This Week in ACC Hoops

This Week in the ACC 2/27-3/4………brought to you by the man who would never stick 5 Big East teams in the Top 25 ahead of a team tied for 1st place in the ACC.

Biggest Win of the Week: Maryland upsetting #5 North Carolina 89-87

What exactly is in the water in the District of Columbia area? Maryland was able to keep pace with Georgetown in the battle for “hottest team in the country”, as the Terps knocked off the Tar Heels on Saturday.

D.J. Strawberry had arguably the best game of his career, pouring in a career-best 27 points. Strawberry was in some sort of zone, as he shot 66% from the field.

I walked away completely stunned that UNC didn’t win this game. There were two occasions in particular where I was waiting for the Tar Heels to give the knockout blow to Maryland and they just couldn’t do it. In the 1^st half, the Tar Heels jumped out to an early 21-9 lead that was cut to just a 2-point lead by halftime. Then, with just over 7:00 left in the game, UNC built their lead back up to 12 again, only to lose their lead completely a few minutes later. Is it just me, or does this game raise some questions marks over whether UNC has what it takes to go all the way to the Final Four?

Runner-up: Boston College slipping past Clemson 59-54

Back in the good old days, if a family pet was really sick, then dad would take it out behind the shed and put it out of its misery. Could the same be done for the Clemson Tigers? The Tigers have now lost 7-of-8 after their close loss at Conte Forum on Saturday, and can now announce to the public what date they’ll be putting NIT tickets on sale.

Meanwhile, the Eagles punched their ticket for March Madness after a much needed win victory over Clemson. The Eagles don’t look like the kind of team that will do a lot of long-term damage in “The Dance”, but would you want to be the team that gets BC as a draw in the 1^st round? I didn’t think so.

Worst Loss of the Week: Clemson losing to Duke 71-66

Is asking for one more win out of Oliver Purnell too much to ask? I mean we aren’t asking for him to pull a Rulon Gardner or anything.

In all seriousness, it’s inexcusable that Clemson came out as flat as they did in the 1^st half in letting Duke jump out to a whopping 42-21 lead. Playing at home, with an NCAA Tournament berth at stake how do you not bring your “A” game?

Even if Clemson wins their final two games of the regular season, they are still going to have to win at least two, probably three games in the ACC Tournament to punch their ticket to ‘The Dance”.

ACC Power Rankings

1. North Carolina (3/1 @ GT, 3/4 vs. Duke)

2. Virginia Tech (3/1 @ Virginia, 3/4 vs. Clemson)

3. Virginia (3/1 vs. VT, 3/3 @ WF)

4. Boston College (3/4 @ GT)

5. Duke (2/28 vs. Maryland, 3/4 @UNC)

6. Maryland (2/28 @ Duke, 3/3 vs. NC State)

7. Georgia Tech (3/1 vs. UNC, 3/4 vs. BC)

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8. Florida State (3/3 @ Miami)

9. Clemson (2/28 vs. Miami, 3/4 @ VT)

10. NC State (2/28 vs. WF, 3/3 @ Maryland)

11. Miami (2/28 @ Clemson, 3/3 vs. FSU)

12. Wake Forest (2/28 @ NC State, 3/3 vs. Virginia)

I caught some grief last week when I was ahead of the curb in saying less than 8 teams from the ACC will make “The Dance”. Heck, even the guys from PTI were arguing whether 8 or 9 teams would represent the ACC. It wasn’t even considered as a possibility that only 7 teams would have a ticket punched to March Madness. Apparently, people that were thinking that FSU and Clemson would be a lock to make the NCAA Tournament hasn’t watched those two teams play recently.

No awards this week- Next week I will have my end of the season ACC Awards

Game of the Week: North Carolina @ Georgia Tech 3/1

After winning just two of their first six games in ACC play, the Yellow Jackets young squad has hit their stride, and won four of their last six. GT has some nice wins this year (Purdue, Memphis, Duke), but they could use one more signature win on their resume. A win against UNC would all but punch their ticket to March Madness.

Meanwhile, UNC blew their chance to control their own destiny for sole possession of the ACC Title. Now, UNC could ultimately slip down to the #3 seed for the ACC Tournament with one more loss. On top of that, a loss to GT could cost the Tar Heels a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

If you needed one more reason to watch this game, consider that this game will feature four potential candidates for the 1^st Team All-ACC Freshman Team. In particular it will be entertaining to see freshman point guards Javaris Crittenton and Ty Lawson go head-to-head.

Runner-Up: Duke at North Carolina 3/4

It doesn’t get much better in college basketball than when the Blue Devils and Tar Heels meet. Do you think just maybe Duke would like to beat UNC and cost them the ACC Title?