If the favorites win, how the ACC Tournament will play out

This is a bracket of what the tournament would like like if the favored teams won the games they were supposed to in the final week. Most notably in those games is Duke beating North Carolina, but there is also Maryland losing twice, including to Virginia at home, and Miami losing tonight at NC State. The bottom four teams should all end up at 4-12, provided NC State beats Virginia Tech in Blacksburgh (no easy feat), Boston College beats Georgia Tech at home, and Georgia Tech beats Wake Forest at home. If this happened, Virginia Tech would own the tiebreaker with a better overall record, followed by Wake, Georgia Tech, and finally Boston College.

The things the immediately pop out when looking at this bracket from top to bottom are numerous. First, NC State has beaten Boston College twice this year, escaping with a five point win in Chestnut Hill. However, they lost at home to Virginia in a hard fought battle, where they had no answer for Mike Scott and lost by just one. Still one has to believe NC State would like to draw Virginia over Florida State or North Carolina, both of whom dismantled the Wolfpack with relative ease. Next, Maryland and Virginia Tech may end up being the most interesting game on the first day. The two teams have only played once this year, with Maryland winning by four at home. Terrell Stoglin had 28 points that game and Virginia Tech's backcourt could not match up with him. We have seen improvement in the Hokies since then, especially from Erick Green, and that matchup could be between potential all-conference guards. The Hokies would love another shot at Duke in the second round after just losing to them in overtime in Durham, although they have already beaten Virginia once and took Florida State down to the last second. Neither of those matchups seems likely for Tech, as they are pretty comfortably in the nine spot.

In the bottom of the bracket, Miami would love to draw Georgia Tech, already beating them by an easy 15 in Atlanta. The Hurricanes would also love to get Florida State again, a team they see as being able to put away comfortably with or without the reinstated Reggie Johnson. Florida State has to be rooting for the Hurricanes tonight versus NC State, as they would much prefer to play a Wolfpack team they dismantled earlier this month. If the draw came out like this, look for Miami to increase their NCAA tournament chances by making a push to the semifinals. In the final quadrant Clemson meets Wake Forest in a matchup that Clemson would love. The Tigers have beaten the Deacons by a combined 31 points in two game this year and are on a roll at the moment. If the Tigers got North Carolina one would think they would be excited, as well. The Tigers lost by 22 in Chapel Hill earlier this month but kept the game within ten for about 32 minutes. The Tar Heels' feelings could go either way after the Duke game. If they win, count on them having a lot of energy and momentum going into the postseason. If they lose, they could either drag themselves down or regroup and try to make it to the championship for a third meeting. Also, they have to be rooting for the Hurricanes the rest of the way, too. Tonight, they will be going for Miami just because NC State is not their favorite, and during the tournament (if it played out like this) they would love to face them instead of Florida State, who beat them by 33 points in January.

Anyway you look at it, get ready for a hell of a ACC tournament.

Crazy Weekend in the ACC May Have Gone Unnoticed

The weekend was another crazy one throughout the country, as Kansas and Missouri completed their storied rivalry with an overtime game in Lawrence. Wisconsin upset Ohio State on the road. Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, and New Mexico all joined Ohio State in being upset. This all may have left the happenings of the ACC in the back of some analyst’s minds. It should not have, the last couple of days in the conference left storylines that are going to dominate the rest of the season. Here is what happened if you missed it…

Reggie Johnson can only watch from the bench during the Hurricanes win versus Florida State. -photo via Associated Press.

Reggie Johnson of Miami was declared ineligible… According to ESPN.com news services Johnson “has been declared ineligible by the Hurricanes after an investigation revealed that members of his family took impermissible travel benefits that…came from a member of former coach Frank Haith’s staff…The Hurricanes said Johnson was not aware of the benefits and personally received nothing.” Miami is currently seeking his immediate reinstatement and first-year coach Jim Larranaga is sticking to the fact that Johnson did not do anything wrong. This is tough for the Hurricanes as Johnson averages 10.6 points and 6.9 rebounds a game. Johnson has been up and down but recorded an 11-point and 9 rebound game against North Carolina and is a key part for the Canes bubble chances. Johnson was replaced in the starting lineup by Raphael Akperjiori (1.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg).

Without Johnson, Miami routed Florida State… Not only does this boost Miami’s chances of being on the right side of the bubble as they add another big win to go along with their victory at Duke, but it also ended a poor week for the Seminoles. Florida State lost this one 78-62 and was outscored by 24 points this week. Surely, it was tough to travel to Coral Gables after falling at home to Duke on Thursday but a three-day layoff should have given the Seminoles more rest to challenge the Hurricanes. Bernard James, Xavier Gibson, Jon Kreft, and Okaro White managed only 16 points between the four of them while not taking advantage of a 280-pound opening on the inside with the absence of Johnson. Durand Scott led the Hurricanes with a 17 point, 7 rebound, 2 assist, one steal performance.

Tyler Zeller (44) completes a key last minute dunk at Virginia. -photo via Star News Online.

North Carolina grinds out win over Virginia… The Cavaliers could not have asked for a better pace. The Tar Heels average a third best nationally 81.9 points per game while the Cavalier average a second best nationally 51 points per game. The final score of this one was 54-51. Carolina shot a poor 33.3% while the Cavaliers scored four more field goals while shooting 35%. Virginia committed only four turnovers to North Carolina’s 11. The game plan was clear for the Wahoos, but they struggled with foul trouble. Player of the year candidate was thrown out of rhythm when four fouls forced him into only 22 minutes. The team committed six more fouls than UNC and the Tar Heels shot 18-23 from the line while the Cavaliers shot just 3-6. Henson should win an Oscar for this one, as his acting helped Scott pick up his fourth foul with 12 minutes left. Tyler Zeller’s 20 point performance, including a clutch last minute dunk, may have gave him the edge over Scott for the player of the year race, but I am still not convince that it is a lock.

NC State’s bubble may have just burst… Barring a run to an ACC tournament championship, the Wolfpack may be done. A 72-69 loss to Clemson in overtime means State has lost four in a row in the most important stretch of their season. Clemson tied NC State at 7-7 in the conference for sixth place. For the first time in this stretch, foul trouble was not the main point of interest for the Wolfpack, as CJ Leslie, who was the most consistent player down the stretch, was the only player who picked up four fouls. Clemson big man Devin Booker, who finished with a very respectable 9 points and 10 rebounds, fouled out for the Tigers. Down the stretch, the story may have to belong to Clemson guard Tanner Smith, however. Smith finished with 15 points, four rebounds, and five assists, while scoring five points in the final minute and overtime. This also included the two free throws with six seconds left that forced overtime.

Austin Rivers (0) goes up for a tough shot against Virginia Tech in the first half. -photo via Gerry Broome/AP

Duke survived to keep hope of a number one seed… Virginia Tech came into Durham with a mission to take advantage of Duke’s tired legs and come out with an upset. Duke looked lackadaisical, not giving their normal effort for loose balls while coming off a tough battle in Tallahassee two days earlier. But Coach K applauded his team’s effort, saying that this is just like a tournament game, where you have to face two solid teams in three days. Krzyzewski gave all the credit in the world, noting that the Hokies have been part of 11 games in the conference that have been decided by four points or less, now with a 4-7 record in those games. Cadarian Raines had a bit of a coming out party for Tech, with a 16 point, 5 rebound game, and their best player, Erick Green, scored all 16 of his points in the second half, but missed the biggest shot of them all with a missed jumper from the elbow with three seconds left. Seth Curry and Austin Rivers both made three free throws in overtime, and scored 19 and 23 points, respectably. Miles Plumlee continued a charge with 15 rebounds.

Other results…
Wake 85, Boston College 56- CJ Harris and Travis McKie combine for 44 points in battle for tenth place in conference.
Maryland 61, Georgia Tech 63- Disappointing loss in Atlanta for the Terps, who could have been in sixth place right now. Leading scorer Terrell Stoglin shot just 5-17 from the field as Maryland drops to eighth.