The Week Ahead

It was a good weekend to be the road team in the ACC.  Out of the five conference games, only Clemson was able to hold serve at home.  Obviously the biggest result was Florida State getting a Michael Snaer 3-pointer at the buzzer to win in Cameron, breaking Duke's long home winning streak.  Duke did not look like the fourth-best team in the country.  And Florida State is certainly playing with a lot more confidence than they had just a couple weeks ago.  There was also a surprising result in Charlottesville, as Virginia Tech was able to completely shut down UVA's offense and win on the road.  Coming off UVA's beatdown of Georgia Tech, it was hard to see that coming.

NC State also had a very nice win on the road against Miami.  They were actually in firm control in this game in the second half before getting a little out of control and letting Miami back into it.

Here's the schedule for the week ahead (Clemson is off):

Tuesday:

Miami at Georgia Tech (9:00 p.m., ESPNU)
Both of these teams have to be disappointed right now.  Miami blew a chance to get a solid win and lost at home to NC State.  Georgia Tech has been terrible offensively in its last two games.  Miami is the only one with NCAA Tournament aspirations, so they need to win this one.

Wednesday:

BYU at Virginia Tech (7:00 p.m.)
Virginia Tech steps out of conference for this one.  BYU isn't the same team it was a year ago, when it had The Jimmer, but is still a team with a good shot at the NCAAs.  It might be natural for the Hokies to have a letdown in this one, but they need to win to build some momentum.

Florida State at Wake Forest (7:00 p.m., FSN)
Florida State is certainly riding high and will definitely be favored in this second straight game on Tobacco Road.  Wake got a decent win on the road against BC, but still hasn't shown any consistency at all.  If they can keep this one within single digits, that will be an accomplishment.

Duke at Maryland (9:00 p.m., ESPN)
This has been a great rivalry for at least the last 15 years, but probably doesn't quite have the luster this year.  Duke is looking to rebound after a poor performance at home against Florida State.  Maryland is coming off two straight road losses.  This is the first really good home test for the Terps this year.

Thursday:

NC State at North Carolina (7:00 p.m., ESPN)
This has been a one-sided rivalry in recent years, especially in Chapel Hill.  But if NC State can continue the way they've been playing, they have a decent shot.  The Heels have been inconsistent in the last couple games, but I would think they'd have renewed focus after a week off.

Boston College at Virginia (9:00 p.m., ESPNU)
The Cavaliers have a chance to get back to feeling good about themselves with a home game against the ACC's worst team.  BC's Coach Steve Donahue seems a bit concerned about the way his team has played in recent games, and seeing a snowball effect.  I don't expect this game to help their mindset.

Final Thoughts:

I thought I had a pretty good handle on who the top four teams in the league were, in order.  After Duke's loss to Florida State, I thought UVA was pretty firmly the second best team.  Then they came out and looked completely lost on offense against Virginia Tech.  A lot of people are putting Florida State up there.  I still have some concerns about their offensive consistency - we'll see what happens when their hot streak cools off.  So right now, I would put Duke back in that number two spot.  I will not move North Carolina from the number one spot unless they go on some big losing streak.

The positive from this past week?  It looks more likely that the ACC will get four teams in the league, and maybe even five if NC State continues to play well.  I still think the magic number is 10.  If you can get to 10 conference wins, you're in pretty good shape.