
ACC Record vs. Power 6*: 26-19
America East: 3-1
American Athletic: 3-3
Atlantic Sun: 2-0
Atlantic Ten: 6-2
Big 12: 1-6
Big East: 2-4
Big Sky: 1-0
Big South: 8-0
B1G Ten: 16-5
Big West: 3-0
Colonial: 4-0
Conference USA: 4-0
Horizon: 1-0
Ivy: 4-1
MAAC: 3-0
MAC: 2-1
MEAC: 6-0
MVC: 4-0
MWC: 2-0
Northeast: 3-0
Ohio Valley: 3-0
Pac 12: 2-0
Patriot: 6-0
SEC: 5-4
Southern: 7-0
Southland: 2-1
Summit: 1-0
Sun Belt: 2-0
SWAC: 3-0
WAC: 4-0
Non-D1: 1-0

*Big XII, B1G, Big East, Pac-12, SEC

[Olympic Fan]

Exam time means a very thin schedule

About the only interesting game during the week will be App State at NC State -- not so much for the game, but for the first chance to see Omer Yurtseven.

GREAT day Saturday (well, as great as it can be without Duke in action). UNC-Kentucky is huge, but also Notre Dame-Purdue and Syracuse-Georgetown. Wake is a big underdog, but they have a chance to make a statement at Xavier.

Sunday's lineup stinks, excepts for Clemson at Bama ... but next week opens with a big one -- Harry Giles day in Cameron (we hope)!

[CDu]

Exam time means a very thin schedule

About the only interesting game during the week will be App State at NC State -- not so much for the game, but for the first chance to see Omer Yurtseven.

GREAT day Saturday (well, as great as it can be without Duke in action). UNC-Kentucky is huge, but also Notre Dame-Purdue and Syracuse-Georgetown. Wake is a big underdog, but they have a chance to make a statement at Xavier.

Sunday's lineup stinks, excepts for Clemson at Bama ... but next week opens with a big one -- Harry Giles day in Cameron (we hope)!

Syracuse vs Georgetown is a big game in name, but possibly name only. Georgetown has already lost to Arkansas State and gotten blown out by Wisconsin and Oklahoma State. They did inexplicably beat Oregon, but otherwise their resume reads more like an Arizona St resume than a typical Georgetown resume.

It's an important one for Syracuse to win, though, given that Georgetown is down this year.

[Olympic Fan]

Syracuse vs Georgetown is a big game in name, but possibly name only. Georgetown has already lost to Arkansas State and gotten blown out by Wisconsin and Oklahoma State. They did inexplicably beat Oregon, but otherwise their resume reads more like an Arizona St resume than a typical Georgetown resume.

It's an important one for Syracuse to win, though, given that Georgetown is down this year.

Agree that Georgetown is down -- wa-a-a-y down -- but so is Syracuse. After beating four patsies at home to open the season, they lost three of four to good, but not great opponents. The last time out, they struggled with Boston University for a half -- then rolled in the second half.

Was that second-half explosion the turning point? Or are the Orange the same weak team that lost to UConn (not so great this year) and barely beat North Florida?

That's why I say the Syracuse-Georgetown game is significant.

[SCMatt33]

BC actually picked up a decent win, beating Auburn at MSG on a tip in by freshman center Nik Popovic with .2 left. BC led most of the game, but a late Auburn run saw BC down 69-65 before ending on a 7-2 run. This was really the first time I saw BC this year, and while BC doesn't look like they'll be much more competitive in ACC play this year, they may have some pieces going forward. This Popovic kid didn't just hit the last shot, but really looked good for the whole second half, showing off some old school post moves and controlling the defensive glass. At 6-11, 243, that stuff could certainly translate to conference play.

[Olympic Fan]

Great -- and unexpected -- win for the Eagles.

That evens their record at 5-5. They should get over .500 Sunday when they play Sacred Heart at home.

[SCMatt33]

Great -- and unexpected -- win for the Eagles.

That evens their record at 5-5. They should get over .500 Sunday when they play Sacred Heart at home.

They should...but then again, they lost to Hartford at home, and they're below Sacred Heart according to KenPom.

[Olympic Fan]

They should...but then again, they lost to Hartford at home, and they're below Sacred Heart according to KenPom.

True ... but that Hartford game was a bit of a fluke -- Jerome Robinson, the team's best play (by far) was hurt early in the Hartford game and was a non-factor in a game they lost by two on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

BC is ranked higher by Pomeroy than Sacred Heart -- he gives them an 83 percent chance to win.

It' not a lock -- nothing is for BC this year -- but it is a game the Eagles should win. There aren't many of them left -- in fact, Sunday is the last game left that KenPom favors the Eagles (although his overall projection is 9-22 (and 2-16).

It's interesting that his projections in the ACC have BC's best chance to win on Jan. 11 at home against NC State -- and that's just 29 percent.

Personally, I do think BC will win again after Sacred Heart, but I think 9-22 (2-16) is a bit optimistic. I think there is a reasonable chance that the Eagles go another season without an ACC win.

[Faison1]

ACC Non-Conference Record: 115-28
ACC Record vs. Power 6*: 26-19
America East: 3-1
American Athletic: 3-3
Atlantic Sun: 2-0
Atlantic Ten: 6-2
Big 12: 1-6
Big East: 2-4
Big Sky: 1-0
Big South: 8-0
B1G Ten: 16-5
Big West: 3-0
Colonial: 4-0
Conference USA: 4-0
Horizon: 1-0
Ivy: 4-1
MAAC: 3-0
MAC: 2-1
MEAC: 6-0
MVC: 4-0
MWC: 2-0
Northeast: 3-0
Ohio Valley: 3-0
Pac 12: 2-0
Patriot: 6-0
SEC: 5-4
Southern: 7-0
Southland: 2-1
Summit: 1-0
Sun Belt: 2-0
SWAC: 3-0
WAC: 4-0
Non-D1: 1-0

YIKES!! What happened against the Big 12? The Big East record is explainable with Syracuse and BC being mediocre to bad.

[DukieInBrasil]

YIKES!! What happened against the Big 12? The Big East record is explainable with Syracuse and BC being mediocre to bad.

Duke lost to Kansas, for one.

[Olympic Fan]

YIKES!! What happened against the Big 12? The Big East record is explainable with Syracuse and BC being mediocre to bad.

(1) Duke lost to Kansas
(2) Boston College lost to Kansas State
(3) Clemson lost to Oklahoma
(4) Louisville lost to Baylor
(5) Miami lost to Iowa State
(6) Virginia Tech lost to Texas A&M

The Cheats beat Oklahoma State

Amazing, all seven ACC-Big 12 matchups were on neutral courts

[wilson]

...(6) Virginia Tech lost to Texas A&M

Amazing, all seven ACC-Big 12 matchups were on neutral courts

Remember, A&M is in the SEC now. The last ACC loss to the Big 12 is West Virginia over Virginia (which is rightly being cited as one of the B12's marquee wins to date).

[-jk]

YIKES!! What happened against the Big 12? The Big East record is explainable with Syracuse and BC being mediocre to bad.

Maybe that's why the worldwide leader is proclaiming them the best...

-jk

[Indoor66]

Maybe that's why the worldwide leader is proclaiming them the best...

-jk

...and who would ever question the worldwide leader?

[Ichabod Drain]

Maybe that's why the worldwide leader is proclaiming them the best...

-jk

So is Kenpom.

Though in Kenpom the bad teams are weighted the same as good teams. The Big 12 has every team in the top 75 so they're ranked higher even though I believe the best ACC teams are better than the best Big 12 teams.

ETA:

The big 12's ten teams (I know) have an average ranking of 33.2

The ACC's top 10 ten have an average ranking of 18.6

But then you have to factor in teams like BC and GT for the ACC.

[CDu]

I think it is absolutely fair to say that the Big 12's bottom feeders are FAR better than the ACC's bottom feeders. I think it's also fair to say that the ACC's top teams are on average better than the Big 12's top teams. And I think it's fair to say that the average Big 12 team is better than the average ACC team.

How one chooses to define "best conference" makes a big difference in whether one thinks the ACC is better than the Big 12 or vice versa.

[Faison1]

(1) Duke lost to Kansas
(2) Boston College lost to Kansas State
(3) Clemson lost to Oklahoma
(4) Louisville lost to Baylor
(5) Miami lost to Iowa State
(6) Virginia Tech lost to Texas A&M

The Cheats beat Oklahoma State

Amazing, all seven ACC-Big 12 matchups were on neutral courts

Well, DARN IT!!

For entertainment value, maybe we should cancel the ACC/BIG 10 Challenge and move it to the Big-12. Playing the Big 10 is getting kinda stale, IMHO.

As long as we are talking about the WorldWide Leader, maybe they should rotate all the conference challenges every other year...that would be interesting.

[pfrduke]

I think it is absolutely fair to say that the Big 12's bottom feeders are FAR better than the ACC's bottom feeders. I think it's also fair to say that the ACC's top teams are on average better than the Big 12's top teams. And I think it's fair to say that the average Big 12 team is better than the average ACC team.

How one chooses to define "best conference" makes a big difference in whether one thinks the ACC is better than the Big 12 or vice versa.

It's not just the ACC's top teams on average being better than the Big 12's. If you go down the list from 1-10, I think the ACC is better than or equal to the Big 12 counterpart in every matchup. The ACC has 4 teams (Duke, UNC, UVA, Louisville) at roughly the same level as the Big 12's top 3 (Kansas, West Virginia, Baylor). The ACC's next six teams are at roughly the same level or better than the Big 12's next 5. And then the ACC has 3 more teams at roughly the same level or better than the Big 12's bottom 2. So that's 13 teams in the ACC at least as good as the Big 12's 10 teams. Even the average of the ACC's best 13 teams against the Big 12's 10 teams would, I think, be in the ACC's favor, possibly even dramatically so.

There is also no question that Georgia Tech and Boston College, at least right now, are worse than anything the Big 12 has to throw out there. So the question in comparing conferences is how much Georgia Tech and Boston College should matter in the equation. It's definitely cherry picking to just throw them out. And it will be at least slightly easier for the top ACC teams to have 2-4 games against those schools in their 18-game lineup. But the ACC has more better teams than the Big 12 and, in my view, will end up with more tournament bids both in raw and weighted (i.e., as a percentage of the conference) than the Big 12 does (for me to win that, either the Big 12 has to end up with 6 or the ACC with 11; I don't think the Big 12 will get 8, but I'd definitely lose the weighted bet there because I think there's no way the ACC is getting 12).

[NSDukeFan]

Well, DARN IT!!

For entertainment value, maybe we should cancel the ACC/BIG 10 Challenge and move it to the Big-12. Playing the Big 10 is getting kinda stale, IMHO.

As long as we are talking about the WorldWide Leader, maybe they should rotate all the conference challenges every other year...that would be interesting.

The problem is that the Big 12 doesn't have enough teams to match up with most of the ACC, while the Big 10 does. Huh?

[Kfanarmy]

Remember, A&M is in the SEC now. The last ACC loss to the Big 12 is West Virginia over Virginia (which is rightly being cited as one of the B12's marquee wins to date).

always tough when one team is playing football while the other is trying to play basketball.