ACC Roundup

Let's start off today with the Travis Garrison situation: he has been
suspended for one - count it up, one! game - for breaking team rules when he was
in a bar in October, a social outing which has resulted in charges of assault and sexual assault, because he was "where he shouldn't have been,"
according to Coach Gary Williams.

The team instituted a rule after Chris McCray was involved in a fight this
summer at a bar, and no one is supposed to go to a bar. A.D. Debby Yow
says that it is "a response that is separate from whether he is guilty or
not guilty. It has to do with the team rules that he violated."

Interestingly enough, though you could call the no-bar rule the McCray rule,
and though McCray is listed as a witness in the Garrison case, and was at the
bar, he is not going to be suspended. Why?

Because, according to Williams, "he was there, but that's it."

Not to question the wisdom of Gary Williams, but if it's a rule, isn't it a
rule for everyone? Or could it be that the Wake game is, as D.J.
Strawberry says, a "must-win," and they need McCray?

This is the sort of thing which leaves Maryland open to charges of hypocrisy,
not something they need given some dark chapters in their basketball
program. It also suggests a double standard for different players, which
is also not good.

In Saturday's games, congratulations to B.C. for their first ACC win, even if
it was FSU and a three point win at home. It still counts, and FSU is
showing some signs of life. Al Thornton sure is: he racked up 37 points.

It took B.C. a while to get a win, but Jared Dudley says “[w]e started off hot last year and faded. This year we’re taking our lumps early, but we’re hoping to finish strong."

N.C. State survived an improving Georgia Tech behind a second half run and
amazing offensive balance. It's a good lead-in to the big showdown in
Durham next week. Apparently Paul Hewitt got into it with some State
students, who were picking on Theodis Tarver, who briefly lost his
eligibility. So the Maryland game should be fun too.

And in Chapel Hill, Miami gunned down the Heels behind their three-guard
offense. The Heels were outrebounded 42-33 and caved down the
stretch. Roy Williams was a picture in frustration on the sidelines as
UNC's kiddy corps struggled. Well, not Tyler Hansbrough. He's proven
to be a really good player, and even though he was a focus of the defense, he
still scored 25 points, although he only got one basket in the last thirteen
minutes. He's been a really tremendous player for them.

On Sunday, there are two interesting games: Virginia and Virginia Tech
pretty much hate each other, so that should be intense, and since both teams are
very thin, it should be a ragged but thrilling intensity.

And then of course D.J. Strawberry's "must-win" game against Wake
Forest should be most interesting indeed. If the Terps lose, they'll fall
to 11-5 and 1-3 in the conference, which pretty much constitutes a hole.
Wake is in a similar situation, and would also fall to 11-5 overall, but to the
cellar, along with Virginia Tech, at 0-3. And with Tech playing at home
against UVa, they will obviously be favored, so Wake could, well, wake up Monday
morning and see their name all alone at the bottom with the letters N-I-T
creeping closer and closer. The odds are very high, actually, since Sean
Singletary may or may not play but definitely won't be 100% no matter what
happens.

• Garrison
  suspended for Wake Forest game
• Finally,
  their first ACC win: Boston College 90, Florida State 87
• Tar
  Heels drop first ACC game
• Terps,
  Demon Deacons meet
• Droschak:
  Tar Heels Can't Afford Day Off
• Rivalry
  game milestone for coach
• Smith
  leads No. 15 Boston
• TIM
  PEELER: A Defining, and Decisive, Scoring Run
• U.VA.
  NOTES
• Miami
  upsets No. 20 Tar Heels at Smith Center
• Miami
  hands UNC first ACC defeat 81-70
• Brackman
  helps State hold on 87-78
• Deacons
  will be feeling the heat vs. Terrapins
• 'Total
  breakdown,' Miami guard play doom Tar Heels
• Miami
  simply better than Heels
• Brackman's
  dunk sparks Wolfpack to hard-fought win
• BC
  notches an ACC win
• Garrison
  out against Wake Forest
• 'Canes
  surprise Heels