Making Sense of the ACC

To say it has been a tumultuous week in the ACC might be a bit of an understatement. Going into tonight, Eight teams have five or less losses. UNC leads the pack with only two. The other seven? Separated by just one game.

Most pundits say there are four locks and five battling for three, maybe four spots.

Let me give you a couple of resumes for comparison, you tell me the lock and the bubble team.

The first team is 6-4 in ACC play. Their non-conference highlights include wins over BYU and Baylor. The other 11 are not in the top 100 RPI.

The second team is also 6-4 in ACC play. Their non conference resume includes wins over Cincinnati, Florida, and Cal. They lost to Northwestern and Pitt.

The two teams? Wake Forest and Florida State. Granted, Wake has beaten Duke, Carolina and the aforementioned Seminoles, but still is an example of the proven formula for tourney births in major conferences: Stay home in December, play one or two real games to "get ready" for conference play and win nine or ten in league play.

If the Noles finish in a similar tie in conference play, lets hope a few quality losses don't diminish a strong body of work when the committee sits down to pick dancers.

The Maniac's ACC Shake Down:

UNC (#1 seed)
Duke (#2)
Wake (#4)
Clemson (#4)
FSU (#5)
Va Tech (#8)
BC (#9)
Maryland (#12 - barely)
Miami - NIT
NC State - NIT
Georgia Tech - OUT
UVA - OUT

Big games this week:

Clemson @ Maryland (tonight) - Maryland is clinging on the very definition of the bubble. Clemson is playing for a high seed and an outside shot at an ACC title (ok, very outside). The Terps and Gary Williams may very well be playing for their lives tonight.

Florida State @ VA Tech (Sat.) - Two teams vying for inclusion in the "ACC Elite" club that seems to always be listed as four deep this year. The winner slides into their company, the loser remains in the bubble mix with BC, Maryland and Miami (longshot bubble inclusion).

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