Thursday night was not a good night for people who like close games. Despite admirably hanging tough for a chunk of the game, there was no way Boston College was going to out-tough Virginia, with or without Assane Sene. Meanwhile, upset-minded North Carolina State received a stern reminder in Chapel Hill that their turn around isn’t complete just yet. Saturday, however, offers some intriguing story lines, capped up with an epilogue to Thursday night’s action.

Prime Time Showdown

NC State Not Quite Ready For Prime Time

• Virginia at North Carolina State at 8:00 PM on ESPN2

The Cavaliers bounced back from their surprising loss to Virginia Tech last weekend with a command performance against the thoroughly outgunned Boston College. Playing in Raleigh against a North Carolina State team that was embarrassed on Thursday, Virginia has a more challenging task ahead of them. Both of these teams are probably among the top five teams in the conference, but both have a lot to prove. If Virginia wants to have any hope of remaining in the polls, they need an overpowering road win against the Wolf Pack. North Carolina State, on the other hand, needs a win by any margin. The blessing and curse of the conference schedule for NC State is that it’s relatively soft. The team will finish the year with plenty of wins, but their chances for quality wins are few and far between. Taking care of a beatable Virginia team at home is a must if NC State wants to be playing basketball throughout March.

Revenge at High Noon

• St. John’s at Duke 12:00 PM on ESPN

This game offers a chance at redeeming maybe one of the darkest moments of last year’s otherwise strong season. The unexpected beat down from St. John, however, looks like its going to be avenged with prejudice. This year’s Duke team might not be better than last year’s team, but this year’s St. John’s team definitely isn’t better than last year’s. The Blue Devils should handle their business with ease in the comfy confines of Cameron Indoor.

The ACC Doesn’t Make Sense

• Wake Forest at Clemson 12:00 PM on ESPN3.com
• Virginia Tech at Maryland at 2:30 PM on ESPN3.com

Clemson shows flashes of brilliance, beating down Florida State and then losing to Boston College. On paper they are far better and more complete than Wake Forest, but their maddening inconsistency is liable to cost them games they should win. While Wake Forest’s two-man tandem on the wing is potent, Clemson’s defense should be able to hone in and dare the Deacon’s other players to beat them. In the afternoon game, ACC fans can bare witness to one of the other great mysteries of the conference: Virginia Tech. Despite being 1-4 in the conference, Virginia Tech is perhaps better than its record. At least that’s what efficiency statistics suggest. The Hokies, somehow, are the fifth best team in conference by the Pomeroy rankings. Maryland has looked pretty decent even against elite competition like Duke, but Virginia Tech, somewhat surprisingly looks like a strong favorite on paper. More fun Ken Pomeroy facts: Maryland is second in the entire nation in the “Luck” ranking (the measure by which the team’s actual record outperforms the expected record) while Virginia Tech ranks 325th. It’s hard for me to believe that either run of luck will last.

KCarpenter (269 Posts)

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at 7:41 am by KCarpenter and is filed under acc, microsites. Tagged: acc, clemson, duke st. john's, maryland, north carolina state, virginia, virginia tech, wake forest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.