The Selection Committee Got It Right!

The NCAA Selection Committee apparently got it right when they only selected four teams from the ACC. Clemson, a five seed, lost to Villanova in the first round. Duke and Miami both lost in the second round. The only team from the ACC to make it into the "Sweet 16" is North Carolina. Carolina will face Washington State, a four seed, in Charlotte on Thursday.

Duke being beat by West Virginia was certainly a surprise. The Bluedevils had a 5 point lead at the halftime break. Apparently their legs failed them down the stretch because they could not manage to hit their jump shots. Everyone knows how imperative for Duke's shots to fall, especially from behind the three point line. Duke's inability to knock down shots from the outside and lack of size inside and on the boards, made for an uphill battle ultimately leading to an early exit to the tournament.

Another North Carolina surprise was Davidson. The Wildcats defeated Gonzaga and came from a 17 point second half deficit to defeat the Georgetown Hoyas. Stephen Curry, a sophomore, has now scored 100 points in his last three NCAA tournament games. Davidson will face Wisconsin on Friday.

Little Respect for the ACC

The ACC did not get the respect that it deserved when it came to selection Sunday. The ACC was the highest rated conference according to the RPI. Collectively, the ACC won 77% of their their games against non-conference opponents. The Big East Conference was awarded 8 bids, the most by any conference. Their conference ranked 5th in the RPI and won 73% of their games against non-conference opponents. The Pac-10 which has been widely regarded by all the experts as the best conference in basketball, has an RPI ranking of two. They collectively won 80% of their games, but with a strength of schedule rank at 21. The ACC's strength of schedule ranking was 7th and the Big East's strength of schedule ranking was 6th.

Based in this information, I believe that the ACC should have been given more respect. I believe that Virginia Tech has a very good case as to why they should have been awarded an at large bid. Hopefully, Virginia Tech will use this "snub" as motivation and win the NIT Tournament where they are a No. 1 seed.

The ACC Tournament Begins Today

Click to see the 55th ACC Tournament Bracket.

UPDATE:

Florida State, Miami, Boston College and Georgia Tech all advanced to the second round. That sets up games with Florida State vs. North Carolina, Miami vs. Virginia Tech, Duke vs. Georgia Tech and the night cap is Clemson vs. Boston College.

Florida State dropped its game to North Carolina 82-70. North Carolina will now face the winner of Miami and Virginia Tech. Miami dropped their game to Virginia Tech 63-49. Duke faced Georgia Tech, winning 82-70 and Clemson defeated Boston College in the last quarterfinal match-up.

That set up Saturday games between North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech and Duke vs. Clemson. The first semi-final game saw North Carolina defeat Virginia Tech on a Tyler Hansbrough jump shot with .8 seconds left on the game clock. In the other semi-final, Clemson defeated Duke 78-74 in, somewhat of a surprising fashion, by hitting their free throws down the stretch. I heard Coach K say (paraphrasing) "there are games that you loose and there are games that you just don't win, and this is one that we just did not win."

Tournament Recap:

The Tournament final was North Carolina vs. Clemson. This was the third time that the two teams have faced off this year. The first two games ended with North Carolina wins, but not before going to double overtime and a single overtime the second time they played in Chapel Hill. North Carolina was able to pull this one out as well, but by a closer margin than it should have been. North Carolina could not hit their free throws throughout the entire game. A team that normally does not miss, at least not very often, was only 58% from the charity stripe. North Carolina defeated Clemson 86-81.

Congratulations to Tennessee

The Tennessee Volunteers came from 16 points down to beat the defending National Champion Florida Gators. The win gives the Volunteers the SEC regular season title.

The Bluedevils Did Their Part

The Duke Bluedevils did their part last night by going to Virginia and winning 86-70. The greatest rivalry in college basketball will have additional meaning Saturday night. When the North Carolina Tarheels make that eight mile trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium saturday night, the ACC regular season title and the No.1 seed in the ACC tournament will be at stake. Also up for grabs is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and the opportunity to play the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament in Raleigh at the RBC Center and the third and forth rounds in Charlotte.

Even if there was nothing on the line, it would still be a great game. The greatest rivalry in college basketball continues Saturday night at 9pm.

UNC over FSU

The North Carolina Tarheels added another win last night as they prepare for a showdown with the Duke Bluedevils on Saturday, March 8th. The Tarheels defeated Florida State last night 90-77, in the Dean E. Smith Center on Senior night. It was a special night for Senior Quentin Thomas, who has played such an important role for the Tarheels with the absence of Ty Lawson. Coming into the season, Thomas was third on the depth chart at the point guard position, and probably expecting his only start to come on senior night. But with the injury to Bobby Frasor and then the high ankle sprain of Ty Lawson, Thomas had to step in and deliver. And deliver he did. Under his guidance, the Tarheels were able to regain their No. 1 ranking. Since becoming a starter, the Tarheels are 7-1, with their only loss coming right out of the gate against Duke. Thomas has contributed with 6.6 points/game, just under 6 assists/game and barely over 3 turnovers/game as a starter.

Duke has a game tonight at Virginia, who is always tough with Senior Sean Singletary. Assuming that Duke is able to prevail tonight, a battle for the ACC regular season title and more than likely an NCAA No. 1 seed in the tournament will be settled Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Virginia Wins Make-Up Game

The Virginia Cavaliers traveled back to Atlanta to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, again. The first game, which was to be played on February 21st, was postponed when leaks in the roof allowed for a soaked gym floor. It was a back and forth game, but Virginia made the most of their trip back to the Georgia Dome. Virginia comes out on top, with a 76-74 victory.

Bad Knight for Texas Tech

Monday, March 3rd, 2008 is a night that newly appointed Texas Tech head coach Pat Knight would love to forget. Texas Tech traveled to Kansas and was shellacked. The final score was 109-51. This game set the bar for the worst loss in Texas Tech history, at 58. This is just one week after loosing to Texas A&M by 44, which was the previous mark. This game also set another the record for the greatest margin of victory in Big 12 Conference play. The margin of victory tied Kansas' seventh largest victory in school history. All but one of the Kansas Jayhawks scored, with six players in double figures. This victory over Texas Tech will give Kansas a perfect record at home this year, 20-0.

The ACC, Simply Amazing

There were three Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball games that looked by the start of the second half, in each case, to be blow outs. The outcomes proved to be far from blow-outs. Saturday Duke traveled to Raleigh to face NC State. The Wolfpack had dropped six in a row and by games end, they would have dropped their seventh straight, based on conventional wisdom. But, as they say, that is why you play the game. NC State was 3 points ahead at the half. They extended that lead to 13 points with 10:22 left to play in the game, with no signs of looking back. The Bluedevils made a few stops and battled their way back. Poor free throw shooting down the stretch made made it impossible for the Pack to pull the game out. The Wolfpack missed three of their last six free throws after going 22 for their previous 23. The final score was Duke 87 and NC State 86.

Later Saturday afternoon, the UNC Tarheels traveled to Chestnut Hill, MA to take on the Boston College Screaming Eagles. It was a cold and snowy day outside, but the Tyrese Rice was on fire. He scored 34 points in the first half and 46 for the game. The second half opened with Boston College making the first two baskets of the half to extend their lead to 18 points. Shortly thereafter, Coach Roy Williams sent in the "blue team," replacing all five starters. That lit the spark that the Tarheels needed. They battled back to win the game by 10 points. Also a contributor in this game was Tywon Lawson, seeing his first action in six games.

The Duke and North Carolina comebacks were both special, but Clemson battling back from a 59 - 39 deficit with just 11:23 left was simply amazing. Both Maryland and Clemson were fighting to be the next team in the ACC, following Duke and North Carolina. They are also fighting for at large bids to the NCAA tournament. Clemson went on a tear. A 31-11 run brought the second half to a close. The game was tied at 70 coming out of a Clemson timeout. The play drawn up by coach Oliver Purnell was designed to get the ball into James Mays in the closing seconds. Unfortunately, Maryland did not cooperate and the Tigers had to settle for long three from Terrence Oglesby. The shot fell and Maryland had 2.3 seconds to get the ball in bounds and get off a three point shot of its own. Maryland had to settle for a shot from just short of the half court line, which came up well short.

This past weekend hammers home the point, at least to me, that year in and year out, the ACC has the best basketball conference in America.