ACC Roundup

When we were growing up, when you went to the pediatrician's office, Highlights Magazine was always there and they had a strip called Goofus and Gallant. Meant to instruct about good behavior, Gallant always did the right thing where Goofus always fell short.

In the ACC,especially early and late, it's amazing how often Florida State plays the Goofus role. And so it is with the Mercer loss.

Mercer, out of the Atlantic Sun, is just 4-4, with losses to George Mason, Chicago Illinois Circle and New Mexico by 18. They even lost to Wake Forest, and right now for Wake to win, you have to be pretty bad.

So what happened? How could the talented Seminoles lose to Mercer? You, know, Mercer? What the hell?

Mercer only shot 37.5%, but they held FSU to 35.4%. Michael Snaer, Coach K's choice for the most competitive player in the ACC last year, had just seven points.

Mercer hit four free throws to close out the game and then got to - we're guessing here - celebrate on Florida State's butt-ugly home court.

This is back to their traditional slow start and a young team, but still: Mercer?

South Carolina has traditionally been the place where coaches go to end their careers, or at least to see them derail.

Frank McGuire had a solid run, but was a big part of the disastrous decision to leave the ACC and saw his program gradually wither before retiring.

Bill Foster left Duke for South Carolina and barely stayed over .500 for six seasons. Then it was George Felton, some guy named Steve Newton, Eddie Fogler, Dave Odom and Darrin Horn.

All of them failed.

Now it's Frank Martin's turn. Martin took his death stare out of Manhattan, Kansas, as soon as possible, apparently not getting along with his bosses there, and found South Carolina the quickest escape route. Now the question is whether he can get it done here, or whether his success at KSU was a surprise.

Time will tell.

Your Season Long Guide To Duke Hoops!

Duke| State | UNC

Testimonials!

I was just glad to find a magazine about Duke basketball. I thoroughly enjoyed the magazine. It was well written and very informative. A must read for any diehard Duke fan.Camille H

"I get excited enough about basketball season as it is, but this Guide has been on my screen for weeks now and I'm more excited than ever. Not just about Duke, but the whole league. There are some truly unique and remarkable stats in this book, enough to make you just itch for the games to begin and see how the players do this year. I think my favorite article is the one on athletes and social media, though. I've read it three times already! Great photos, great writing, and lots of both. This is essential. " PlanBee

"If you haven't purchased the Fan's Guide yet, what are you waiting for? It contains marvelous old-school content in a new-school format." Jerry K.

"Thanks a lot! The guide looks fantastic! I am really excited to dig in." Rick W

"Wow, huge piece of work! Congratulations. You guys never fail to provide the best a fan could ask for." Bill C.

DBR Auctions! New T-Shirts! DBR Is On Twitter!(DBRTweetz)

Losing to Clemson is not popular in Columbia, though, and that's what he did in his first time out.

Playing without the evidently troubled Milton Jennings serving his third suspension in a calender year, the Tigers beat the Gamecocks, 64-55.

KJ McDaniels filled in admirably for Jennings, hitting 16 and grabbing seven rebounds. Devin Booker had 13 and eight boards.

Clemson held their hated rivals to 34.6% and got them in significant foul trouble.

Maryland did their best to emulate FSU but survived Paul Hewitt's George Mason team, 69-62. Dez Wells had 25.

Everybody's off until Tuesday, when Georgia Tech gets their hated non-con rival Georgia (and should be ready to beat them), BC gets one in Tommy Amaker's Harvard, who they haven't beat lately, and we get to see if State has learned anything when they take on UConn in New York.