ACC Basketball Weekly Review

Scores

Tuesday, December 27

Virginia 69, Maryland-Eastern Shore 42

Wednesday, December 28

Maryland 83, Albany 72

Thursday, December 29

North Carolina 100, Elon 62

Harvard 67, Boston College 46

North Carolina State 87, Campbell 81

Wake Forest 72, Yale 71

Fordham 72, Georgia Tech 66

Friday, December 30

Duke 110, Western Michigan 70

Virginia 57, Towson 50

Princeton 75, Florida State 73 (3OT)

Miami 84, Appalachian State 54

Saturday, December 31

Virginia Tech 67, Oklahoma State 61

North Carolina State 82, Western Carolina 55

Maryland 75, Samford 63

Sunday, January 1

Duke 85, Penn 55

North Carolina 102, Monmouth 65

Clemson 65, East Tennessee State 58

If the Atlantic Coast Conference wanted to get more than just four teams to the NCAA Tournament after last season's relatively meager haul, the league - in its last season before welcoming Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the family - isn't faring very well. After Duke and North Carolina, the pickings are once again fairly slim on the Atlantic Seaboard.

Duke is meeting little resistance as it goes about its business under coach Mike Krzyzewski. North Carolina hit a rough patch in late November but has straightened itself out since then. After those two teams, however, the ACC is not rising to meet the moment... not to this point in the season, at any rate.

Florida State was the third team in the league to get to the NCAAs last season. Coach Leonard Hamilton's club ordinarily defends at a high level, but the Seminoles suffered a stunning loss at home to Princeton, sending them tumbling down many seeding lines. FSU scored only 10 points, if you can possibly believe it, in the first half. The Seminoles recovered to force overtime, and they actually carved out a four-point lead in the first of three overtime periods, but they could never find a way to put Princeton away, and the resilient Tigers were finally able to register a genuine kill shot in overtime. Florida State will have to be a strong third in the ACC and snag two high-level wins (over Duke or UNC) if it wants to have a chance to be selected for March Madness. FSU gave away a couple of bad losses earlier this season, so the Seminoles have a lot of work to do in the coming months.

Clemson is the fourth member of the ACC's NCAA Tournament club from last season. The Tigers, under coach Brad Brownell, are fighting an uphill battle at this point. A win over East Tennessee State from the Atlantic Sun Conference will not do much of anything to transform the way in which the Tigers are perceived, nor will it do anything to prop up a very shaky resume.

The rest of the ACC is just dragging through the motions. Maryland is barely beating lower-tier teams, and Wake Forest barely escaped Yale while Georgia Tech suffered a humiliating loss at Fordham. Only Virginia Tech, with a big road win at Oklahoma State, did anything to enhance the ACC's image after another rough week.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer