ACC Roundup - Tobacco Road Showdown

You can graft all sorts of stuff onto the ACC but when you get down to it, the NC schools are still the beating heart of the conference which makes the State-UNC game in Chapel Hill the most appealing game of this Saturday.

State has been up and down but has the talent to compete with UNC. Omer Yurtseven is probably the most talented big man in this match but he hasn’t completely gotten up to speed on college hoops just yet.

The most fun matchup will be Dennis Smith vs. Joel Berry. Smith has a major talent advantaged but Berry has the savvy.

It’s going to be a fun game - assuming that State can make it over. UNC’s Theo Pinson should be back by the way.

Saturday’s snow storm is going to make the roads treacherous and travel may or may not be possible.

Pitt-Syracuse should be fun. After some rocky early days, Kevin Stallings is doing okay at Pitt while Syracuse has struggled. It’s always fun to see teams go up against the 2-3 for the first time or, in this case, a coach.

The Hokies trek down to Tallahassee to take on the surging Seminoles. After a disastrous day in Raleigh on Wednesday, expect the Hokies to do better - but will that be good enough?

Khadim Sy pulled a Bill Walton and got hurt in warmups at State but looks like he’ll play Saturday.

They’ll need him. Leonard Hamilton likes his post players big. All they really do is gum up the works but he keeps plenty around to do that and it works with his defense.

Josh Pastner gets Roy Williams, Coach K and now Rick Pitino in his ACC debut. Don’t look for an upset here.

Notre Dame hosts Clemson and it’ll be fun to see if Brad Brownell’s very physical defense can slow down Mike Brey’s very quick offense.

• Dorn family torn over NC State, UNC rivalry
• Like the weather, ACC season has gone against expectations – DeCock
• NC State-UNC game still on, at least for now
• UNC’s Roy Williams confident NC State game will go on as scheduled
• UNC’s Theo Pinson expected to make season debut against NC State
• NC State hoping to keep UNC off the glass and out of transition
• UNC’s Kennedy Meeks makes case to be ACC’s best offensive rebounder
• Stephen Schramm: Dennis Smith's must-see act not a surprise
• North Carolina's Theo Pinson to return against N.C. State
• Doughty: UVa shortcomings not going away