Mid-Week Update

It certainly has been an interesting week in the ACC so far. The headline has to be both UNC and Duke losing on the same day. Let's start with Carolina. I give them a pass for losing at Clemson, because that is a tough place to play. Losing to Georgia Tech at home was a little more questionable. But coming off two straight losses and losing badly to Wake Forest at home? Something's not right here. Carolina has too much talent to be off to the start they are. In the Wake game, they shot 6-26 from the 3 point line. That is way too many 3 point attempts for that team. They appear to be in crisis mode right now and need something to turn it around.

For Duke, this was a head scratcher as well. NC State definitely put together its best effort of the year, and really dominated the game. Duke did not look like a top 10 team offensively or defensively. They need to get Kyle Singler going. I still think this is the best team in the ACC, but performances like this give other teams hope.

On Tuesday, there were two close games. Georgia Tech was able to edge Clemson, getting the benefit of a late foul call to go up by 2. Both teams looked very sloppy down the stretch, not looking like top 25 teams. And Miami had an inexcusable home loss to Boston College. The Canes were up by 17 and looked like they just stopped playing. This was a good confidence builder for the Eagles, and for Miami their surprise start has come to a grinding halt.

One other note: Virginia needed a last second shot by Sylven Landesberg to beat UNC Wilmington at home. Wilmington is one of the worst teams in the CAA, a team Virginia should have beat easily. So was this a letdown or a sign of things to come?

Ok, time to look ahead to the weekend.

Saturday:

BC at Virginia Tech (1:30 p.m., Raycom) - BC did have a nice second half performance against Miami, but I don't think the Hokies will lose this one at home. BC's only chance is to keep it a low scoring game.
Virginia at Wake Forest (4:00 p.m., Raycom) - Wake is coming off a great performance in Chapel Hill. This is the first real big ACC road test for the Cavaliers.
NC State at Maryland (6:00 p.m., ESPN2) - I think the Wolfpack are bound for a letdown after their great performance against Duke. Maryland has been rolling lately.
Duke at Clemson (9:00 p.m., ESPN) - This is the Gameday game, and should be a great matchup. Clemson has already lost at Cameron, and Duke will be looking to put the NC State game out of their minds. If Duke loses this one they will already have 3 conference losses.

Sunday:

Georgia Tech at Florida State (12:00 p.m., Raycom) - This is another rematch of a game that FSU won in Atlanta. Georgia Tech is playing better than they were the first time, but really don't matchup well with the Noles.