Two on the road for Duke this week, and we are favored by five points at Virginia. (Ten at Wake.)
Huge matchup for regular season crown stakes down in Tallahassee tonight, plus the rest of the week's slate. Also, in the continued march toward mediocrity, here we are with two weeks to play and only 4 teams in the conference have a winning record.
Monday
[21]Florida State (13-3) (-1) hosts [9]Louisville (14-3) (7:00, ESPN)
Tuesday
[103]Wake Forest (4-12) (+10) hosts [4]Duke (13-3) (7:00, ACCN)
[91]North Carolina (3-13) (+1) hosts [50]NC State (8-8) (9:00, ESPN)
[77]Georgia Tech (7-9) (-2) hosts [63]Clemson (8-8) (9:00, ACCN)
Wednesday
[99]Virginia Tech (6-10) (+1) hosts [48]Virginia (11-5) (7:00, ESPN2)
[102]Pittsburgh (6-11) (-1) hosts [59]Syracuse (8-8) (7:00, ACCN)
[56]Notre Dame (8-8) (-5) hosts [176]Boston College (7-10) (9:00, ACCN)
Thursday and Friday are dark
Saturday
[50]NC State (8-8) (-7) hosts [102]Pittsburgh (6-11) (12:00, ACCN)
[63]Clemson (8-8) (+2) hosts [21]Florida State (13-3) (2:00, ACCNX)
[59]Syracuse (8-8) (-7) hosts [91]North Carolina (3-13) (4:00, ESPN)
[103]Wake Forest (4-12) (+1) hosts [56]Notre Dame (8-8) (4:00, ACCNX)
[48]Virginia (11-5) (+5) hosts [4]Duke (13-3) (6:00, ESPN)
[77]Georgia Tech (7-9) (-6) hosts [105]Miami (6-11) (8:00, ACCN)
Sunday
[9]Louisville (14-3) (-13) hosts [99]Virginia Tech (6-10) (6:00, ACCN)
ACC Non-Conference: 119-41
ACC vs. Power 5: 23-26
Efficiency Margin in Conference Play:
Duke - +18.3
Louisville - +12.5
Florida State - +9.9
Virginia - +6.0
Syracuse - +2.5
NC State - +0.6
Clemson - +0.0
Notre Dame - -0.5
Georgia Tech - -1.9
North Carolina - -4.5
Wake Forest - -5.9
Pittsburgh - -6.4
Virginia Tech - -6.7
Miami - -9.1
Boston College - -13.6
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke
Two on the road for Duke this week, and we are favored by five points at Virginia. (Ten at Wake.)
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
A couple of minor ACC developments that have gone under the radar recently:
1) Clemson has climbed up the NET rankings, and find themselves in the Top 75. That makes our loss to them look not nearly as bad (it's a Q1 loss). It also underlies the fact that they could provide FSU some trouble come Saturday, which is another reason to root for the 'Noles tonight... I think it's much more likely that they falter one more time in the regular season than Louisville, based on scheduling.
2) Georgia Tech is nearly into the Top 75 of the NET as well. If they keep winning, they could also serve as a Q1 win for Duke... and both games this week are very winnable for the Yellowjackets.
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
As always, a big thanks to pfrduke for putting these together.
If State really is one of the last teams in the tourney (per Lunardi for example) they have to beat Carolina. But we know that they won't.
Virginia dancing on the knife's blade too but a bit more comfortably -- but have a rivalry game in Blacksburg before the chance for a signature win if they can knock us off.
FSU - Louisville tonight seems to be the game of the week from an objective perspective. I guess from the conference #1 seed perspective we want FSU, but from an NCAA seeding perspective we may want Louisville? Not sure for whom to root.
I think you also want to root for the 'Noles from a NCAA Tourney seeding perspective. Louisville is one spot behind us in the NET, while FSU is at No. 12, thanks largely to a dismal non-con SOS (122). Combine that with the fact that we beat FSU, and I think we'd rather have our resume compared to the 'Noles than the Cards come Selection Sunday.
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
Thanks, I was just looking at the AP which has us slightly behind FSU but a working margin ahead of the Ville.
My defaults generally are to root for FSU (PopPK went there) and also to root against Louisville ('86 -- ugh). So I can subscribe to your analysis guilt-free.
Multiple choice test-mark all that apply:
State will lose tomorrow night at the Myth Center because:
a) the refs cheated them
b) they shoot <30% FG
c) the refs cheated them some more
d) they shoot <25% 3FG
e) the refs cheated them unbelievably
f) they had >20 TO
g) roy ran over them with his own bus
h) just because
i) (write in your own answer)
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
In honor of hoping with every fiber of my being that NC State wins in Chapel Hill this week, I decided I would try to find something nice to say about UNC. And I think I've found it!
Per KenPom, UNC is - by quite a large margin - the best 17-loss team in the country! With UNC at #91, you have to go all the way down to #167 Old Dominon to find the next best 17-loss team. In a hypothetical, neutral-site matchup, UNC would be favored by around 7 points against ODU. Something to be proud of!