ACC Roundup

In Sunday's ACC action, Florida State had no trouble with Maine, and if they had, the eight hundred or so fans they can count on would have been mildly perturbed.

In fact, it was so one-sided that Terrance Shannon and Ian Miller sat out, and Kyle Turpin played with a face mask.

The game and a few others mark the move into the holiday break, when exams are under way and games are little more than exhibitions and tune-ups.

On Monday Virginia Tech takes a spin in this manner, hosting Mississippi Valley State after the Delta Devils were manhandled by UVa Saturday, 67-39.

They're on the flipside of this equation, as a smaller school scheduling a game for the guaranteed money.

Do we remember correctly that they were on the verge of bankruptcy when they played Duke in 1986?

Anyway, they are an honorable school, but they don't recruit at the same level and they certainly don't have the facilities and resources that a school like Virginia Tech has. An upset would be a major shock.

That said, they certainly gave Duke a memorable game in the '86 tournament, nearly derailing Coach K's first Final Four team as a 16 seed.

Of course Virginia Tech is coming off of their first loss and the team is curious to see how rookie coach James Johnson will react. No doubt he is equally curious about his team.

By the way, check out the photo with this article: the guy is positively burning with intensity.

In Chapel Hill, UNC is still trying to figure out their big man issues. Joel James is the most physical but he's raw, and we're still not sold on a thick big man in a racehorse offense. Brice Johnson is highly athletic but weighs just 190 and he's not skilled defensively yet. And Desmond Hubert is not a particularly confident player at this point.