ACC Tournament

[YardBirds13]

I'll put this in here just because more people will see it, and hopefully it will generate some real basketball discussion rather than the Gary stuff going on in the other thread.

The match-ups are now set for the ACC Tournament, held in Charlotte this year. Yours truly will be there for the 7th straight year, and I'm hoping it is as fun as always.

The Match-ups:

Thursday:

8-Wake Forest vs. 9- Florida State, noon

5- Miami (FL) vs. 12- NC State, 2:30 pm

7- Georgia Tech vs. 10- Virginia, 7 pm

6- Maryland vs. 11- Boston College, 9:30 pm

Friday:

1- North Carolina vs winner, noon

4- Virginia Tech vs. winner, 2:30 pm

2- Duke vs. winner, 7 pm

3- Clemson vs. winner, 9:30 pm

I'm really looking forward to these match-ups. With how many games have been really close in the conference this year, I fully expect at least 3 of the games to go right down to the wire on the first day (hopefully all 4).

In terms of Maryland, they certainly have to worry about Rice going off, but as much as Terp fans are down right now, I fully expect MD to win against BC.

As far as Virginia goes, can't really complain about matching up with Georgia Tech. We just beat them in Atlanta this past Monday, and went to OT against them in Charlottesville before Matt Causey took the game over. I expect it to come down to the last posession or two, but something tells me Singletary wills them to a win to at least get a shot at Duke.

The second day could also be a ton of fun, with two teams getting a shot to take down the big dogs, and probably two very exciting bubble games (Miami-VT and Maryland-Clemson hopefully) I would expect one of the two big dogs to win by a rout Friday, and one to get a fierce battle. (I think everyone knows which route I'm hoping for.)

Anyways, some predictions:

8- Wake Forest over 9- Florida State

5- Miami over 12- NC State

10- Virginia over 7- Georgia Tech

6- Maryland over 3- Clemson

1- North Carolina over 8- Wake Forest

5- Miami over 4- Virginia Tech

2- Duke over 10- Virginia

6- Maryland over 3- Clemson

1- North Carolina over 5- Miami

2- Duke over 6- Maryland

1- North Carolina over 2- Duke

[EddieO's21]

Lowest seed to win the ACC tourney: 6

That team: UMD

[YardBirds13]

Lowest seed to win the ACC tourney: 6

That team: UMD

That team also only had to win 3 games in 3 days, not 4 games in 4 days.

Not saying it can't be done, but I don't expect anyone playing on Thursday in this tournament to win it for a long time, it's just too much to ask.

Last year, as a 10 seed, NC State beat Duke in the opening round, overcame a 14 point halftime deficit (yes, I'm still bitter) against Virginia in the quarterfinals, and then beat Virginia Tech in the Semis. They had to play Carolina in the Championship game and were just beat. Brandon Costner was a monster in the tournament, but just had no gas left on Sunday. Winning 4 straight games in 4 days is just a really, really tough task. (Although William & Mary tries to do it today in the CAA. They have won 3 straight games on the last posession. How incredible is that.)

[beaner]

Florida State over Wake forest

NC State over Miami

Virignia over Georgia Tech

Maryland over Boston College

North Carolina over Florida State

NC State over Virginia Tech

Duke over Virginia

Clemson over Maryland

North Carolina over Nc State

Clemson over Duke

North Carolina over Clemson

Looking forward to seeing a competitive weekend. Besides the three Lock tourney teams, I think the rest are fairly even although I like UVA and State right now better than I"m sure most do.

[sangell2007]

Maryland needs to come out and get a decisive win over B.C., and then beat Clemson by any means necessary. If they do that, and there are no big upsets in other conference tournaments, then they have a chance. I'd put it somewhere in the 30-35% range in that case, assuming a loss to Duke.

If they do that and hang tough with Duke, I'd bump that up to near 50%.

If they beat Duke, I'd put them in the 80% range barring several major upsets in other conference tournaments.

If they win the whole thing, I think there's probably a 90% chance Debbie doesn't make Gary play in the N.I.T.

Seriously I am holding out hope that the Terps can get in, so I'd go with...

Wake over FSU

NC State over Miami

UVa over GT

Maryland over B.C.

UNC over Wake

NC State over VT

Duke over UVa

Maryland over Clemson

UNC over NC State

Maryland over Duke

UNC over Maryland

As YardBirds said, I don't anticipate anyone winning four in four days. It will happen eventually, but I don't see it happening this year. Otherwise, my picks can be regarded as completely homeristic and made for the best possible results for the Terps. Plus if anyone besides Maryland is going to win the tourament, I think every Terps fan should be rooting for UNC, since we are still the only team to have beaten them with Lawson in the lineup (although obviously if it got to that finals matchup, we probably should stop rooting for them)

[Sports Guy]

Maryland will be done early...Maybe beat BC but nothing more than that. Really, i think they will lose to BC.

I will be surprised if Duke and UNC don't play for the title.

Outside of maybe Clemson, no one is really all that good...Of course, upsets can happen but nothing to be that worried about, that's for sure.

[backwardsk]

I hate how they have expanded. I know why they did, but I don't like it. When I was in high school, our English substitute got us a TV and said he'd show us a video. Then he shut the door, and said, "Class, we're watching the tournament." It was so, so much better with 8 or 9 teams, with Friday being the big day.

YardBirds13, it's a shame that your big man has been hurt this year. That's a totally different team when he is healthy. With that said, the ACC is a two team conference this year.

[YardBirds13]

I hate how they have expanded. I know why they did, but I don't like it. When I was in high school, our English substitute got us a TV and said he'd show us a video. Then he shut the door, and said, "Class, we're watching the tournament." It was so, so much better with 8 or 9 teams, with Friday being the big day.

YardBirds13, it's a shame that your big man has been hurt this year. That's a totally different team when he is healthy. With that said, the ACC is a two team conference this year.

Well, not only did Mikalauskas miss a lot of time (he still has to wear that weird shoulder brace), but Soroye also missed basically the entire year, and he is our best interior defensive player. Look at how many games we lost by less than 3 points or in overtime, and I think you'd be hard pressed to argue that if those two guys are healthy we are a much different team.

I fully expect us to beat Georgia Tech and give Duke all they want in the Quarters (Although, honestly, we match up much better with Carolina then Duke. Mikalauskas has always played Tyler very well, and we only lost to Carolina by 1 earlier in the year, albeit it was when Lawson was out.)

[Jagwar]

Not saying it can't be done, but I don't expect anyone playing on Thursday in this tournament to win it for a long time, it's just too much to ask.

I think the only way 4 wins takes the title is if both of the finalists played on Thursday.

The 2004 team (16-11, 7-9) shocked everyone by beating the top 3 seeds in succession on their way to the ACC title. Is it probable for the 2008 team? No. But anything is possible. I will root for them to win one game at a time.

Question: Anyone know what the Terps SOS and RPI were heading into the ACC tourney that year? Were they a bubble team?

[SteveA]

Thursday:

8-Wake Forest vs. 9- Florida State, noon

5- Miami (FL) vs. 12- NC State, 2:30 pm

7- Georgia Tech vs. 10- Virginia, 7 pm

6- Maryland vs. 11- Boston College, 9:30 pm

Friday:

1- North Carolina vs winner, noon

4- Virginia Tech vs. winner, 2:30 pm

2- Duke vs. winner, 7 pm

3- Clemson vs. winner, 9:30 pm

My picks:

Florida State easily over Wake

Miami beats NCState by 5-8

Virginia beats GT by 3-5

Maryland edges BC in a very close game

UNC by double digits over Florida State

Virginia Tech over Miami by 5-8

Duke edges UVa in a fairly close game

Clemson over Maryland by 10

UNC over Virginia Tech by about 10 points

Clemson over Duke in a close game

UNC over Clemson by about 10

[Camden_yardbird]

How far are the Terps going to have to go in this tourney to get into the NCAA?

I would think finals is a must.

[YardBirds13]

Gooooooood morning OH'ers....

Yardbirds here, coming to you liiiiive from the beautiful Queen City, Charlotte, North Carolina, as we get ready for the 55th annual ACC Tournament.

In between sessions and at nights, I'll try and give a little perspective from the arena, some stuff maybe not so obvious on TV (Usually the crowds are deceptive on TV)

I'll also be able to post from the arena thanks to the glorious iPhone, so if any of you die-hards are curious about stuff going on in the arena that you can't really tell on TV, feel free to ask.

The great thing about the ACC this year is that so many teams are so close to each other. The regulare season produced a ton of very close and overtime games, so I'm expecting nothing less from the tournament.

The noon game today features Wake Forest and Florida State. Should be a nice matchup. They played twice during the regular season, with the Deacs winning both match-ups. Back on January 20th, Wake won in Winston-Salem handily 74-57. In the re-match in Tallahassee on February 14th, Wake won 78-70. Florida State really relies on their backcourt of Toney Douglas and Jason Rich, while Wake has become a pretty balanced team this year, but is led by lots of young players like Sopohmores Ish Smith and L.D. Williams, and Freshmen Jeff Teague, and the guy I thought should have been Freshmen of the Year James Johnson. I know it's hard to win 3 times against someone in a year, but I like Wake to win in what should be a close, entertaining game.

The other afternoon game is Miami and N.C. State. State is probably the most disappointing team in the league to me (Yes, even more than my Hoos). I really thought their frontcourt would overpower people and they'd finish near the top of the league. Their PG problems were just too much to overcome this season. Miami is probably gonna get in the tournament, but they might want to win this to go ahead and feel better about themselves. 1st Team All-ACC guard Jack McClinton is the guy to watch for Miami, as he can go off for 30 at any time. State loves that methodical pace, and everyone remembers what they did in the tournament last year, so don't count out an awakening from the Wolfpack. However, State has lost 8 in a row. The teams met only once in the regular season, in Raleigh way back on January 19th, with State winning in overtime by 2, 79-77. I expect this one to be close as well, and even though State will have a huge crowd advantage, I expect McClinton to carry Miami to a win, which sets up a great match-up tomorrow between Miami and Virginia Tech, which would amount to almost a play in game for the NCAA tournament.

Alright, I'm getting ready to head down to the Bobcats Arena. Everyone enjoy the action this afternoon!

[BaltimoreTerp]

I'm wearing my Eric Hayes jersey and my lucky Maryland shirt all day, so I'm ready and excited!

Fear the turtle...and the 'fro!

[crstrobel]

Anyone have a link to how we can listen to all the games on the computer?

[glenn__davis]

How far are the Terps going to have to go in this tourney to get into the NCAA?

I would think finals is a must.

Yep, I think at this point they probably need 3 wins minimum. Don't see it happening, but still..

Lets gooooooooooooooo, Maryland!