A big day in the ACC Saturday as eight teams are in action. B.C. is at Miami, Virginia buses down to Raleigh, UNC heads up to Maryland, and FSU visits Blacksburg.
| ACC Saturday Action! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | Times | TV | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Carolina @ Maryland | 3:30 | ABC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida State @ Virginia Tech | 8:00 PM | RSN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clemson @ Georgia Tech | 1:00 PM | Raycom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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UNC is set, of course, and on target for a #1 seed, and Florida State is all but assured of a bid, as long as they don't collapse. B.C. isn't too far off. But Miami and Virginia Tech are probably going to have to really fight at this point to get in, and their games are going to be really interesting.
Virginia Tech is 2-4 in their last six games, and had to play Virginia without Jeff Allen, who was suspended for flipping off fans at Maryland. Gary Williams, Seth Greenberg, and Roy Williams (Roy F. Williams according to a new pal at www.Bustersports.com), had no f!@#$ing comment on this suspension.
They're not at the point of collapse or anything, but you kind of get the feeling that things might be getting tense around Cassell. Seth Greenberg is at his best when people doubt him, but it's not clear right now that his team, this team, matches that.
Miami's season has gone from very promising to all but falling apart.  They're looking at 15-11 if they lose this game. How did that happen with the talent that they have? They should never have been in this position.
The other games are less consequential, but also interesting. The Maryland-UNC game will almost certainly be an easy win for the Heels, but the continued struggles of Gary Williams and his team, and the relationship with the fans, remains a story worth watching.
The Terps still have limitations - nothing is going to change that this season - but under the circumstances, they've improved a lot. Williams has done what he does best: taken an underrated group and gotten them to play to their potential. In this particular team's case their ceiling is not that high. It's the ceiling in a double-wide maybe. But they've done better than most people thought they would at the beginning of conference play. Teams like Clemson and UNC are going to give them trouble, because, well, they're just more talented. And for this game, Ty Lawson has a few things he'd like to underscore.
In retrospect, they get some wiggle room, or should anyway, since star Greivis Vasquez had to deal with the in-season agony of worrying whether his father would die or not.  A kid at Maryland is always under the microscope to some extent. That just made it worse.
Landon Milbourne and Sean Mosley have added a lot, too.
In the State-Virginia game, both teams have struggled for most of the season, but both have improved sharply recently. State's chances of a bid are pretty slim, but not dead yet. A loss to UVa at home might just about end that.
Still, like Maryland, State has some serious limitations, in their case guard play, Courtney Fells aside, and some injuries - but they've done a pretty good job of masking it. And Javi Gonzalez has improved. We saw some flashes last year when State played in Cameron. He's a feisty kid.
Here's some good news: Wake A.D. Ron Wellman will be on the NCAA Selection Committee starting next season. Wellman has done a superb job at Wake Forest and we expect he'll be a great addition to the committee.
Clemson fans know they'll have to deal with anxieties about people coming after Oliver Purnell. Rumors are out now about Alabama, but Purnell says he hasn't been contacted.
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