2006-07 Around the ACC: March 1, 2007

It's crunch time. We are now entering the final weekend of ACC regular season
play, and there is still a lot to be decided. First and foremost is the ACC
Regular Season Championship. UNC, Virginia Tech and Virginia all find themselves
tied at the top of the conference standings, and tonight's huge matchup in
Charlottesville will help determine who gets the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament.

Virginia Tech defeated Miami 73-57 on Saturday afternoon in Blacksburg, gaining their 20th overall win, and 10th in the ACC. The win over the Hurricanes basically locks the Hokies into the field of 65 for the NCAA tournament. It also clinched their first 20-win season since 1995-96.

Tonight the Hokies will play one of the biggest games in the history of Virginia Tech basketball. If Tech can beat UVA in Charlottesville tonight, and knock off Clemson in Blacksburg on Sunday, they would clinch at least a share of the ACC Regular Season Championship with UNC. The Hokies own the tiebreaker over UNC, which means they would gain the #1 seed in the ACC tournament.

The nation will be tuning in on ESPN at 7pm to see this big time ACC contest. The Hokies have likely already earned an NCAA tournament bid...now they're playing for seeding and the ACC Championship.

North Carolina whipped NC State 83-64 last week in Chapel Hill, but then blew a 12 point second half lead against Maryland on Sunday, falling to the Terps 89-87 in College Park. UNC is currently tied with Virginia Tech and Virginia for first place in the ACC. They hold the tiebreaker over UVA, but thanks to their two losses to Virginia Tech, they don't hold the tiebreaker over the Hokies.

The only thing UNC can do to guarantee themselves a share of the ACC Regular Season Championship is to win out. They play at Georgia Tech tonight, and the Yellow Jackets have lost just one home game this season. The Tar Heels end regular season play on Sunday.

If the Tar Heels win out, they will be at least the #2 seed in the ACC tournament. They are also looking at a possible #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

After being upset by Miami last week, UVA staged a late second half comeback to defeat Georgia Tech 75-69 in Charlottesville. Georgia Tech led 69-62 late in the game, but couldn't hold on. The win took Virginia's ACC home record to 7-0 on the season. They are the only ACC team to not lose a conference game at home this year.

In yesterday's game preview, we talked about how the X-Factors would likely decide the Virginia Tech-UVA game on Thursday night. Keep a close eye on Mamadi Diane for the Hoos. Diane is the team's second leading scorer, averaging 10.1 points per game. In ACC play, his average drops to 8.5. He has failed to score in double figures in UVA's last four ACC contests, and he has been struggling with his shot.

If Diane, or Adrian Joseph, can play well tonight for UVA, they'll have a good chance to win the game.

After losing three consecutive games to Duke, UNC and Virginia Tech, the Eagles picked up a much-needed 59-54 win over struggling Clemson in Chestnut Hill. With a good RPI and 10 wins in the ACC, it looks like Boston College has locked themselves into yet another NCAA tournament appearance.

After knocking off Clemson over the weekend, Boston College has had the entire week off. They will take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets are very tough to beat at home, and they'll be fighting for their NCAA tournament lives, so the Eagles could have won their last regular season game of the season against Clemson.

Nevertheless, the Ealges should be safely in the Big Dance.

Maryland has certainly turned their season around. At one point they were 3-6 in ACC conference play and destined for the NIT. Now they have won six games in a row, including back-to-back wins over UNC and Duke, and are a lock to be selected for the NCAA tournament.

A big part of the reason for Maryland's turnaround has been the recent good play of freshman point guard Greivis Vasquez. Vasquez played great in his first appearance in Cameron Indoor Stadium last night, scoring 13 points, dishing out 12 assists and grabbing nine rebounds, nearly getting the triple-double.

The Terrapins will look to add to their NCAA tournament resume by knocking off NC State at home this Saturday afternoon.

Duke had won four games in a row until last night's 85-77 home loss to the Maryland Terrapins. The Blue Devils were swept by the Terps during the regular season, and they have now lost five of their last seven meetings with Maryland. Duke will be hoping to avoid a meeting with Maryland in the ACC Tournament.

There's not that much to say about the Blue Devils. They are much better now than they were at the beginning of the season, but they still struggle with experienced teams that have better athletes. Maryland and Virginia Tech are the perfect examples.

Duke will travel to UNC on Sunday to conclude the regular season. Even if they lose to the Tar Heels, they have still done enough to earn an NCAA tournament berth.

The Yellow Jackets had played their way back into the NCAA tournament picture, and they held a late lead at UVA this past weekend. However, GT blew the lead and lost the game. Had they beaten UVA, I'd have them in the tournament. It is highly unlikely that they'll lose their two remaining games, both of which are at home.

Georgia Tech plays UNC tonight, and hosts Boston College on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets' only home loss of the season came to Virginia Tech. If they can knock off both UNC and Boston College, they'll very likely be dancing come Selection Sunday. If they can win one of the two, and get a win in the ACC tournament, they'll still have a shot.

The Clemson Tigers have a really nice overall record and a solid RPI, but that conference record has been holding them back. They barely knocked off Miami 74-70 in overtime on Wednesday night, and the Canes are missing most of their frontcourt, as well as starting guard Denis Clemente.

The Tigers are struggling, losing nine of their last 11 games before defeating the Hurricanes. But because of their overall record and RPI, they can still make the NCAA tournament. However, to do so they'll have to beat Virginia Tech and their five seniors in Blacksburg on Senior Day, and win a game in the ACC tournament. That will be a tough chore.

Without point guard Toney Douglas, Florida State lost five games in a row. They finally got a win against NC State over the weekend, knocking off the Wolfpack at home 78-52 on Al Thornton's senior day. They still don’t' have Douglas back from his hand injury, but they have a great chance to pick up another much-needed win at Miami on Saturday.

The Seminoles are a good basketball team, but losing their point guard has left them short-handed. There is a chance that Douglas can make it back for the ACC tournament. If he does, Florida State will be a sleeper team in that tournament. If they beat Miami on Saturday, they'll still have a chance to make the NCAA tournament with a win or two in Tampa. With the way the ACC has gone this year, that's certainly not out of the question.

NC State is the first ACC team in the standings that stands basically no chance to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Wolfpack lost at FSU 78-52 over the weekend, but rallied to complete the season sweep of Wake Forest 73-66 on Wednesday night.

The Wolfpack still has a chance to make the NIT. They have one more regular season game remaining, at Maryland. After that, there's the ACC tournament.

How the mighty have fallen. It was just two years ago that Chris Paul played point guard for the Demon Deacons and they were ranked in the top 10. Now they are battling Miami for last place in the conference. Last year the Demon Deacons went on a big run to end the regular season, and won two games in the ACC tournament. With that, they earned a spot in the NIT.

That's not likely to happen this year. Wake Forest is too young, and they really haven't showed any ability to defeat any of the better teams in the ACC. Skip Prosser will have to wait to next season to take his team back to the postseason. They have one home game remaining against Virginia.

Miami was already missing most of their frontcourt because of injuries and suspensions. Earlier in the week, the news got even worse. Starting guard Denis Clemente was suspended for the rest of the season for a violation of team rules. His loss probably cost the 'Canes a win over Clemson last night. Miami lost 74-70 in overtime.

The Hurricanes' season is basically over, although they host Florida State this weekend. The Canes' are likely the last seed in the ACC tournament. 2006-07 will be a season that Miami supporters will want to forget quickly.