In Saturday's ACC action, State travels to Tallahassee, Wake Forest visits Virginia Tech, BC jets down to Miami, and Maryland steps out conference to take on Villanova.
We'll be very interested to see if Florida State can maintain the level of play they showed against Duke, and if State has learned anything from their collapse against Boston College. Hard to pick against Florida State here. We feel like we should take BC over Miami, but as impressed as we are, Miami brings a lot of talent to the table and there are playing at home
As for Wake Forest, we would be shocked at this point if they managed to knock off a tough, physical and solid defensive team like Virginia Tech on their own home court, although Tech, with so few players, may be tired and vulnerable.
As for Maryland, their best hope against Villanova is their defense. Obviously Jordan Williams is a huge asset (no pun intended), but Villanova is a guard-oriented program, and Maryland's guard play is still spotty. Could be a tough one for the Terps, but a win here would do wonders for their NCAA resume.
This week's desperate teams: Miami and Georgia Tech. Miami is good enough to be in the tournament, but they're going to have to record some wins and some meaningful ones too. And unless we miss our guess, Paul Hewitt is fighting for his job. We probably should add Virginia Tech to this list as well. They are doing all they can, but injuries have crippled this team. Losing to Wake would be devastating.
This week's rising teams include the obvious: Boston College, where Steve Donahue has made an immediate and dramatic impact, UNC, a team we believe will take a 17-4 record to Cameron, Clemson with the Tigers winning eight straight, and Florida State fresh off their upset of Duke.
By the way, former Clemson Tiger Noel Johnson will be playing next at Auburn.
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