Weekend Recap

Parity is ruling so far in the ACC.  After three games, only N.C. State and Miami are unbeaten, and only Georgia Tech is winless.  The Wolfpack had the biggest win over the weekend, knocking off #1 Duke at home.  I really don't consider that an upset.  Duke was without Ryan Kelly, and on the road against the preseason #1.  Assuming Duke wasn't going to go through the ACC undefeated, this would have been my #1 choice for a game they would lose.  Still, credit to N.C. State.  They came out with a lot of energy in the second half, and with the help of some great rebounding by Richard Howell, pulled it out.

North Carolina also got a big win over the weekend, on the road at Florida State.  They were able to really increase their offensive output against a team that historically has been very stingy on defense.  The other game of interest was Miami surviving at home against Maryland in a game where offense was lacking.  Neither team was able to score 20 points at the half.  Maryland now needs to regroup after losing two in a row.

What was interesting about this past weekend is that there were three games between teams in the top half of the conference, and three games between teams in the bottom half.  That made for some competitive games, with only one being decided by double digits.

The slate of games during this week is lighter, with four teams taking a few days off.

Tuesday:

Wake Forest at Clemson (7:00 p.m., ESPNU)
Wake finds itself at the top half of the standings at 2-1, but those wins have been against Virginia and BC at home.  Let's see if they can win one on the road.  Clemson remains offensively challenged, but got a surprisingly easy win against Virginia on Saturday.

Wednesday:

Miami at Boston College (7:00 p.m., FSN)
Possible trap game for Miami?  Boston College has played more competitive basketball as of late.  Miami is definitely on a roll, with a solid 3-0 start, but they need to avoid any bad losses if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.  Look for a good battle between Ryan Anderson and Kenny Kadji.

N.C. State at Maryland (7:00 p.m., ESPN2)
This is a very big game for Maryland.  N.C. State is coming off an emotional win at home, traveling to the Comcast Center.  Maryland is no lock to make the NCAA Tournament and the Terps have not looked very good in their last two games.  A loss doesn't hurt N.C. State that much, but Maryland doesn't want to go 1-3 in the ACC with a trip to Chapel Hill on the weekend.

Thursday:

Georgia Tech at Duke (9:00 p.m., ESPN)
Georgia Tech has played pretty solid defense so far, but they haven't been able to get it done on the offensive end, especially late in games.  That's why they sit at 0-3.  Duke is coming off a tough loss, and banged up.  The Yellow Jackets may be able to keep it close, but I expect the Blue Devils to be too tough at home.

By the way, I mentioned that the teams in the top half and the bottom half played each other this weekend.  They might not be in the top and bottom of the standings, but I think there's a pretty clear line you can draw between the six best teams in the league and the six bottom teams.  At the top you have Duke, N.C. State, Maryland, Miami, UNC and Florida State.  At the bottom it's Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Virginia, BC, Clemson and Georgia Tech.  Unless something changes, look for that to be the hierarchy going forward.