The Week Ahead

It was a good week for one team looking to make the NCAA Tournament and a bad week for another.  Florida State took care of business in Raleigh, showing no effects from its struggle against Virginia Tech.  The team they beat, N.C. State, followed up a collapse at Duke with a flat performance at home.  The Wolfpack will have to regroup fast if they want to make the tournament.  The other big story from the weekend: the second half performance of UVA.  The Cavaliers allowed only 13 points in the second half to Maryland in blowing open a close game, to get a little bit of their mojo back.

Here's the schedule for this week (BC and Wake are off):

Tuesday:

Clemson at Georgia Tech (7:00 p.m., FSN)
Clemson once again lost in Chapel Hill, continuing their 0-fer streak.  But they have played better basketball recently.  Georgia Tech actually played better without Glen Rice, Jr. in Blacksburg, but still lost.  In a week of good matchups, this is probably the least attractive game.

Miami at Maryland (8:00 pm., ACC Network)
Miami played a solid second half against Wake Forest to get a nice bounceback win.  But they really need to win this one to put themselves in decent position for the NCAA Tournament.  Maryland may have run out of gas after losing Pe'Shon Howard for the year.  Mark Turgeon was very upset with their effort in the second half against Virginia.

North Carolina at N.C. State (8:00 p.m., ACC Network)
N.C. State is in desperate need of this win after losing to the other two top teams in the league.  Carolina is plugging along nicely and already beat the Wolfpack easily in Chapel Hill.  N.C. State has a chance at the upset, but only if the Heels come out flat.

Virginia at Virginia Tech (9:00 p.m., ESPNU)
Last year, two losses to Virginia probably cost Virginia Tech a trip to the NCAA Tournament.  This year, Virginia Tech can return the favor.  They already won in Charlottesville.  Virginia can't lose another game to a lower tier team in the conference.  Without Victor Davila, it's hard to see the Hokies stopping Mike Scott.

Thursday:
Duke at Florida State (7:00 p.m., ESPN)
A very intriguing matchup that may decide the champion of the league.  Of course, Florida State already won in Cameron.  But for some reason, this year Duke has played better on the road than at home.  I would actually favor the Blue Devils in this one.  Austin Rivers continues to produce.  Although if one of Florida State's 3 point shooters goes off, they could win by 10 points.