Clemson knocked off Florida State in Littlejohn Tuesday night, 53-48.
Low scoring, but you know they're not going to give it back on style
points. A smallish Wake team struggled with Texas in Austin before losing
94-81. Getting Eric Williams in foul trouble probably didn't help.
Wednesday's sole game is a big matchup between UNC and Maryland, at Maryland.
You may recall that Maryland beat the snot out of UNC up there last year, by
about 40. Rest assured that that has not been forgotten, and expect UNC to
come out firing on all cylinders. Add to it all the perception that
Maryland has been struggling to some extent, and you have a blow-out scenario.
But wait - Jawad Williams may not play, and
his replacement, David Noel, is an athlete playing basketball, not a
basketball player, and he's still recovering from his own injury and subsequent
lost time. He's a really good athlete, but he's still learning the game.
Add to that the rage that Gary Williams feels over the reception Ol' Roy
Williams has received to mark his return to the ACC (how dare they make
such a big deal out of him when I won the national title and he never has!), and
what you have is the potential for an ACC cage match to the death. Sean
May could be the difference, since Maryland has not fully developed any big men
to nearly his level.
All in all, it should be a fun game. Just a minor quibble: who decided
to stamp Carolina on the pants of UNC's jerseys? What point is there to
doing that?
One other UNC note: Jason Capel and Kris Lang
are competing against each other in the NBDL. Lang is married, and
Capel will be soon.
Worth noting: Duke and Wake have now had two common opponents. Duke destroyed
Texas and had minimal trouble with Clemson, while Wake struggled with Clemson
and got thrashed by Texas. Make of it what you will, but to the average
layman (read: us), it's encouraging. With Wake up after State, it's a big
week in Funkytown., USA.