ACC Update: 11/22

It was very difficult to watch last year as Wake Forest struggled so much to one of the worst years in ACC history.  Unfortunately, that may happen again this year with Boston College.  Last night, BC played at home against UMass, a team not expected to contend in the Atlantic 10.  And the Eagles lost by 36 points.  36!  I can't even describe in words how bad that is.  This is the Atlantic Coast Conference!  I know the ACC is supposed to be down again this year but man, that is really embarrassing.  In this game, BC shot 31% from the field, 23% from 3, and 52% from the line.  I really hope Steve Donahue can turn things around quickly.

On the positive side, NC State had a very nice win against Texas.  They were down at one point by 18 points, but sparked by the disqualification of J'Covan Brown, they came all the way back.  In a strange ending, CJ Leslie missed two free throws with the chance to put the game out of reach.  And then Texas took a desperation 3 that an NC State player swatted away.  Texas was screaming for a goaltending call, to no avail.  It looks like NC State will be one of the better teams in the ACC this year.

Duke got a win as expected over Tennessee in the first round of the Maui Invitational.  This sets up a very interesting re-match of last year's NCAA Tournament game between Duke and Michigan.  John Beilein has really done a good job building the Wolverine program to fit his 1-3-1 defense, and they have a good shot of pulling the upset.

Another underrated game on the schedule tonight is Clemson vs. Coastal Carolina.  Clemson had a very disappointing loss to Coastal Carolina over the weekend.  They were down double digits in the second half before mounting a charge that fell just short.  Coastal Carolina had a terrific year last year in the Big South under Coach Cliff Ellis and definitely has the firepower to beat Clemson.

In other conference news, there is some trouble brewing at Maryland.  Besides the school voting to get rid of eight sports teams, after their latest loss, Coach Mark Turgeon had some strong words to say to his team.  He said, among other things, "This is the biggest challenge I've ever had in coaching. It's not even close."  Check out this Washington Post story on the issue:
Coach Turgeon Losing His Players?