ACC Roundup - Can Syracuse Whack Virginia?

Two interesting Tuesday night games as Syracuse visits Virginia and Boston College takes a break from the snow and frozen ocean (seriously) for a visit to relatively balmy Chapel Hill.

In this week’s poll, Virginia shot up to #3 and as always with Tony Bennett, their identity is from defense.

Syracuse got embarrassed frankly by Notre Dame. The Irish left their best two players at home with injuries and won the game on a wonderful hustle play by Rex Pflueger.

Now they get a trip to Charlottesville to play in the molasses. We can’t see this Syracuse team pulling that off.

We’re not sure what BC’s odds are either but UNC’s weak inside game means that it’s perimeter vs. perimeter and that gives BC a chance since their guards are really quite good.

Keep an eye on Theo Pinson in this one too. He’ll clamp down (or try) on someone. BC has had some luck against UNC the last few years for whatever reason. It could happen again.

To be clear when we say they’ve had some luck we mostly mean close games.

In Louisville, a judge has told Rick Pitino and his former employers to try to cut a deal.

Everyone is suing everyone and a settlement just would make life easier for all concerned.

Duke, State and UNC are all 1-2 and thus tied for ninth place in the ACC. That’s so weird to type. It almost never happens.

The thing about the Triangle though is that the pressures here force the teams to different levels.

It’s not just Duke and UNC and it’s not just basketball. It’s so many things. It’s neighbors and spouses picking at each other. The whole atmosphere just gets into everything and the players obviously pick up on it too. State has struggled but they tend to get up for neighborhood fights in a big way (duh) and do their bit to keep things fiery around here. It started when State hired Everett Case and UNC and Duke (and to a lesser extent Wake Forest) decided they had to keep up.

We’re not saying that other schools don’t have a good thing going on. Syracuse is a basketball school and Mike Brey has done a great job for Notre Dame. But so much here tends to push basketball higher. It’s a beautiful thing to witness.

• UVa men’s basketball: Boeheim turns over defensive mantle to Bennett
• Syracuse basketball: Rebounding imperative in ACC moving forward
• Second signature win not lost on Wolfpack
• UNC Basketball: Luke Maye and the trouble of the double team
• It may finally be coming together for Clemson basketball under Brad Brownell
• Clemson basketball soars in AP and USA Today polls after beating Louisville
• Keatts: I got texts from fans, don’t know how they got my number.
• What are the reasons behind No. 19 Clemson basketball’s shift this year?
• Is this UVA basketball team Tony Bennett’s best shot to get to a Final Four?