2/27/07

Well, as bubble teams across the country fought for their tournament lives last weekend, we were all "treated" to a match-up of "number 1 vs. number 2". Of course, the "Big" "Ten" gave us a similar "1 vs. 2" match-up last November in football, and we all know how that turned out - neither team deserved to be called number 1 or number 2. Or numbers 3, 4, or 5. But anyway, the final score was Ohio State 49, Wisconsin 48, and if that score doesn't say "top two teams in the country" to you - well, don't worry, it doesn't say that to anyone else either.

Meanwhile, in the actual best conference in basketball, things were much more entertaining. The games...

Virginia Tech 73, Miami 57 - The Hokies finally got their 10th conference win, and in dominating fashion. It's all about seeding now for the Hokies, who certainly won't have to sweat out a NCAA bid with 10 wins in the best conference in the land.

Florida State 78, North Carolina State 52 - Well, if the Seminoles wanted to make a statement that they deserved consideration despite a best possible ACC record of 7-9 before the tourney, a 26 point win will do it. But they have one more regular season win to go and then they probably will have to do some damage in the conference tourney.

Boston College 59, Clemson 54 - It seemed like BC just couldn't get over the 9 win hump, but they finally managed it. This win will put their recent struggles behind them and bump them into the tourney. How high they can go remains to be seen - they still are in the midst of a prolonged funk, with not much opportunity to prove to the Selection comittee that they should be a higher seeded team. As for Clemson, they appear to be just about finished, unless they can conjure up a mirculous finish. The fact that 3 of their last 4 losses have come by a combined 12 points does not change the fact that they have lost 4 in a row, 7 of their last 8, and 9 of their last 11. The comitte wants to see a team playing well down the stretch, and Clemson is doing just the opposite. A loss in either of their final 2 regular season games, which includes a road date with the Hokies, would shut the dorr completely on the Tigers.

Virginia 75, Georgia Tech 69 - The Cavaliers, like the Eagles and Hokies, finally got their 10th conference win and sealed their spot in the NCAA tourney. The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, have real reason for concern. They stand at 6-8 in conference, and while their last two games are at home, they are coming against North Carolina and Boston College - sweeping those two will be a chore. They can still play their way into the tournament, but they sure have their work cut out for them. That loss at Wake Forest earlier this season has to be keeping the Tech players and coaches up at night.

Maryland 89, North Carolina 87 - I told you that this would be the weekend's most entertaining game (ok, so I actually said that it "could" be the "most intriguing", but let's not let facts get in the way of a little self-horn-tooting), and it damn sure was. I feel sorry for anyone who sat through the Big Ten boreathon when this thing was playing, but not on national television. Maryland took a great leap forward, and rather than waiting for the season finale against NC State to get their 8th ACC win and do a little sweating on Selection Sunday, the Terps aggressively grabbed the 8th win, as well as the NCAA tourney bid, by beating the conference's best squad at home. UNC took a small misstep, but anyone who has been paying any attention to how well the Terps have been playing the last couple of weeks knows that this was not a bad loss (Skip Bayless, you are an idiot, as always). They should still win the conference, probably win the conference tourney, and get their #1 seed.

Ok, so what does the conference have in store for this week?

2/28, 7:30 - Miami (11-17, 4-10) @ Clemson (19-9, 5-9) - The Tigers' tourney hopes, if not completely dashed, are hanging by the slimmest of threads. A home game against Miami is just what a team in Clemson's position needs right now, but the pressure will be on them to win, and win big. This is the only scheduled match-up between these two teams.

9:00 (ESPN) - Maryland (22-7, 8-6) @ Duke (22-7, 8-6) - These are the ACC's two hottest teams, with win streaks of 5 and 4 games, respectively. In fact, neither team has lost since the Terrapins beat the Blue Devils 72-60 at College Park. Now they come in sporting identical records, both in conference play and overall. While neither one is fighting to get into the tournament - they have both punched their tickets already - this game is all about seeding in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Also, there is a lot of bad blood between these two teams, and both squads want this one very badly.

3/1, 7:00 (ESPN) - Virginia Tech (20-8, 10-4) @ Virginia (19-8, 10-4) - The battle for the Commonwealth continues as the Cavaliers host the Hokies. Anytime two schools from the same state cmoe together, it is a big deal, and when they are both in the upper echelons of their league - and esecially when that league is the premeir league in the country - it becomes monumental. Like the Duke/Maryland game, neither of these teams will be sweating out Selection Sunday, but seeding for both the NCAA and ACC tournaments is at stake, and, also like Maryland/Duke, the rivalry is what really makes this game intriguing. The Hokies stomped the Cavaliers in Balcksburg, 84-57 (ouch...I had to double-check that...).

9:00 (ESPN) - North Carolina (24-5, 10-4) @ Georgia Tech (18-10, 6-8) - By far the team with the most at stake this week is the Yellow Jackets, who still have the opportunity to finish up their ACC season at an even 8-8 and pretty much guarantee themselves a spot in the NCAAs. But in order to do so, they have to first beat the University of North Carolina, always a tough proposition, but even more so considering the Tar Heels had their pride stung after blowing 13 (1st half) and 12 (2nd half) point leads at College Park on Sunday and losing the game in the final minutes. They'll be looking to make a Statement by winning this game Big. Not only do the Yellow Jackets have to avoid getting blown out of their own building, but they have to find a way to do what the Terrapins did and come out victorious. The Tar Heels won the first match-up in Chapel Hill, 77-61.

Florida State (18-11, 6-9) and Boston College (19-9, 10-5) have off until the weekend. NC State (14-13, 4-10) hosts Wake Forest (13-14, 4-10) Wednesday night in a game mostly about trying to stay out of the ACC basement and eligible for the NIT.

Finally, I want to note that today we officially kick off March Madness, as the first of conference tournaments begin this week. Those conferences getting the early start are:

Atlantic Sun - Tournament runs Thursday through Saturday.
Big South - First round play starts today, next round on Thursday, final on Saturday.
Horizon - First round today, then games on Friday and Saturday, final on March 6.
Missouri Valley - Tournament runs Thursday through Sunday.
Northeast - Quarterfinals on Thursday, semifinals on Sunday, final on March 7.
Ohio Valley - First round today, then semifinals and final on Friday and Saturday.
Patriot - First round tomorrow, semifinals on Sunday, final on March 7.
Southern - Tournament runs tomorrow through Saturday.
Sun Belt - First round tomorrow, tournament resumes Sunday and runs through March 6.

Several other tournments start play this weekend, I'll get to those on Friday's post. Tomorrow, it's politics. Till then...