Weekend Preview

This week we saw some separation start to build between the haves and the have-nots.  For the most part, the games were not very competitive at all.  Here are the margins of victory this week: 14, 3, 18, 14, 32, 14.  North Carolina played okay basketball for one half and then got back to their full potential in the second half in blowing by Virginia Tech.  If Harrison Barnes can play like he did in the second half, this team can beat anyone in the country.  Virginia also had a very nice performance on the road at Georgia Tech.  They methodically beat down the Yellow Jackets with their suffocating defense.

Here's a look ahead at the weekend (North Carolina is off):

Saturday:

Maryland at Temple (11:00 a.m., ESPNU)
This is the rare 11:00 a.m. game, and a tough non-conference matchup for the Terps.  Their offense has been playing pretty well but they had a tough time stopping Florida State.  Temple is tough to beat at home, with a win over Duke earlier this year.

Wake Forest at Boston College (12:00 p.m., ACC Network)
Yuck.  That's all I have to say about this game.  In all seriousness, though, this will be a big accomplishment for whoever wins.  Wake will already exceed their ACC win total from last year if they can win on the road.  If BC wins, they will have three conference wins - a big accomplishment for this team.

Georgia Tech at Clemson (2:30 p.m., ACC Network)
Georgia Tech had a terrible offensive performance against Virginia, shooting 1-15 from three.  Clemson played a little better than I thought they would at Miami, but still lost.  Neither one of these teams is going very far this year.

Florida State at Duke (4:00 p.m., ESPN)
This is the most publicized of the matchups this weekend.  Florida State comes in hot.  Duke comes off a very solid offensive performance against Wake.  Florida State has a history of playing well in Cameron.  I can buy into Florida State being a top half team in the ACC, but I don't think they have enough offense to win this game.

Sunday:

NC State at Miami (12:00 p.m., ESPNU)
To me this is the most intriguing matchup of the weekend.  NC State has played very solidly since losing at home to Georgia Tech.  Miami has a lot of talent and is very close to being 2-1 in conference.  I tend to favor the Wolfpack in this one - I expect CJ Leslie to have a good game.

Virginia Tech at Virginia (6:00 p.m., ESPNU)
Virginia Tech played its best conference game against North Carolina but still came up short.  They will need another effort like that to have a chance against Virginia.  The Cavaliers are playing very solidly right now, and are playing their way into a very good seed in the NCAA Tournament.