Mid-Week Update

Let's start with the most exciting game of the week, in Charlottesville. Virginia Tech looked dead in the water, but managed to erase a 10 point deficit against UVA and win in overtime. This is a big road win for the Hokies, and the kind of game that can propel them to the top half of the league. While for Virginia, it's a bit of a reality check after the strong start.

The other game on Thursday saw Georgia Tech taking it to Wake Forest, blowing open the game in the second half. The Yellow Jackets have really played well in the last few weeks and appear to be one of the three best teams in the conference.

On Wednesday, Duke took care of a pesky Florida State team in Cameron. The game went about as expected. On Tuesday night, North Carolina got a big road win over NC State. The Wolfpack seemed to hit a wall partway through the second half and got steamrolled in the last 10 minutes of the game at home. It's looking more and more like the Duke-NC State game was a fluke. And for UNC, it was an important win to reassert them as still a force to be reckoned with.

Maryland got another blowout win over a lifeless Miami. They are now atop the ACC. And Boston College got a surprising win over Clemson, one in which they were up by a fair amount at halftime and held on. It's becoming more clear that Clemson is not as strong a team as it was in previous years.

It's an interesting weekend. Wake Forest is the only team that is idle. And three teams are playing non-conference games. I won't worry about dissecting Kentucky State at GT or NC Central at NC State -- both will be easy wins for the ACC squads.

Here are the other games:

Saturday:

Duke at Georgetown (1:00 p.m., CBS) - I will be at this great non-conference matchup in DC. Both teams have been very strong this year. I give Georgetown the slight edge at home, but Duke has been hitting their stride after the NC State loss and won't go quietly.
Florida State at BC (3:00 p.m., Raycom) - This is another opportunity for BC to get a home win. Florida State is the better team, but can they prove that? This one should be close.

Sunday:

Virginia Tech at Miami (1:00 p.m., Raycom) - Miami has been on a real slide lately. If they show up, they have a good shot at beating a road-weary Hokie team. But if they play like they have been recently, the Hokies should take it.
Maryland at Clemson (5:30 p.m., FSN) - This is the marquee conference game of the weekend. Maryland has been playing very well, but run into their toughest game in a while with the trip to Littlejohn. Clemson has to win this one, having lost three in a row.
Virginia at UNC (7:45 p.m., FSN) - The Cavaliers are reeling a bit after a tough loss to Virginia Tech. North Carolina got some mojo back in the win over NC State. Expect to see the trends continue here.