Saturday Is A Busy Day All Around The ACC
As everyone but Louisville and Georgia Tech are in action
It’s a full slate of ACC Action Saturday as SMU ponies up at NC State, Pitt renews acquaintances with Syracuse, BC treks down to Chapel Hill, Clemson hazards a trip to Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Virginia tangle in the JPJ, while FSU and Miami are finishing up their West Coast swing with the ‘Noles at Stanford and poor Miami likely to take another beating at Cal.
NC State is like Churchill’s pudding: it lacks a theme. There are some really nice pieces but no consistent offense. The defense is not bad though - it’s Kevin Keatts’s calling card after all - but this team has not been able to build on last year’s Cinderella run to the Final Four.
Pitt has struggled recently but the Panthers are not a bad team. We like them to bounce back and win this one in Lower Canada. They have a reasonable shot at controlling JJ Starling and if they do that, they’ll almost certainly win.
UNC really should beat Boston College, but consider this: there is a lot of pressure on this team right now and Boston College, while weak, plays hard and certainly defends. Toss in UNC’s below-par frontcourt and some grumbling fans and we could see an upset.
Of course, a great 5-star recruit would help shore up UNC’s frontcourt and they actually have one of those now, but he won't be in Chapel Hill until next fall. Given the rising pressure on Hubert Davis and the poor season to date and we wouldn’t necessarily guarantee his arrival.
Clemson has emerged as a very solid team even as Ian Schieffelin’s erratic play continues. The Hokies just aren’t that great and Mike Young has been very angry about how his team handles the ball and pressure. Clemson is the wrong team to play with those problems.
Virginia has shown a bit of a pulse lately but Notre Dame has better talent and coaching. It’s hard to overlook those strengths. Who on Virginia can deal with Markus Burton?
Finally, Florida vs. West Coast: FSU, as we have said, has rarely been a good road team and the combination of Jaylen Blakes and Maxime Raymaund has proven to be pretty potent. We’ll take the home team again.
Finally, this is basically a lost season for Miami and looking down the schedule, we don’t see a game they’re likely to win. If Nijel Pack comes back and can be effective, maybe they could steal one somewhere. It probably won’t be at Cal.
- ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament Ticket Books Go On Sale Thursday
- Previewing Syracuse’s ACC clash vs. Pitt
- Behind Enemy Lines: Syracuse student newspaper breaks down the Orange and the Panthers ahead of ACC Basketball match-up
- ACC men’s basketball power rankings: Duke, Louisville, Clemson on top, Wake Forest surging
- What Happened To ACC Basketball?
- Analysis | Louisville is out of the wilderness and back near the top of the ACC
- Hubert Davis dives into UNC basketball’s mental approach as Tar Heels deal with adversity
- SMU looks to make headway in ACC vs. struggling NC State
- NC State Plays Southern Methodist University (SMU)
- Clemson rising, but must take care of business at Virginia Tech
- Preview: Boston College Men’s Basketball vs North Carolina
- Preview: Boston College Men’s Basketball vs North Carolina
- Virginia feels optimistic at home against Notre Dame
- Burton leads Notre Dame against Virginia after 28-point showing
- Irish take on Virginia after disappointing result at Syracuse