ACC Roundup

In Saturday's ACC action, Syracuse goes to Miami, Notre Dame makes an initial foray to Wake Forest, Virginia gets a chance to destroy hated rival Virginia Tech, and reeling Maryland gets Pitt in Comcast.

We'll see if Miami can surprise Syracuse again and be in the game in the closing minutes. Seems unlikely.

We're intrigued by Notre Dame at Wake. It's key for both obviously: Notre Dame can't lose much more ground, but Wake has a chance to keep picking up momentum. If they are 14-5, you know, that's starting to look pretty good.

We'll be shocked if Virginia Tech wins at Virginia this year. It's a rivalry game, but UVa is playing very well and the Hokies are not.

That would seem to be true for Pitt and Maryland as well.

Pitt has just been consistently tough, in every sense, and Maryland has not. The Terps have to be ready to get a punch in the nose from Pitt. At this point, a Maryland win would be a considerable upset, and not just because Pitt's ranked and Maryland's not.

Virginia Tech introduced a new A.D. on Friday: Virginia native Whit Babcock, who has been at Cincinnati, and who has a reputation as a great fundraiser is the guy.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, having a solid fundraiser is a big deal and the Hokies appear to have one.

And second, you could argue that for an A.D., leaving the AAC for the ACC is a really smart move. The money is likely to continue flowing to the power conferences and everything else will follow.

Meanwhile, up in New York, Syracuse officials sent a letter to the mayor which revealed the plan for a new arena: it'll seat 44,000, with a retractable roof. A hotel/apartment/retail complex is included.

Oh and it'll cost about a half-billion, to be paid by the county, the state and the university.