Conference Games Start!

At long last, we are starting the slate of conference games in the ACC.  All 12 teams play their first conference game this weekend.  Here's a look ahead:

Saturday:

Duke at Georgia Tech (12:00 p.m., ESPNU)
Duke is coming off a tough (and a little surprising) loss on the road at Temple.  They have way too much talent to lose to Georgia Tech though.  The Yellow Jackets are a work in progress and were not competitive in a home game earlier this week against Alabama.  I would expect Duke to win this one by about 20.

Virginia Tech at Wake Forest (12:00 p.m., ACC Network)
The Hokies have been playing pretty well for the past month or so, and coming off a good road win at Oklahoma State.  Wake has played a little better this year but just lost to Wofford at home (they were without their best player C.J. Harris though).  If the Hokies are going to make a serious case for an NCAA Tournament bid this year, they need to win games like this.

Boston College at North Carolina (2:30 p.m., ACC Network)
I'm glad we're getting this game out of the way early.  It doesn't get any more of a mismatch than this - the worst team on the road against the best team.  Boston College is coming off a double overtime loss at home to a Rhode Island team that had previously won two games.  UNC may win this one by 40 points.

Florida State at Clemson (4:00 p.m., ESPN2)
Two teams that have been a bit of a disappointment so far this year meet in Littlejohn.  At this point, Florida State would have to be the favorite, even on the road.  They still struggle to score at times, though.  The Seminoles definitely need this game to build their team back up.

Miami at Virginia (6:00 p.m., ESPNU)
This is in my opinion the best matchup of the weekend.  Miami is playing a little better since getting Reggie Johnson back.  Virginia got a very nice road win at LSU and is looking like a solid #3 team in the conference.  If Johnson can play well defensively on Mike Scott, Miami has a chance.

Sunday:

Maryland at NC State (6:00 p.m., ESPNU)
This is one of the biggest differences with the new ACC/ESPN television package - instead of the Sunday Night Hoops game on FSN, there will be a weekly 6 pm game on Sundays on ESPNU.  They start out with an intriguing matchup.  Maryland is at full strength with Alex Len and Pe'Shon Howard, but I still am not buying that they are a good team.  NC State has more talent and needs to win this one at home.

One note - some of these road teams are favored.  But it's been proven time and time again how difficult it is to win on the road.  Just yesterday, we saw Purdue lose by 20 points at Penn State and Pittsburgh lose to DePaul.  To me the difference between good teams and great teams is the ability to win on the road.  What I will be interested to see as the year goes on is which teams can show the ability to win away from home - those will be the ones fighting for an NCAA Tournament berth.