MBB: Week 9 of the ACC schedule (Feb. 22-28)

[GTJT622]

As we head into the next-to-last week of the regular season, the race for seedings and byes to avoid playing on Day 1, Day 2, etc., at the A.C.C.T. are heating up. This past week saw the home teams winning 11 of 14 games and some notable upsets as Duke won at Chapel Hell, G.T. won 2 games as underdogs, and NC State defeated Clemson. FSU continues to spiral downward. Clemson's NCAAT chances are fading and they travel to G.T. Tuesday night. Tonight, the French travel to South Florida to take on the Canes. Both teams sit at 10-4 and tied for 2nd in the A.C.C., 1 game behind the Cheaters. The French still have a home date this week coming up Saturday with the Cheaters.

Standings as of Monday, Feb. 22:

11. Georgia Tech (5-9)
14. Boston College (0-14)

12. NC State (4-10)
13. Wake Forest (2-13)
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8. Syracuse (8-7)
9. Virginia Tech (6-8)

5. Duke (9-5)

7. Pittsburgh (8-6)
10. Florida State (6-9)

6. Clemson (9-6)
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1. Cheaters (11-3)

4. Notre Dame (9-5) -- holds the tie breaker head-to-head over Duke

2. France (10-4) -- holds current tie breaker head-to-head over Canes...with 2nd meeting of the season tonight at Miami

3. Miami (10-4)
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Midweek off: Syracuse

Mon. 7:00 ESPN: France at Cuba

Tue. 7:00 RSN: Clemson at Ga Tech
Tue. 9:00 ESPN-U: Va Tech at Boston College

Wed. 8:00 A.C.C. Network (split): Cheaters at NC State
Wed. 8:00 A.C.C. Network (split): Louisville at Pitt
Wed. 9:00 RSN: Notre Dame at Wake Forest

Thu. 7:00 ESPN: Florida State at Duke
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Weekend off: Clemson

Sat. 12:00 RSN: Ga Tech at Boston College
Sat. 2:00 A.C.C. Network (split): Louisville at Miami
Sat. 2:00 A.C.C. Network (split): NC State at Syracuse
Sat. 4:00 ESPN-2: Notre Dame at Florida State
Sat. 6:30 ESPN: Cheaters at France

Sun. 2:00 CBS: Duke at Pitt
Sun. 6:30 ESPN-U: Va Tech at Wake Forest (note, the Sunday night ESPN-U package seems like the Demon Deacon Game of the Week this season)

 

[BornAJacket]

G T has 2 good opportunities this week.

They just need to keep playing with the winning rotation, rest them as needed. Hopefully they can stay out of foul trouble, at times that has thrown the rotations off.

Clemson will be tough and G T took one of its worse losses of the year from them on the road. I would love to see GT grab some payback.

 

[GTJT622]

FWIW, this Monday's version of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology... http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology/_/iteration/237

Some highlights...

-Clemson now in "Next 4 Out"
-A.C.C. now with 7 teams in (note, FSU has played its way completely out)
-The French are now back to a 1-seed...a team the Jackets defeated this season
-Another team Tech defeated, VCU, is a 9-seed
-Notre Dame, another team we defeated, is a 6-seed
-One of our losses was to another 1-seed, Villanova
-Big 12, Big 10, and A.C.C. lead conferences with 7 teams each
-SEC with 5 (Alabama is a new face, but squarely on the bubble..."last 4 in"... just lost poorly at home to Mississippi State this past weekend [Miss State is 151 in RPI]...they still have to travel to Kentucky [tomorrow night] and end at the Cesspool...2 likely losses in those would have them at best 18-12 heading into the SECT)

 

[GTJT622]

Cuba defeats France by 3 to start the week off.

 

[Buzzforlife]

Gotta know Cuba has a coach, who did his time in France under the Dutch(Holland), probably forgot more about this game with a round ball, than most guys half his size.

 

[GTJT622]

Gotta know Cuba has a coach, who did his time in France under the Dutch(Holland), probably forgot more about this game with a round ball, than most guys half his size.

Very well played, my friend. Very well played indeed.

 

[GTJT622]

Looking at the remaining schedules, while it is unlikely to fall exactly this way, there is a decent chance that there could be a 5-way tie for the #1 seed with all teams (Cheaters, Cuba, France, Ireland, and Rutgers-Durham) ending 13-5. Now THAT is one helluva tie-breaker procedure to follow. confused

 

[Buzzforlife]

Can we refer to B.C. as Dublin? They don't deserve an entire country the way they've played.

 

[GTJT622]

Revised projection for A.C.C.T. seedings/brackets based guessing how the games will fall over the remaining schedule and taking tie-breakers into account (and the possibility of some complex tie-breaking analysis is real as many teams look like they may wind up tied in multiple seed positions)...

1 Virginia --------------------- 8 Syracuse vs 9 Va Tech

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4 Duke ------------------------ 5 UNC ---------------------------12 NC State vs 13 Wake

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2 Miami ----------------------- 7 Pitt vs 10 Ga Tech

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3 Notre Dame -------------- 6 Clemson ---------------------11 FSU vs 14 BC

 

[BornAJacket]

So you think Duke will win when UNC visits. I am sure UNC will be tight for that game. They really blew the first game when they had it won.

I am not sure I am liking the match-up with Pitt again so soon. It'll be tough beating them twice in that span of time.

 

[GTJT622]

Pitt's loss at home last night to UofL hurts them more than some may think. Joe Lunardi has them as a 9-seed in his latest Bracketology projections. They are 19-8 overall. However, a closer look reveals they are potentially on very thin ice going forward.

They are 1-6 vs the RPI Top 50. They are 4-6 in their last 10. They are on the verge of finishing the A.C.C. with a losing record (more on that in a second). They played a very weak OOC schedule (currently rated #173 in the nation per Warren Nolan's Live RPI). Note, their game against Gonzaga in the season opener overseas being canceled due to playing conditions did not help. They only played 1 OOC opponent of note and lost by 13 at home to Purdue.

They have 2 quality wins over Syracuse and 1 over Notre Dame. They also have a bad loss to NC State at home (by 17 points!!). Now, they can right the ship with remaining games on the schedule and/or at the A.C.C.T. I think they are going to need to. Their remaining schedule is going to be tough...

Feb. 28, Sun., home vs Duke, 2pm (CBS) -- home finale for the Panthers and a game they desperately need to win...Rutgers-Durham is very much in the race for the A.C.C.T. #1 seeding and have been playing well lately (have won 5 of their last 6 heading into tonight's home game vs FSU)

Mar. 2, Wed., at Va Tech, 7pm (ESPN-3) -- the Hokies are very good at home in particular and playing well right now...Pitt dominated VPI&SU earlier this season at Pitt but this is in Blacksburg...I like the Hokies here

Mar. 5, Sat., at Ga Tech, 2pm (A.C.C. Network) -- MGH's Senior Day game and the Jackets have been playing much better here at the end of the season...Tech lost by 5 at Pitt back in early January, but this Tech team appears to be much better right now and Pitt is not playing nearly as well as back then

 

[GTJT622]

Canes come back to defeat the Escort Service Academy. Syracuse finishing off the Pack.

Big game coming up at Tally between the Irish and Noles. Rooting for ND. A win by them gives us a bye from Day 1 at the A.C.C.T.

 

[GTJT622]

Tech actually drops a spot in the RPI to 71st and the SOS drops from top 20 down to 30th with the W over lowly BC. Tech's SOS will get a boost back up with the Escort Service Academy and Pitt on deck next week.

All for fun of course. (read: RPI doesn't mean diddly)

 

[GTJT622]

FSU (as 2 pt dogs) defeating the Irish is no surprise, but dominating them the way they did is eye opening.

FSU (7-10 in the A.C.C.) is now off midweek next week before hosting Syracuse. The 9 thru 11 seeds at the A.C.C.T. will come down to the Hokies, Noles and Jackets. The Noles lost to both the Hokies and Jackets. The Hokies defeated the Jackets.

Sunday night, the Hokies (7-8) travel to Wake Forest. Then, next week, they host Pitt and Miami. With the tie-breakers on their side, unless they fall apart, they are likely in that 8-9 game at the A.C.C.T.

Tech is still in good shape for the 10-seed and avoiding Day 1 of the A.C.C.T. Some depends on what Pitt does down the stretch as to whether Tech moves up into the 8-9 game or is in the 7-10 game. Worst case scenario for us is losing our last 2 and FSU defeating Syracuse in their finale which would send us to the 11-seed and having to play on Day 1.

Clear as mud.

 

[Buzzforlife]

Not A.C.C., so forgive the toss in here.

Craig Neal didn't look so hot in his "Bright Red New Mex." JACKET tonight. Fresno St. defeated him, although he still has a 16-13 record and 9-7 won/loss in his league(if I'm reading the fine print underneath the team name on ESPN 2).

 

[GTJT622]

I continue to be impressed with the job Buzz Williams is doing in Blacksburg. They are now 8-8 with 2 home games left. He won't get it, but in my eyes he is the COTY in the A.C.C.