Season Preview

Erick Green

7. Virginia Tech


2010-2011 record: 22-12 (9-7 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 9
Best non-conference game: 12/4 vs. Kansas State






Projected Starting Five:


F - Cadarian Raines (Sophomore)
F - Victor Davila (Senior)
F - Dorian Finney-Smith (Freshman)
G - Dorenzo Hudson (Senior)
G - Erick Green (Junior)




You can divide the Seth Greenberg regime at Virginia Tech into two different eras.  The first is the Dowdell/Gordon/Collins era.  The second is the Delaney/Allen era.  Take a look at how each four-year class has done:


Dowdell/Gordon/Collins:       67-56 (29-35 in the ACC)
                                        1 NCAA berth, 1 NIT berth


Delaney/Allen:                    87-50 (35-29 in the ACC)
                                        4 NIT berths


This is the start of era #3, with the current freshman class.  The Hokies have the chance to get off to a fresh start, putting behind them the disappointment of not making the NCAA Tournament the last couple years.  Unfortunately, the year is already getting off to a bad start.  J.T. Thompson suffered a season-ending injury in practice this week, the second straight year he will be out.  And Erick Green has an Achilles injury that may sideline him for a couple weeks.


Green is the key player for Virginia Tech this year.  He really stepped up his game in the second half of last year, and will be the emotional leader.  He will be paired in the backcourt with Dorenzo Hudson.  Hudson had a breakout year two seasons ago, but had a lingering injury that made him ineffective when he played last year.  For the Hokies to be successful, Hudson has to recapture his offense from two seasons ago.


The other big key is Cadarian Raines.  Raines has had injury problems since he got to Blacksburg, and really needs to stay healthy.  He has to provide good minutes with Thompson out.  I do expect the freshmen to provide an impact - they might not be great right away, but by the end of the year they will be counted on for a lot.


So what can we expect from this team?  Expect some growing pains at first, especially with a difficult early season schedule.  The likely home game against George Mason will be huge - if the Hokies can win that one, they will have a couple great tests at Madison Square Garden.  I do expect the freshmen to gain confidence as the year goes on and the Hokies could roll to a high finish in the conference.  But if any more injuries strike (I had them at 6 before the Thompson injury) and their depth goes away again, it could be a long year.

Season Preview

Jim Larranaga

8. Miami


2010-2011 record: 21-15 (6-10 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 9
Best non-conference game: 12/6 vs. Memphis






Projected Starting Five:


C - Kenny Kadji (Sophomore)
F - DeQuan Jones (Senior)
G - Garrius Adams (Junior)
G - Durand Scott (Junior)
G - Malcolm Grant (Senior)




Having gone to a lot of George Mason games over the years, I am very familiar with Jim Larranaga.  And I would have never predicted that his next coaching job would be at Miami, a school that hasn't exactly been a model for great behavior.  So it will be very interesting to see what kind of fit Larranaga is in this program.  Frank Haith started out as a very solid coach at Miami, but over the last few years his teams consistently underachieved.  So I think the fan base let out a sigh of relief when he decided to bolt for Missouri.


What Coach Larranaga inherits is a bit of a team in flux.  The pieces are there to be an NCAA Tournament caliber team.  He has two very solid guards in Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant, who were the two leading scorers last year.  Beyond that there are some question marks.  Reggie Johnson has a lot of potential, but he will be on the bench at the start of the season with an injury.  Julian Gamble is out for the season with an injury.  And DeQuan Jones is in the middle of a battle with an NCAA, who may rule him ineligible.  Take those guys away and there are a lot of questions in the frontcourt.  The good news is the Hurricanes picked up Kenny Kadji, a transfer from Florida who didn't play much for the Gators but could pick up the slack down low.


I give Miami credit - a lot of years they play a very soft early season schedule, but they have put together a challenging slate.  The Canes will play Memphis, Purdue, West Virginia and Ole Miss in the first month of the season.  Look for them to have more of a defensive identity than they did under Coach Haith.  A lot of times near the end of games Miami would go into streetball mode, trying to play one-on-one and throwing up wild shots.  Larranaga will bring more discipline.


This team was pretty close to being good last year.  They had a stretch of four straight ACC games that they lost by four points or less.  The only two conference games they lost by double digits were both to Duke.  I think it will take a little while for Larranaga to get acclimated to his new team, especially with the injuries.  So Miami will struggle more than the experts predict (ACC media picked them 5th).  But they have a good coach who should do good things in the long run.

Season Preview

The Thrillerdome

9. Georgia Tech


2010-2011 record: 13-18 (5-11 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 6
Best non-conference game: 12/7 at Georgia




Projected Starting Five:


C - Daniel Miller (Sophomore)
F - Kammeon Holsey (Sophomore)
G - Glen Rice, Jr. (Junior)
G - Jason Morris (Sophomore)
G - Mfon Udofia (Junior)




It was only a matter of time before Paul Hewitt was no longer the coach at Georgia Tech.  Hewitt could recruit, and brought a lot of talented guys to Atlanta, but he was not a good in-game coach.  His teams were some of the sloppiest you'll see, with so many turnovers.  So it was time to make a change.  And that means Brian Gregory comes over from Dayton, where he had a decent impact on that program.


Gregory's biggest challenge is finding a replacement for Iman Shumpert.  Shumpert was one of the best players in the league last year, finishing with 17.3 points per game, and leading the team in rebounds, assists and steals.  There is no one on the current Georgia Tech roster who will be able to fill that void.  What they do have is a few decent shooters, led by Glen Rice, Jr., who was the second-leading scorer last year.  I was high on Mfon Udofia after his freshman year, but it seems that he regressed last year.  He will have to step up his game for this team to be successful.


The team will miss Brian Oliver, who was a spark before he got hurt last year.  He ended up transferring to Seton Hall.  Like last year, the team has very little in the frontcourt.  Kammeon Holsey and Daniel Miller, the presumed starters, combined for about eight points per game last year.  Coach Gregory has already said that he will likely use four guards on the court at the same time, but that will prove very difficult against teams like North Carolina and Florida State.


It's definitely going to be a strange year for the Yellow Jackets.  Besides a new coach, the team has no real home, with Alexander Memorial Coliseum (aka the Thrillerdome) undergoing renovations.  They will split their games this year between the Atlanta Hawks' home and Gwinett Arena.  That will make it very difficult to have a true home court advantage.  Georgia Tech does have a pretty easy schedule, with non-conference highlights being games against SEC teams Georgia and Alabama.  They also get Duke and Carolina only once, and play Boston College and Wake twice each.  That schedule is the main reason why I put them as high as #9.

Season Preview

Gary Williams - Retired

10. Maryland


2010-2011 record: 19-14 (7-9 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 9
Best non-conference game: 12/4 vs. Notre Dame (in Washington, DC)




Projected Starting Five:


C - Berend Weijs (Senior)
F - James Padgett (Junior)
G - Sean Mosley (Senior)
G - Terrell Stoglin (Sophomore)
G - Nick Faust (Freshman)




It feels weird to pick Maryland to finish so low in the ACC.  I can't remember the last time they were in the bottom fourth of the league.  And that is due to two big factors.  First, the loss of Coach Gary Williams.  Williams endured his share of criticism in recent years, but the fact remains that he was a great in-game coach.  His recruiting tapered off a bit, but he almost always over-achieved with the kids that he had.  And his retirement definitely came as a surprise.  The second reason: the early departure of Jordan Williams.  He was a double-double machine last year and was clearly Maryland's best player.  Williams finished with 16.9 points per game and 11.8 rebounds per game.


So where does that leave the Terps?  They brought in Mark Turgeon, who is a very solid coach.  He left Wichita State and Texas A&M in better places than when he got there, making the NCAA Tournament every year he was coach of the Aggies.  Turgeon inherits some talented players, including Terrell Stoglin, who had a good freshman year and was the team's second-leading scorer.  The starting lineup looks a little different for the beginning of the year than it will when we get to 2012.  Pe'Shon Howard, who was a star at times last year, suffered a preseason injury and will miss the first two months of the season.  And Alex Len, a freshman from the Ukraine, must sit out the first 10 games.  Len is being touted as a very solid player and how he performs after the suspension will go a long way to determining what kind of year it is for the Terps.


As it is, the start of the season will probably bring some growing pains.  The frontcourt is very thin and short on talent, although Terps fans are high on the promise of James Padgett.  Maryland usually plays a pretty challenging early season schedule, and this season is no exception.  They will have to face Alabama, Illinois and Notre Dame without Len and Howard.  The ACC schedule is no less forgiving - the Terps have to play two games each against North Carolina and Duke, and only get doormats Boston College and Wake Forest once.


This team will be a work in progress.  It will be up to Turgeon to instill his style on this team.  There probably will be less running up and down the court and more halfcourt sets.  They have a chance to be in the middle of the pack in the ACC if Len and freshman Nick Faust turn out to be solid players.  If not, it will probably be a long year in College Park.

Season Preview

Steve Donahue

11. Boston College


2010-2011 record: 21-13 (9-7 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 6
Best non-conference game: 11/30 vs. Penn State








Projected Starting Five:


C - Kyle Caudill (Freshman)
F - Ryan Anderson (Freshman)
G - Danny Rubin (Sophomore)
G - Matt Humphrey (Junior)
G - Gabe Moton (Sophomore)




Steve Donahue arrived at Boston College last year with fairly low expectations, and I think did a really solid job.  The team started off playing very well in the Old Spice Classic, and continued that momentum into the ACC season.  They finished with a 9-7 conference record, and I think should have gotten into the NCAA Tournament.  Unfortunately for BC fans, last year is in the past.  And Donahue will have a whole new challenge this year.


Remember the year after Carolina won the national title the last time?  They lost almost their entire team.  The same thing happened this offseason with BC, except they don't have the talent of Carolina's backup players on their roster to pick up the slack.  It is a major rebuilding year coming up for BC.  The top 5 scorers from last year's team are all gone.  The big loss, of course, is Reggie Jackson, a do-it-all point guard who decided to leave early for the NBA. That leaves a lot of players you've never heard of.


So who is going to step up for Boston College this year?  The leader will probably be Matt Humphrey, a transfer from Oregon.  Humphrey only started seven games in his two years with the Ducks.  The two returning players who will start are Danny Rubin and Gabe Moton, who combined to average 6.7 points per game last year.  The team brings in an astonishing nine freshmen, who will have to have an impact right away.  The one who will probably do the most is Ryan Anderson, who comes across country from California.


What Donahue will need to do is find people who at least can run his system.  If you saw his teams at Cornell, they had a pretty heavy emphasis on shooting the 3.  If he can find some outside shooters, he can have success.  Just not this season.  The ACC media picked Boston College to finish last.  I put them above Wake Forest because I have more faith in Donahue than Jeff Bzdelik.  He will get them on the right track.  BC fans will just have to be patient and maybe go to hockey games this year.

Season Preview

Jeff Bzdelik

12. Wake Forest


2010-2011 record: 8-24 (1-15 ACC)


Games against NCAA Tournament teams: 8
Best non-conference game: 12/3 vs. Richmond





Projected Starting Five:


C - Ty Walker (Senior)
F - Travis McKie (Sophomore)
F - Nikita Mescheriakov (Senior)
G - C.J. Harris (Junior)
G - Tony Chennault (Sophomore)




What can you say about Wake Forest last year?  They were very difficult to watch, maybe the worst team ever fielded in the history of the ACC.  Jeff Bzdelik came in as coach, and inherited a team with very little talent.  What's worse is that the team never seemed to establish an identity on the court.  They played about as undisciplined as I've seen, chucking up shots that were way off most of the time, and never developing a game rhythm.  The lone bright spot on the team was freshman Travis McKie, who led the team in scoring and rebounding.


It's hard to imagine much changing this year.  The good news is McKie is back, along with solid guard C.J. Harris and promising point guard Tony Chennault, who got hurt midway through last year.  The bad news is that offseason turmoil continued, and led to the departure of Ari Stewart and J.T. Terrell (Terrell was the second-leading scorer last year).


The schedule sets up decently well for some wins.  Wake doesn't really have a whole lot of challenging non-conference games, and they only have to play North Carolina and Florida State once.  But I just can't believe that this team is going to be even marginally better than it was last year.  The talent just isn't there.  I haven't seen anything from Bzdelik to suggest that he's a good coach, and he is losing the grip on his program.  Lawrence Joel used to be one of the best home arenas in the ACC, and it was mostly empty last year.  I have a hard time seeing more than three conference wins for Wake, and that's with a down ACC.

Season Primer


It's getting to be close to late October, and that means the start of the basketball season isn't far away.  So what's been going on and what can we expect to see on the court this year?  Here are a few things to look out for:


What's New:


-Expansion


The big topic over the last month or so has been expansion.  It looks like we are moving more and more toward superconferences (which, for the record, I hate).  For the ACC, that means the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh.  There will almost certainly be more to come.  The Orange and Panthers won't be in the ACC this season, but there certainly will be plenty of talk about expansion and what the future of the ACC will look like for the months to come.  Across the college basketball landscape, you will see some changes this year, with the Pac 10 expanding to include Colorado and Utah, and the Big Ten expanding to include Nebraska.


-Coaches


There has been a ton of coach turnover in the ACC over the past two years.  Last year we saw new head coaches at Boston College, Clemson and Wake Forest.  This year we have some more.  Mark Turgeon takes over for legend Gary Williams at Maryland, the first time someone other than Gary will be on the sidelines for the Terps since the 80s.  Mark Gottfried is the new head man at NC State, looking to restore the team to at least what it was under Herb Sendek.
Georgia Tech has a new head coach in Brian Gregory, coming over from Dayton.  The Jackets have the added obstacle of splitting their time between two arenas while their home is renovated.  And Miami will be looking to grow under Jim Larranaga, who did wonders at George Mason.


-Departing Players


A lot of terrific players graduated or left for the NBA.  Among them: Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Kyrie Irving, Tracy Smith, Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen, Jordan Williams, Chris Singleton and Reggie Jackson.  Those are players that are tough to replace.  However, there are some players that chose to remain in school (most of them are at UNC), and should be stars to watch this coming year.


Preseason Thoughts


There has been a lot of chatter recently about how the ACC has lost some of its luster in recent years and needed a boost with Pitt and Syracuse.  The conference has had some down years, sure, but has a chance to prove itself.  There are two ways you can earn respect as a league: win your non-conference games and win in the NCAA Tournament.  It will be up to the teams not named Duke and Carolina to prove that they belong as upper echelon teams in college basketball.  Whether that can happen this year with so much coaching turnover remains to be seen.  But I am looking forward to another season.


Preseason Poll


ACC media week was earlier this week, and here's how the pundits see this season shaping out:


1. UNC
2. Duke
3. Florida State
4. Virginia
5. Miami
6. Virginia Tech
7. Clemson
8. NC State
9. Maryland
10. Georgia Tech
11. Wake Forest
12. Boston College


I'll have my list as the next couple weeks go on, with a breakdown of each team.

Season in Review


Wake Forest
8-24 (1-15 ACC)


Finally, we get to Wake Forest.  It's hard to sugarcoat this: Wake had one of the worst seasons in ACC history.  It was just a dismal year, right from the start.  The most telling statistic for Wake's year I think is this: there were only 2 conference games in which Wake didn't lose by double digits.  That is just awful.  Wake didn't have the talent or competitiveness to stay in ballgames.


The year began with a 10 point loss at home to Stetson.  It didn't get any better from there.  The non-conference continued with losses to VCU, Winthrop, UNC Wilmington, Xavier, Presbyterian, Richmond and Gonzaga.  When they started ACC play the Deacons were 7-8.  They only won one game the rest of the season, a 5 point home win over UVA.  Even against bad teams in the conference Wake was not competitive.  In their two games against Georgia Tech, they lost by a combined 61 points!


Wake was fairly balanced scoring-wise.  Their leading scorer, freshman Travis McKie, had 13 points per game.  They had a hard time settling on a rotation - 9 players averaged at least 14 minutes a game, and no one played more than 32 minutes a game.  This team had a combination of a lot of bad shooters, poor rebounding, and lack of effort on defense.  While it's hard to hang a coach out after one year, Jeff Bzdelik did nothing to show that he will have any success at all.


Biggest Win:
76-71 vs. UVA on 1/29


There isn't much to choose from here.  UVA was struggling at the time and Wake caught them at the right moment.  They finished well down the stretch, overcoming a 10 point deficit in the second half.  It was one of the few times this year that Wake played well as a team.


Worst Loss:
Too many to pick one


Here are some great candidates: that opening loss to a Stetson team that went 8-23.  How about a 9 point home loss to a Winthrop team that went 13-17?  Or a home loss to a Presbyterian team that went 13-18?  This is a team that lost at home by 26 points to Georgia Tech.  They lost at home to NC State by 25 points.  Way too many embarrassing losses to pick just one.


Postseason Play:


The postseason was mercifully short for Wake Forest.  They came into the NCAA Tournament as a 12 seed, showed very little life in their first round game against Boston College, and lost by 14.


Looking Ahead:


The good news for Wake is that their roster remains fairly intact from last year.  Gary Clark is the only senior of significance that leaves.  They do have some talented young players, like McKie.  But how good is it when a roster returns that only won 8 games?  Coach Bzdelik is really going to have to show some improvement next year or he's going to be on a very short leash.  It's hard to imagine they will be able to come even close to a .500 record in the conference next year.

Season in Review


Virginia Tech
22-12 (9-7 ACC)


I think there are two ways you can look at Virginia Tech's season.  One is that the Hokies were predicted in the Top 25 this year, supposed to make the tournament, and didn't.  Another is that the team had to deal with several significant injuries but managed to battle back and have a pretty decent season. Regardless, the fact is that the Hokies again had a year where they played pretty well but fell just short of the Big Dance.


What happened in the first month of the season went a long way to determining the rest of the year.  The team struggled out of the gates, losing games they really needed to win, especially back-to-back home games against Purdue and UVA.  They did manage to find their rhythm in late December, with a stretch where they won 9 out of 10.  The only loss in that stretch was a game at Chapel Hill that they really should have won.


The season was highlighted by a win over then #1 Duke in Blacksburg.  Unfortunately, they followed that up with two stinkers against Boston College and Clemson, two fellow bubble teams.  The Hokies played well in the ACC Tournament, surviving a crazy game against Florida State, but that wasn't enough.  The season ended once again in the NIT.


Obviously the main problem the team had all season was the lack of depth.  They were routinely only playing 6 guys, and if anyone got into foul trouble that was a big problem.  Players like Erick Green and Victor Davila were able to step up and really help this team out, but they were doing it with absolutely no bench.  The team's two stars, Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen, had fine seasons, and were leaned on time and again to produce big numbers.


Biggest Win:
64-60 vs. Duke on 2/26


This was an easy choice.  Virginia Tech has had a decent history against Duke, and they really played at a very high level in this game.  They knew it was an important game, and came out with a lot of energy.  There was a lot of back and forth in this one but in the end the Hokies made plays down the stretch and Duke didn't.


Worst Loss:
57-54 vs. UVA on 12/5


I think that this is really the defining loss for the season and the biggest detriment for the NCAA hopes.  Coming off a tough loss in overtime against Purdue, the Hokies were completely flat in the first half and let UVA get out to a big lead.  They were never able to get over the hump and ended up losing by 3.  This was the first of two losses to UVA this season.


Postseason Play:


The Hokies won two games in the ACC Tournament for the first time, coasting to an easy win over Georgia Tech before gutting out somewhat of a miracle against Florida State.  It looked like Tech had lost, only to see a final basket negated on review.  Playing with a limited bench, they predictably lost in the semis to Duke in a game that wasn't very close.  There were high hopes for the NIT despite the sting of the NCAA snub, but it wasn't meant to be.  The Hokies beat Bethune-Cookman easily, but lost in the second round to Wichita State in a game that was very hotly contested.


Looking Ahead:


It's hard to predict what the next step is for the Hokies.  On the one hand, they do lose a lot.  Delaney, Allen and Terrell Bell all graduate, taking with them about 39 points per game.  Manny Atkins this week decided to transfer to Georgia State, leaving them without another potential starter.  On the other hand, Dorenzo Hudson and J.T. Thompson are expected back from injury and both should be solid contributors.  The team is also bringing in a highly regarded recruiting class with some players that could start right away.  In a year when it will most likely be UNC, then Duke, then everyone else, Tech could fight for that third spot.

Season in Review

Virginia
16-15 (7-9 ACC)

It's easy to be pessimistic about the UVA basketball team, given the recent lack of success and the fact that they only finished one game above .500 this year.  I would argue that things are definitely looking up in Charlottesville, with a coach who knows what he's doing, and a strong finish to the season.

The first half of the season was pretty polarizing.  UVA had some games where they really played well, including back-to-back road wins at Minnesota and Virginia Tech.  They also lost by 43 points to Washington, and lost back-to-back home games to Seattle and Iowa State.  Part of the problem was the fact that their best player, Mike Scott, was hurt.  Scott only played 10 games.

The start to conference play wasn't promising.  UVA started out 3-8, with some close tough losses.  Once the team started to gel with its younger players, they started playing better, winning 4 of the last 5 ACC games, including two road wins.

The thing about playing UVA is you know that they are going to play strong defense.  Tony Bennett's teams can really shut you down and make you look bad on offense.  The games can look ugly, but they are effective (see the 49-47 win over Clemson as an example).  If Virginia makes their 3 pointers, they are tough to beat.  Once Scott got hurt, it became a leader by committee.  It really wasn't one guy producing all the scoring for the team.  Mustapha Farrakhan had his best year by far, but when he wasn't scoring someone like Joe Harris or K.T. Harrell would pick up the slack.

Biggest Win:
87-79 at Minnesota on 11/29

This was definitely a surprising win for UVA over a Minnesota team that at the time was ranked 15 in the nation.  The Cavaliers used a very strong second half performance and a double-double from Scott to earn a relatively easy win.  This, coupled with their road win against Virginia Tech in their next game, was their best stretch of the season.

Worst Loss:
59-53 vs. Seattle on 12/22

If the two game stretch in November was the best UVA played this year, the late part of December was the worst.  After scratching out a last second win over Norfolk State, UVA lost this game to an independent Seattle team that went 11-20 this year.  Seattle's only other game against an ACC team was a 29 point loss to Maryland.

Postseason Play:

The postseason was about as crushing as one team could go through.  UVA was in control of their first round ACC Tournament game against Miami, up by 10 points in the last 40 seconds.  Then in a comedy of errors fashion they blew the lead away, losing in overtime.  It was an abrupt and shocking end to the season.

Looking Ahead:

The big news in the off-season is the fact that Scott was granted a medical redshirt and will be able to play next year.  When he played, Scott averaged a double-double and is easily the team's best player.  Beyond him, they have a solid group of young players, led by Harris and point guard Jontell Evans.  The team loses Farrakhan and Will Sherrill, but returns a good group of players that seem to have bought into Coach Bennett's system.

Season in Review

N.C. State
15-16 (5-11 ACC)

It was another lost year in Raleigh, as the Wolfpack once again underachieved and seemed to just be playing out the string the second half of the year.  As a result, the team is starting fresh, as Sidney Lowe finally got the boot.

State had reasonably high expectations going into the year, with a talented class of freshmen and some good returning players.  They never really got any momentum, though.  The best non-conference win that the Wolfpack had was probably a 13 point neutral site win over George Mason, although Mason was struggling at the time.  They lost their ACC/Big 10 Challenge game by 39 points at Wisconsin.

In conference play, it didn't get much better.  NC State won only 5 games, which included 2 wins against Wake Forest.  Wake was the only team they beat on the road.  8 of their 11 ACC losses were by double digits.  It was just a rough year all around.

The Wolfpack were led by Tracy Smith, who had a solid year, but still underperformed at 14 points per game.  CJ Leslie was very highly touted, but struggled much of the early part of the year.  Ryan Harrow was another solid freshman, but he was injured in the middle point of the ACC season, and Javier Gonzalez just didn't cut it at point guard in his absence.  Besides Scott Wood, the team had very few 3 point threats.  Take a look at some of these 3 point percentages:

CJ Leslie - 25%
Ryan Harrow - 22%
Lorenzo Brown - 30%
Javier Gonzalez - 29%

Biggest Win:
69-61 vs. Clemson on 2/17

The only conference win NC State had against a team that made the NCAA Tournament was this one over Clemson.  In their previous game against Clemson, they had blown a huge first half lead, so it must have felt good to get some payback.  This was also the second game of their only two game win streak in ACC play.

Worst Loss:
87-48 at Wisconsin on 12/1

NC State didn't have any embarrassing losses to really bad teams on their schedule, so I picked this 39 point defeat.  At one point State was down 52-21.  They finished the game shooting 31% and letting Wisconsin shoot 50%.  That is not a formula for success.

Postseason Play:

There isn't much to say about NC State's postseason except that it was short.  They played Maryland in the first round of the ACC Tournament and lost by 8.  Maryland controlled the game, leading the whole time, and put State out of its misery.

Looking Ahead:

Sidney Lowe is out and Mark Gottfried is in at NC State.  It was well known that State chased some big names, including Shaka Smart of VCU, but struck out.  Gottfried's hire also came with some controversial comments back and forth between Athletic Director Debbie Yow and Gary Williams.  All that being said, Gottfried isn't a bad coach.  He might not be the perfect fit for the NC State job, but he is definitely an upgrade over Lowe.

Gottfried does inherit some talent.  Leslie is staying in school, and should be an improved player in his sophomore year.  Richard Howell can be a capable inside scorer, and Wood should provide some outside scoring.  They do lose a fair amount off this year's team, though: Smith is graduating, along with Gonzalez.  Harrow decided to transfer, which will leave a definite hole in the backcourt.  If State can find a point guard, they can fight their way back into contention.

Season in Review

North Carolina
29-8 (14-2 ACC)

Tar Heel fans have to be pretty happy about what happened this past season.  After a nightmare of a season where they ended up in the NIT, the Heels ended up with an ACC regular season title and a berth in the Elite 8.  They showed some rust in the beginning of the season with a lot of new players, but really came together by the end of the season.

You can divide North Carolina's season into two parts.  The first would be the Larry Drew team.  This is the team that struggled to early losses against Minnesota, Vanderbilt and Illinois.  The second is the Kendall Marshall team.  After Drew left the program, the team significantly improved.  From December 21 to March 5, UNC went 17-2.  That is an incredible run for a team even in a relatively weak ACC.  Carolina made it to the final of the ACC Tournament despite struggling through much of their first two games, but got blown out by rival Duke.  In the NCAA Tournament, they played great at times and poorly in others, eventually losing to Kentucky and missing out on a Final Four bid.

The funny thing is I felt like despite all the success, Carolina still didn't play up to potential.  Harrison Barnes is a great talent but can tend to get selfish during games, taking wild shots.  He no doubt hit a lot of clutch shots, but I would like to see him distribute more.  Similarly, John Henson has a ton of potential and is a big force on the inside.  But I saw him make way too many plays where he tried to drive all the way to the basket from the 3 point line with no success.  That being said, Marshall was the real catalyst for this team, and could have a huge impact next year.

Biggest Win:
81-67 vs. Duke on 3/5

Carolina was very motivated to beat their hated rival, especially after blowing a big lead in Cameron during the first game.  They played one of their best games of the year here, making Duke look slow and unathletic.  This was big for their confidence, although they didn't play up to this level again the rest of the season.

Worst Loss:
78-58 at Georgia Tech on 1/16

Carolina came into this game having not lost in a month and just laid an egg.  Losing at Georgia Tech is bad enough, but to lose by 20 is really inexcusable.  The good thing is this was just a blip on the radar, as they came back to win their next five in a row.

Postseason Play:

The ACC Tournament was a bit of a struggle for the Heels.  They came in as the #1 seed, but got down big in the first half against Miami in the quarters. They were able to come back and win due mostly to Miami ineptitude.  Then, they got down by a significant margin to Clemson in the semis.  Barnes hit some big shots and led Carolina back to an overtime win.  This led to a third matchup with Duke in the finals.  It was Blue Devils all the way from the start, as Duke jumped out to a double-digit halftime lead and ended up winning by 17.

North Carolina came into the NCAA Tournament with a 2 seed, and started with an easy win over Long Island.  They had a tougher time in the second round game against Washington, coming up with a huge play on an in-bounds from Henson and a last-minute stop to win.  In the Sweet 16, Carolina blew out an overmatched Marquette team, one of the most lopsided games of the tournament.  Then came the Kentucky game.  The Wildcats seemed to have a good game plan against the Heels, and made a ton of 3s in a mild upset.

Looking Ahead:

With the return of Henson, Barnes and Tyler Zeller, most pundits have North Carolina pegged as the best team next season.  And it's hard to argue with that.  If they can keep working on developing team chemistry, they can certainly win it all.  Carolina will have as much talent as anyone in the country.  The best player they are losing is Justin Knox, who averaged 4.6 points per game.  The only thing that can keep Carolina from taking it all next year will be themselves.

Season in Review

Miami
21-15 (6-10 ACC)

There was a lot of optimism coming into last season for Miami. They hadn't played well the year before, but had a strong ACC Tournament and had pretty much everyone coming back. What most fans overlooked was the fact that this was still Miami - a team that continually underachieved. And the result this year was another disappointing season.

The Canes played okay in the early season. They beat West Virginia and Ole Miss but lost to Rutgers by 16 and to UCF by 6. Miami was largely untested in the first month or so of the season, and it showed when conference play began. They started 1-6 in the ACC, with many of those losses being really tough, close games. Miami had a stretch of 7 conference games where the largest margin was 4 points. That is a lot of close games! They did win three games in a row to get back into decent position, but were never really in the hunt to make the NCAA Tournament. They were able to play the role of spoiler a couple times, hurting the NCAA Tournament chances of Boston College and Maryland with wins over them. Miami was able to make the NIT, where they ended up losing to Alabama.

Miami was carried throughout the year by the three players expected to carry the team. Malcolm Grand, Durand Scott and Reggie Johnson combined for about 40 points per game. The problem is they never seemed to have all of them playing well at the same time, and didn't get much out of the bench. They often would get into streetball mode and feature one guy driving against the other team, putting up a wild shot. Coach Frank Haith was a hot name early on in his career at Miami, but really didn't do much the last several years and was on the hot seat. Fortunately for Miami, Haith was surprisingly offered the job at Missouri and bolted.

Biggest Win:
79-76 vs. West Virginia on 12/4

This was Miami's only win over a team that made the NCAA Tournament. They won in dramatic fashion, coming back from a 13 point deficit in the second half thanks to 26 points from Grant. This was also a rare game that Miami was able to win at the end.

Worst Loss:
61-45 at Rutgers on 11/21

Rutgers is an okay team at home, but there really is no excuse for going up to New Jersey and scoring only 45 points, losing by 16. Miami only shot 29 percent against the Scarlet Knights, and only got 3 points from Grant. Rutgers ended up winning only 5 games in the Big East this year.

Postseason Play:

The ACC Tournament was an adventure for Miami. They had an improbable win over Virginia, in which the Cavaliers lost a 10 point lead in the final 40 seconds. It was a combination of total ineptitude by Virginia and some clutch plays by Miami to complete the comeback. The shoe was on the other foot for the quarterfinal game. Miami built a big lead over #1 seed North Carolina before completely blowing it in the last 10 minutes and losing by 2. Miami did earn an NIT bid, winning home games over Florida Atlantic and Missouri State fairly easily before losing to Alabama by 15.

Looking Ahead:

After Haith left for Missouri, Miami took a long time on its coaching search before coming up with an unexpected hire. They lured longtime George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga away from Northern Virginia. Larranaga had unquestionable success at Mason, with that unforgettable trip to the Final Four and numerous NCAA bids. How he will be able to win at a school with the pressure to compete in the ACC is another question. Miami doesn't have a great basketball pedigree, and it will take some work for Larranaga to change that. He does inherit some pretty good players. Johnson decided that he will not stay in the NBA Draft, and will return to Miami. Grant and Scott will be back as well (assuming they don't transfer). In fact, the only senior is Adrian Thomas, who was a 3-point specialist. If Larranaga can get the players to buy in to his style, they could move up in the conference next year.

Update: Maryland

A lot has happened in the past 48 hours for the Maryland Terrapins program since I wrote the Season In Review. Yesterday, we learned that Jordan Williams has hired an agent and will not be coming back to school. While this was expected, it is still a big blow for the team. He was the best player on the team by a wide margin and the only true post threat.

The worst news came this afternoon - with Coach Gary Williams' retirement. This definitely came as a surprise. While Williams has been at Maryland for a long time (22 years), he is not that old and seemed to still enjoy the challenges of coaching. Williams wasn't the best recruiter in the country - in recent years especially he missed out on some big name recruits. But he was probably the best motivator and in-game coach in the conference besides Coach K. The program will definitely miss him. At this late juncture, it's going to be tough to get a top level coach to replace him. Maryland has a good tradition even before Coach Williams got there (mainly because of Lefty Driesell) but I can't help but wonder if this might be the start of a significant decline for Maryland hoops.

Season in Review

Maryland
19-14 (7-9 ACC)

Even the most die-hard Maryland fans had to acknowledge that this past year would be a down year following the loss of Greivis Vasquez. And that's how it turned out. The Terps had a lot of young players who played a lot of significant time - and that led to some inconsistency. For the most part, Maryland beat the teams that it was better than, but just couldn't get a big win over a better team.

The Terps handled themselves pretty well in Madison Square Garden early in the year, but were ultimately overmatched in losses to Pitt and Illinois. The rest of their non-conference slate was pretty undistinguished, and they had a disappointing loss in their ACC opener at home to Boston College. As the ACC season went on, the Terps just couldn't seem to string together a series of wins to get any momentum. They were on the outside of the NCAA bubble much of the year, and seemed to run out of gas at the end of the ACC season, losing their last three conference games. Somewhat surprisingly, the Terps did not even get an NIT bid, and the ACC Tournament marked the end of their season.

Jordan Williams did it all for Maryland. He had a long streak of consecutive double-doubles, and ended up with 16.9 points per game and 11.8 rebounds per game on the year. When he didn't play well, the Terps didn't play well. Other than Williams, the only other double figure scorer was freshman Terrell Stoglin. Veteran players like Cliff Tucker, Adrian Bowie and Sean Mosley didn't produce consistently enough to lift Maryland. And three point shooting was a big problem. No one that played on a consistent basis shot better than 36% for the year from three point range.

Biggest Win:
78-62 vs. Florida State on 2/23

It was tough to find a signature win for this Terps team. They had only a few wins against teams that made the NCAA Tournament. They did manage a nice 16 point win here against a Florida State team that made the Sweet 16, although FSU was just learning how to play without Chris Singleton. This got the Terps to 7-6 in the ACC before they lost three straight.

Worst Loss:
74-60 vs. Virginia on 3/5

Maryland came into this Senior Day game against their rival Virginia needing a win to finish 8-8 in the conference. They were very flat in this one and let the Cavaliers control the game from the opening tip. This came after Maryland had won the game in Charlottesville by 24 points.

Postseason Play:

Maryland came into the ACC Tournament as the 7 seed, and had a fairly easy eight point victory over NC State. They then had to play Duke on short rest. That proved to be very tough, as they ran out of gas in the second half and lost by 16. Maryland probably didn't think that would be the end of their season, but they didn't get an NIT bid.

Looking Ahead:

Maryland fans pin much of their hope for next season on the decision due soon from Williams. If he decides to come back to school (which at this point seems unlikely) the Terps could have a very solid team next year. If not, they have a big hole in the frontcourt. The team's other frontcourt starter, Dino Gregory, is graduating. Bowie and Tucker are graduating as well. What Maryland is left with are two rising sophomores in Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard who could end up being great players. James Padgett could be a solid player in the post, but the Terps need more if they are going to make it back to the NCAAs next year.

Season in Review

Georgia Tech

13-18 (5-11 ACC)

The season went about as expected for Georgia Tech. They lost a lot of talent from the previous year, especially down low, and didn't have the horses to really compete in the ACC. That ended up marking the end for Coach Paul Hewitt. Hewitt had some success at Georgia Tech, making it to the championship game in 2004, but he couldn't win with the talent he recruited and couldn't keep that talent in school for more than a year or two.

As for this past season, it was a struggle from the beginning. Georgia Tech lost their second game to Kennesaw State by 17 points. In Kennesaw's only other game against a major conference team, they lost by 40 points to Iowa State. The Yellow Jackets couldn't really pick up any momentum all season. They had a decent non-conference win against Richmond, but followed that up with a loss to Siena.

In conference, Georgia Tech had a couple good home wins, against UNC and Virginia Tech. But they once again couldn't win on the road, with their only conference road win coming against Wake Forest. At one point they lost 8 of 9, with the only win being a non-conference game against Chattanooga. The one bright spot for the team this year was Iman Shumpert. He averaged more than 17 points per game, 5.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He was Georgia Tech's best offensive and defensive player. Georgia Tech's main problem was a complete lack of inside scoring. Their top six scorers on the year were all guards, and you have to go to Daniel Miller's 4.4 points per game to see the top scorer on the inside.

Biggest Win:

78-58 vs. UNC on 1/16

This one was a head-scratcher. North Carolina was playing very well, but had a real hiccup here in a 20 point loss down in Atlanta. Georgia Tech held UNC to 27% shooting for the game, and got 30 points out of Shumpert. They were able to follow this up with a 35 point win over Wake Forest.

Worst Loss:

80-63 at Kennesaw State on 11/15

How could this not be the worst loss? I mentioned earlier how bad Kennesaw State was this year. They only won 8 games, and this was their second largest margin of victory all year. You could tell after this game that Georgia Tech was not headed for a good season.

Postseason Play:

Georgia Tech's stay in the postseason was very brief. They played Virginia Tech in the first round of the ACC Tournament, and had a terrible effort. The team had no life, got down big early, and managed only 43 points in a 16 point loss.

Looking Ahead:

Georgia Tech is starting fresh next year with a new coach. The hiring of Dayton's Brian Gregory brought mixed reviews. Gregory had some success with the Flyers, but had been an NIT team of late. He will need to change the culture of losing and fanbase apathy in Atlanta. How successful Gregory is in his first season will depend largely on what Shumpert decides. He has entered his name for the NBA draft but has not hired an agent. If he leaves, that leaves a big hole in the backcourt. If he stays, most of the team remains intact. The only other seniors that had significant playing time were Maurice Miller and Lance Storrs, who combined to score 8.6 points per game. If Georgia Tech can find some frontcourt players they can have a decent year.

Season in Review

Florida State

23-11 (11-5 ACC)

If you are Florida State fan you have to be pretty happy with how this past season went. For years Florida State had a tough time breaking through that NCAA Tournament barrier: they went 8-8 or so every year and just missed out. Then, they started making it to the tournament but couldn't win a game. This year, though, they were able to win two games, and made it to the Sweet 16. You have to give Leonard Hamilton a lot of credit for the job he did. They were without their best player, Chris Singleton, for much of the ACC season, but held it together very well.

It wasn't the smoothest of runs for FSU. They lost two big home games in a row in November, then lost a stretch of 3 out of 4 at the start of the ACC season. But a win over #1 Duke catapulted them to 5 wins in 6 games. The only home game they lost in conference was to UNC, and they went a respectable 4-4 in the ACC on the road. When Singleton was out, players like Bernard James and Derwin Kitchen really picked up the slack. It was really a team effort, with only Singleton averaging more than 11 points per game.

Biggest Win:

57-50 vs. Texas A&M on 3/18 (NCAA Tournament)

This was the win that got FSU over the hump of not having won a game in the NCAA Tournament. They were coming off a heartbreaking loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament and not much was expected of them in the Big Dance. But the Seminoles responded, even without a healthy Singleton, and this win propelled them to an upset win over Notre Dame.

Worst Loss:

65-60 at Auburn on 1/3

Florida State got a lot of grief for this loss to a really terrible Auburn team. There's not much to say about this one except that the Seminoles shot 35% against a team that went 11-20 this year.

Postseason Play:

The postseason was a mixed bag for FSU. They lost in crazy fashion in the quarterfinal of the ACC Tournament, on a basket by Kitchen that was disallowed at the buzzer against Virginia Tech. Rather than letting that ruin their season, though, the team responded. As a 10 seed, they beat Texas A&M by 7 and Notre Dame by 14. In the Sweet 16, bad possessions at the end of regulation and overtime doomed the Seminoles to a one point loss against VCU.

Looking Ahead:

The question about Florida State now is whether they will be able to sustain success. They have turned into the third best school in the ACC behind North Carolina and Duke, and will be looking to make their fourth straight NCAA berth. They obviously suffer a big loss with Singleton leaving early for the NBA. Kitchen, the second leading scorer, leaves as well. But the only other seniors on the squad never played. They should be quite good with Michael Snaer running the show in the backcourt, and James and Xavier Gibson in the frontcourt. The team's strength will continue to be defense, and if they can develop some consistent 3-point shooters they can make another Sweet 16 run.

Season in Review

Duke

32-5 (13-3 ACC)

The expectations were sky high for Duke this year, coming off a National Championship run and returning nearly all of their players. Nothing they did at the beginning of the season did anything to dampen these expectations. Then, ironically, the season took a turn during the Butler game. Star guard Kyrie Irving got injured, forcing him out for the rest of the regular season. Duke still played pretty well without him, losing only 4 games. There were some signs of weakness, though, especially in their losses.

One of their main problems was the relative ineffectiveness of Kyle Singler. With all the buildup, Singler really had a disappointing year. He especially had a rough stretch near the end of the ACC season. Singler ended up scoring 16.9 points per game, but he only shot 32% from the 3 point line. A positive for Duke was the emergence of players like Seth Curry. Curry ended up averaging 9 points per game but came up big in some big games (especially their home game against UNC).

Of course any discussion of Duke starts and ends with Nolan Smith. He had a monster year, carrying the team on his back in some games, and was really a star for the Blue Devils. Smith ended up with 20.6 points per game, shooting nearly 46% from the field and leading the team in assists. Duke has to be disappointed with the way they ended the season, and I think most of that goes back to Irving. He returned for the NCAA Tournament, and that had a big impact on the team's chemistry. They struggled in a close win against Michigan and then were flat out demolished in the second half against Arizona.

Biggest Win:

75-58 vs. North Carolina on 3/13 (ACC Tournament Final)

Duke always gets up for the ACC Tournament, and played that whole week like they had something to prove. Many people thought UNC would be able to beat them for the second time in a week, but the Devils were having none of that. They controlled this game from start to finish and looked great in building a comfortable lead against their hated rivals. You could tell that the team really wanted that game in their postgame interviews.

Worst Loss:

93-78 at St. John's on 1/30

You could put the loss to Arizona in this spot, but I look at the January non-conference game against the Johnnies. This was the game where you really could see a chink in the armor. Duke was down by 21 points at halftime in a game that most people expected them to win. This was only the second loss of the season and the first one in blowout fashion.

Postseason Play:

As I said before, Duke played very well in the ACC Tournament, rolling to fairly easy wins over Maryland, Virginia Tech and UNC. Their smallest margin of victory was 14. Then the team took a #1 seed into the NCAA Tournament. They had no trouble with Hampton, but had to survive a last-second shot attempt to beat Michigan by 2. Then came the game against Arizona. They played solidly in the first half but it all fell apart for Duke in the second half and they ended up losing by 16. Definitely a bitter end to a season that had a lot of promise.

Looking Ahead:

There is no such thing as rebuilding at Duke, and to think that they will be anything other than great next year is foolish. The team definitely loses a lot, with Singler and Smith graduating and Irving leaving early for the NBA. That represents the top 3 scorers. There is still a lot of talent remaining, though, with Curry and Andre Dawkins in the backcourt. They will be joined by the highly touted Austin Rivers (son of Doc), who will be a freshman. The frontcourt will basically be all Plumlees, and Ryan Kelly. Look for Duke to be in the preseason top 10.

Season in Review

Clemson

22-12 (9-7 ACC)

Like Boston College, you'd have to say this season was a pleasant surprise for Clemson. Even coming off a string of three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, not a whole lot was expected of this team. They had a fairly unknown commodity in Coach Brad Brownell, who was coming from Wright State. Their best player, Trevor Booker, was gone. And the Tigers came out of the gate a bit cold - they lost four games early in the season. But Clemson was able to turn it around by the end of the year. They played very well down the stretch, going from a team off the bubble to one that played its way into the NCAA Tournament.

The best player for Clemson this year was Demontez Stitt. The senior guard led the team in scoring and had the ability to knock down big shots. The team wasn't just about one player though: six players averaged at least 7.8 points per game. And Clemson was able to play lockdown defense, changing from that pressing style of Oliver Purnell to a more tight man-to-man.

Biggest Win:

70-47 vs. Boston College on 3/11 (ACC Tournament Quarterfinals)

What I had as BC's worst loss is Clemson's biggest win. Many people saw this game as a winner is in, loser is out of the NCAA Tournament. And that's how it ended up playing out. Clemson played perhaps its best game of the year in this one, beating up on BC from the very start. They used this momentum in another solid game against UNC in the semis, just running out of steam at the end.

Worst Loss:

49-47 at Virginia on 2/2

It's not the fact that they lost in Charlottesville, because Virginia was not that bad of a team. But this game was ugly with a capital U. Clemson was actually down big with horrendous offensive numbers for much of the game before mounting a late rally to make it close. I'm sure Coach Brownell would agree this was probably their worst performance.

Postseason Play:

Clemson played very well in the postseason. After earning a #4 seed in the ACC Tournament, they beat up on #5 seed Boston College. Then they took on UNC in a virtual road game and had a great game, only to fall in overtime. Clemson then got into the dreaded play-in game in the NCAA Tournament and beat up on a UAB team that was overmatched. They had a very quick turnaround against #5 seed West Virginia and actually had a healthy lead through much of the first half but tired down the stretch and ended up losing by 8.

Looking Ahead:

You have to like what Coach Brownell did this year with a group that wasn't his own players. Next year should be set up pretty well, as the Tigers don't lose too much. Stitt and Jerai Grant do graduate. They represent the team's top two scorers this year. But the Tigers do return an emerging talent in Milton Jennings. Andre Young needs to continue to grow as a shooter, as he will be the main outside game next year. And expect a good year out of Devin Booker (Trevor's brother). If Tanner Smith can become a more consistent scorer in the backcourt Clemson should be in good shape to make a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament.

Season in Review: Boston College

The dust has settled on the ACC season and it's time to look back and see how each team did. Did the season perform up to expectations? Or was it a disappointment? We start with Boston College.

Boston College

21-13 (9-7 ACC)

You have to say this season was a pleasant surprise for BC. They were coming off a bad season, lost their best player from the year before (Tyrese Rice) and had a new coach. But you have to give Steve Donahue credit. He took what was a fairly experienced team that was used to playing the flex offense and got them to buy into his system. The team started off well, beating Texas A&M and Cal in Orlando. They started the ACC season with a road win over Maryland and put up some solid wins from there on out.

The season did end in disappointing fashion for BC. They lost by a wide margin in a key ACC Tournament game against Clemson, and didn't make the cut for the Big Dance. They ended up losing in the second round of the NIT, at home against Northwestern. For the Eagles this year, it was all about Reggie Jackson. Jackson ended up scoring more than 18 points per game and ran the point efficiently.

Biggest Win:

67-65 vs. Texas A&M on 11/25 (in Orlando)

This was the game where people started to take notice of Boston College. They played a tough Texas A&M team that was a quality tournament team and got out to a hot start. This was the opening game in the Old Spice Classic, which ended up being a 2-1 week for BC.

Worst Loss:

70-47 vs. Clemson on 3/11 (ACC Tournament Quarterfinals)

This was probably the game that kept BC out of the NCAA Tournament. They had losses to worse teams than Clemson, but there wasn't a more important loss. And it wasn't just the fact that they lost - they got blown out. After this game, the team really didn't have an argument for getting left out of the tournament.

Postseason Play:

You'd have to say that the postseason was disappointing. BC won their first round game in the ACC Tournament over Wake Forest before losing to Clemson. In the NIT they went down to McNeese State and won before losing to Northwestern before a sparse home crowd on a Saturday morning.

Looking Ahead:

Much of what happens with BC next year depends on what Reggie Jackson does. Right now, he has declared for the NBA Draft but has not hired an agent, leaving open the possibility that he comes back. Even if Jackson does come back, there isn't much around him. BC loses seniors Joe Trapani, Josh Southern, Biko Paris, Corey Raji, Courtney Dunn and Josh Cahill. That represents four of the top five scorers this year. The next best player left is Danny Rubin, who averaged four points per game. I think Donahue is a good coach who will do well at BC, but next year will probably see some growing pains.

Coming Soon!

Sadly, the college basketball season is over. What was a very interesting tournament ended in a lackluster championship game, with Butler turning in one of the worst final game performances I've ever seen. That shouldn't take anything away from what Butler accomplished this year (and last year). That remains one of the best feats in my lifetime in the sport.

With the season now over, I will be taking a look back. Once Miami hires a new coach, I will start running down all the teams in the conference - did this past season live up to expectations? And what does next year look like? Stay tuned!

National Final Preview

Last year it really seemed like Butler had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win the National Championship. No one would have expected them to get back to the game with another chance the very next year. What they have done is truly remarkable. I said this morning that Brad Stevens should get an automatic invite into the Hall of Fame if Butler wins this game - and I say that only half-jokingly.

Connecticut has defied the odds this season too. No one expected them to do much this year, coming off an NIT season. But they have won 10 straight tournament games, led by their star Kemba Walker. I think if Walker has a good game, UConn will be very difficult to beat. Their bigs will give Matt Howard problems, and Butler has to have a good game from Shelvin Mack to compete. Of course, Butler has found ways to win against seemingly insurmountable odds already this year (and last). So counting them out is not something I would recommend. I will go with UConn, though, in what should be an excellent game.

Pick: Connecticut

Final Four Preview

What a wild NCAA Tournament this has been! This is the first year that I can remember throwing my bracket in the trash before the Final Four. The last four teams include one from the Colonial and one from the Horizon leagues. And they are playing each other! Conventional wisdom says the winner of the second semifinal game will win it all, but I threw conventional wisdom out the window a while ago.

#11 VCU vs. #8 Butler (6:07 p.m.) - I don't know which is the better story - VCU or Butler. The fact that Butler has made two straight Final Fours is remarkable - one of the best achievements in the history of college basketball. VCU meanwhile is the darling of the tournament and the team that has pulled off the most shocking upset (over Kansas). I think the difference between these two teams is experience. VCU has never been even close to the Final Four, and will be playing in the biggest stage of their life. Butler has been there done that, and has a seasoned and battle-tested team. VCU certainly can win this game, but I'm going to go with Butler. Pick: Butler

#4 Kentucky vs. #3 Connecticut (8:47 p.m.) - It's hard to believe that a program with the tradition of Kentucky hasn't been to the Final Four since 1998. But here they are with as good a chance as any to take home the title. This has to be rewarding for John Calipari, especially since everyone expected them to be here last year and they couldn't get the job done. It will be interesting to watch Kentucky's young team go against Kemba Walker, the kind of star that deserves to have that Final Four stage. Besides Jeremy Lamb, we'll see what other players can step up for Connecticut. I think this will be an excellent game, and for the second time this year UConn will beat Kentucky. Pick: Connecticut