And here comes HOOPS!
The 2011-2012 basketball season is officially underway and the ACC is off to a good start.
North Carolina shook of a slow start against Michigan State and took step one towards what everyone expects to be a Final Four appearance. In the (sorta) inaugural Carrier Classic, the Tarheels defeated the game Michigan State Spartans, 67-55. With the national spotlight, including a Super Bowl-esque pregame show featuring President Barack Obama, North Carolina did what it was supposed to do. And you can never take a Tom Izzo coached team lightly. As usual, the Spartans worked hard on the boards and defensive end. All in all, a huge win for North Carolina. They look like they are prepared to live up to the hype.
At the other end of the spectrum, Duke barely defeated Belmont at home, winning 76-77. Belmont is always one of those teams that you are tempted to pick in March to pull an upset. Looks like we’ll be seeing them in that spot again this year. If you watched the game, you know that the dagger was a long three pointer by Andre Dawkins to give Duke a 75-71 edge. With the shot clock winding down, to make it a 2-possession game with 20 seconds to go is huge. While it makes you wonder whether Duke is top 10 material at this point, the bottom line is that they won.
And the rest of the ACC held serve as Florida State, North Carolina State, Clemson, Wake Forest, Miami, and Georgia Tech all won. Even future Big East member Pittsburgh won.
You cannot ask for anything more than 9-0.
The Confidential 