Mid-Week Update

Parity has ruled the day thus far in the ACC this year. Every team has played either 2 or 3 conference games. The only team without a loss is Virginia. And every team has at least one win. The biggest story from the weekday games was probably Clemson's handling of North Carolina. The Heels' young players looked very flustered, and could not hold on to the ball. Clemson raced out to a big lead that it never came close to relinquishing.

In other ACC action, Virginia got a nice home win over Georgia Tech. Tony Bennett seems to have already made an impact. Virginia Tech exploded in the first half against Miami, up by as many as 35 points before coasting to an easy win. Duke had little trouble with Boston College.

On Tuesday, NC State got a very surprising road win over FSU. Scott Wood was lighting up the scoreboard for the Pack, but FSU really should not have lost this game. And Wake Forest got a good overtime win over Maryland, with the key bucket coming from Ish Smith. He always seems to deliver in the clutch.

Here's what to look for this weekend:

Saturday:

Clemson at NC State (12:00 p.m., Raycom) - Clemson is coming off an emotional high, and has to be on guard for a letdown. They are better than State but this one could be close.
Georgia Tech at UNC (2:00 p.m., ESPN) - Both teams need a good bounceback performance here. I expect this to be an up-and-down game with a lot of turnovers. UNC should win at home.
Maryland at BC (4:00 p.m., Raycom) - The Terps have been playing better, and BC has not. The Eagles need a home win here or their season could start to spiral down fast.
Virginia Tech at Florida State (6:00 p.m., FSN) - The Hokies are really playing with a lot of confidence and will be looking to pull off a road win. The Seminoles are not a good matchup for them though.
Miami at Virginia (8:00 p.m., ESPNU) - The Cavaliers are atop the ACC and could continue that way after this game. Miami is better than Virginia but needs to prove it in a better performance than what they came up with in Blacksburg.

By the way, how great is it that the ACC game times lined up this way? They staggered the games so you could watch ACC action from Noon to 10 p.m.

Sunday:

Wake Forest at Duke (8:00 p.m., FSN) - Duke is tough to beat in Cameron, and I can see Wake really struggling in this one.