Ah, the joys of having the ESPN Full Court basketball package on the TV. It’s addicting. Watched several games that related to Pitt.
Got to see Florida go down to South Carolina. Nice. I’m sure there will be some argument made to diminish the Florida loss because Brewer’s ankle is hurting. To counter that, consider that the Gamecocks lost their starting forward, Brandon Wallace in the first half to a scratched eye. Definitely helps Pitt as it raises USC’s RPI and hits Florida again.
The key to a WVU loss? make them hit only 5-30 from 3-point range. Ewww. Big gak to Marshall.
I didn’t actually see the game, but I’m stunned by Seton Hall blowing out NC St., 83-65, in Raleigh. I just can’t make any sense of that one.
I know the final score doesn’t look that close, but St. John’s actually gave UConn a real hard time. They Red Storm defense is very good. It held UConn to its second lowest point total of the year. Jeff Adrien, who chose UConn over Pitt, last year has a real nasty streak. He’s a tough but very good player. The kind you hate on the other team. He would have been a great fit in Pitt’s defense, though.
I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but when the ACC raided the Big East the one thing I never understood was why Wake Forest supported it. It seemed to be against a small school’s interest to expand in a way that would either force them to spend even more money on athletics or fall further behind other teams. Even more increased competition and diminishing the relationship with the NC teams in terms of rivalry. Doubly so for the true passion of the region — basketball.
Looks like at least the sports writers for the paper is thinking about that.
Three years later, it’s harder to tell which league was the victim.
The Big East groaned, but added five schools — four of them with proud basketball traditions. The ACC gave up its famed double round-robin schedule and absorbed three football schools.
Now the Big East dominates the Top 25 basketball rankings and one of its previously unranked schools, Georgetown, knocked ACC leader Duke from No. 1.
The ACC has big football names, but not big success. Miami lost 40-3 to LSU in a Peach Bowl game marred by a melee near one of the field exit tunnels shortly after the game. Boston College gave away its BCS hopes with a loss to North Carolina. Virginia Tech flopped in the first ACC Football Championship Game and contributed Marcus Vick’s act to the ACC.
The ACC, once known as a basketball league, is now one-third football schools, plus several basketball schools that are playing like football schools.
Maybe it will get better as we get used to the new ACC. Or maybe we will have to get used to it not getting better.
The ACC made a deal, and it wasn’t with the Devils. Or the Tar Heels. Or the Wolfpack, Deacons, Terps, Cavaliers or Yellow Jackets. At least it wasn’t with their basketball versions.
It was a deal with football. The implications for basketball remain unclear. But already, there are some impressions. One is that losing the double round-robin took away more than a few follow-up games. It has changed the rhythm of the league, the relentless pace than made every team better and made “ACC basketball” synonymous with intensity.
Really it’s just handwringing over “the good-old days,” but this is a down year for the ACC, and the people covering are having trouble with it. They are used to being the conference being in any debate for which is toughest in a year.
Not this year. It is the Big East or Big 11. Actually, the writers don’t even want to consider the possibility of not being in the conversation. Duke is the only stand-out team. Maryland is no where near where expected (and in trouble with its leading scorer off the team due to academic ineligibility); UNC is still reloading; BC didn’t come in and provide the oomph expected; Wake is weak; NC St is okay, but not that good; Georgia Tech seems inconsistent; Virginia, Clemson, FSU, Miami and VT are afterthoughts.
