College basketball teams play each other before the season starts. It’s not really a secret. Over the years it’s become increasingly public knowledge that teams will often travel to other schools to test their mettle in private, away from the prying eyes of the curious public and hungry media. It makes sense, and I think it’s kind of a great thing. Wouldn’t you want your team to play a game in private before you took to a big public stage? I know I would. Jeff Goodman has rounded up a list of these private scrimmages and there are more than a few ACC teams taking part.
Georgetown And North Carolina Played An Amazing Game in 2007 And An Even Better One In 1982. Who Wouldn't Want to See Them Play in 2011?
Friday, October 28
East Carolina at North Carolina State.
Saturday, October 29
Virginia at Vanderbilt
Seton Hall at Boston College
VCU at Virginia Tech
Georgia Tech at South Carolina
Charlotte at Wake Forest
Sunday, October 30
Georgetown at North Carolina
Georgia at Clemson
George Washington at Maryland
South Florida at Miami
Saturday, November 5
Baylor at Virginia
Chattanooga at Virginia Tech
A couple of things really stand out about these scrimmages. The thing that I immediately noticed is that Virginia is testing itself early. Vanderbilt and Baylor both are expected to have strong teams this year, and considering the high hopes many have for this Cavaliers team, these two games would be fairly good benchmarks as to what kind of step UVA will be taking this year. The other thing that jumps out is that there are two really interesting games that none of us are going to get to see. Virginia Tech taking on Virginia Commonwealth would be a fascinating glimpse at two fairly good teams that have some rebuilding ahead of them this year. More alarming, at least to this college basketball fan, is that none of us will get to see Georgetown play North Carolina. The 1982 NCAA championship game between these two teams is one of the greatest and most memorable games in college basketball history! Michael Jordan hitting that huge shot on the wing to take the lead against Patrick Ewing‘s Hoya team? A legitimately iconic moment. Not to mention the amazing come from behind victory the Hoyas eked out to beat the Tar Heels in the 2007 Elite Eight. Because of this history, any match up between Georgetown and UNC would be must-watch television. The fact that none of us will get to see this rematch is a real bummer.