ACC Roundup - Another Busy Saturday
Can UNC steady itself? Can Georgia Tech keep it up? And will Chucky Hepburn and Jaylen Blakes play?
In Saturday’s ACC Action, Virginia Tech visits Notre Dame, Miami is at Louisville, BC heads down to the ‘Cuse, Pitt and UNC have a quick rematch in Chapel Hill, just 11 days after the first matchup, Wake is at Cal, Georgia Tech slides up to Virginia and NC State finishes up the Cali trip with Stanford.
Virginia Tech and Notre Dame is intriguing. The Hokies are trending up and Notre Dame, at best, is trending sideways. We’d probably call this one a toss-up.
That’s not the case for Miami and Louisville. There’s no way we can imagine Louisville losing to this Miami team at home, even if Chucky Hepburn can’t play (groin injury). Matthew Cleveland is a real threat, but Miami’s defense isn’t.
It’s hard to get a grip on Boston College and Syracuse because both teams are bad. But Syracuse has a bit more talent and are at home so we’d probably go with them.
Pitt at UNC is really interesting. Pitt has really had the upper hand over UNC lately. Toss in some superior inside play and some rugged perimeter defenders and the Tar Heels have a tough matchup.
However, UNC has started and stewed since getting hammered by Duke last weekend and either they’re ready to play or they’re giving up. And since they are just 1-4 in their last five games, our guess is they come to play.
Wake Forest should beat Cal, but the Bears are reincorporating Andrej Stojakovic who had been out for a few games. He shot just 2-12 against NC State but we’d bet he does better against Wake.
Georgia Tech is one of the most interesting teams in the conference right now. Riddled with injuries, the Yellow Jackets somehow got much better. Part of this is probably that they gave up on Baye Ndongo as a forward and let him play to his strengths around the basket, but it’s more than that.
Virginia is also playing better, largely due to improved outside shooting.
We’re not sure Georgia Tech can keep this going, but we hope they can.
Finally, NC State takes a seven-game losing streak to Stanford. Jaylen Blakes has been out with an apparent concussion and if he’s not back, Stanford has a lot to overcome, but State has to overcome a lack of an offense and that’s proven to be tough. We’ll take the home team here.
Also, as you may have heard, UNC’s Hubert Davis has admitted that the cherished UNC model is no longer working. He plans to build out his staff, hiring a GM and so forth.
He’s right obviously, but there are two question. First, he apparently would prefer to hire from within the family. That inherently limits your options. You might have a great candidate, but the pool is automatically smaller. And second, we think we saw that he was planning this in the off-season.
He better do it now, or UNC will be caught in the same trap this spring as it was last year. And that’s not good for anyone. The ACC benefits from a healthy UNC.
Saturday’s ACC Action
- Virginia tech @ Notre Dame || 1:00 || CW
- Miami @ Louisville || 2:00 || ESPN2
- Boston College @ Syracuse || 3:15 || CW
- Pitt @ UNC || 4:00 || ESPNu
- Wake Forest @ Cal || 5:00 || ACCN
- Georgia Tech @ Virginia || 5:00 || CW
- Duke @ Clemson || 6:30 || ESPN
- NC State @ Stanford || 7:00 || ACCN
- Notre Dame, Virginia Tech out to get on solid footing
- After Two Road Wins, Hokies Have Some Momentum Ahead Of SMU, Notre Dame
- Louisville’s Pat Kelsey updates Chucky Hepburn’s injury status ahead of Miami matchup
- Will Chucky Hepburn play in Louisville basketball game vs Miami? Latest from Pat Kelsey
- PREVIEW: Louisville basketball hosts an aimless Miami team
- Miami’s Matthew Cleveland’s Last Five Games Makes Him A Threat For Louisville
- Beat writers agree Syracuse will beat BC in 2nd matchup
- Syracuse tries for the season-sweep against a struggling Boston College
- Boston College visits Syracuse, looks to stop road losing streak
- Video: Locked On Tar Heels - Desperation time as UNC Basketball hosts Pitt on Saturday
- UNC basketball faces HUGE bubble game against Pitt
- Pitt men’s basketball to travel to UNC just 11 days after their last showdown
- UNC vs. Pittsburgh: Three Things to Watch
North Carolina faces Pitt again in search of ‘full potential’
Pitt Take 5: When Panthers meet Tar Heels, loser faces uphill climb
- Bears Set Sights On Wake Forest
- Wake Forest eyes Bay Area sweep on visit to Cal
- Georgia Tech takes aim at Virginia with both teams suddenly hot
- Tony Bennett Returns for Emotional Halftime Ceremony During Virginia vs. Georgia Tech Game
- Road Trip Continues: NC State Travels an Hour South to Play Stanford
- NC State carries seven-game losing streak to Stanford