ACC Roundup!

Over the past few days, folks from Clemson have pointed out that the Tigers were only a shade behind UNC.  Scratch that.  After losing to Virginia Tech at home, 80-77, the Tigers fall to a tie for third place.  After tomorrow night, it's very likely to be a three-way tie.

Was it a crippling loss for Clemson?  No, not really. It might not even affect their seeding that much, at least not by itself.

But it is striking.  Were they overconfident?  Lately, Oliver Purnell has been fond of saying that while his team has started slow, it knows how to finish.  Not this time.   Despite their talk of catching UNC, of having their fate in their control, Clemson buckled.  Too bad.

Thursday, Wake gets a rematch with State after an awful, truly awful loss in Raleigh.  Our guess is they take the Pack to the woodshed.

Man.  You can't find many reporters more sympathetic to UNC than Eddy Landreth.  Check out this bitter rip of UNC's defense and Roy Williams.  Ouch.  Double ouch.   Possibly the biggest rip of a Big Four coach not named K in decades.

One of the more remarkable stories lately is the rise of Jack McClinton, who really has improved remarkably.  As the article says, Gary Williams passed on him - but so did everyone else.

Like Maryland and Virginia Tech, Miami is in desperation mode.  They should be able to beat Virginia, even though the 'Hoos are much improved lately.  The rest of their schedule is friendly:  at Georgia Tech and then N.C. State. Really, you can't ask for a much better closing bunch.  And if they can pull it off - and they should be able to - two wins in the tournament might do it.

Sidney Lowe has had three seasons now to make his case. The second one was a disaster, but otherwise, you can see some things emerging. 

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