Again, we will be holding a contest–prize to be announced soon–for friends of the Confidential. That means YOU, plus anyone else that you want to invite.
We will be using Yahoo:
Group ID#: 25957
Password: acc
Here is the link: http://y.ahoo.it/dHZr68Lp
Go ahead and join today…
The Confidential.
#L1C4
(Credits: http://www.gocards.com)
If any doubt still existed as to whether the University of Louisville was the right choice for membership into the Atlantic Coast Conference, those doubts were dashed on Saturday, March 16, 2013.
As I watched my beloved Cardinals struggle, persevere and then triumph against the Syracuse Orange in the last Big East Championship title game of the modern era, I couldn’t help but think about all the naysayers and detractors of Belknap’s athletic department as the ACC made its decision in 2012.
Louisville basketball has come a long way, to be sure. We were always the known unknown who entered and left conferences. From the Metro Conference to Conference USA to the Big East Conference, the pride of Louisville proved and proved and proved themselves to fans, outsiders and future conference brass by winning national titles and battling our way into Final Fours. When Rick Pitino was hired as head coach after legend Denny Crum wrapped up his career, fans instantly knew the future was bright and we would give our new coach as much time as he needed.
What we have accomplished as members of the Big East is still unfathomable in my eyes. I’m sure the Villanovas and Syracuses and Georgetowns and Connecticuts chided the decision to add us and others to their ranks and assumed they would continue to dominate the league. No one could have written the memorable storyline the Cardinals have produced since 2005.
Louisville became the winningest program since the realignment of 2005 and has now won its third conference basketball championship. As finalists of the tournament in four of the last five years, the Cardinals have continued to prove their worth on the hardwood.
2013 Big East Champions
(Credits: http://www.bigeast.org)
In football, Louisville has always faced an uphill challenge. Scheduling juggernauts like Alabama, Georgia and Notre Dame had been a difficult feat to claim, and recruiting the best players from around the country has never been our trademark. However, the football Cardinals made it their mission to always be satisfied with the progression of the program and to constantly improve from within.
Having won our two Bowl Championship Series matchups (2006 FedEx Orange Bowl and 2013 Allstate Sugar Bowl), we put everything on the field when we are placed on the stage and told to perform.
When Coach Charlie Strong chose to extend his contract at Louisville rather than take the Tennessee job with the Southeastern Conference, fans surrounding the university knew what he thought about his current job and the institution. The sigh of relief throughout the River City came from fans who realized that our time had finally come to keep our coach and strive to maintain and surpass our accomplishments.
Although elevated, it is clear head coach Charlie Strong is not satisfied with the heights of the program under his tutelage. The invitation to the ACC combined with the fashion in which Louisville dealt the Gators the loss in the Sugar Bowl sent the city into overdrive.
Coach Charlie Strong celebrates after the 2013 Sugar Bowl victory
(Credits: Getty Images)
All we ask is for a chance to prove our worth. That is all we have ever wanted, and it appears we will soon get our chance once again in the prestigious ACC in 2014.
Louisville unleashes its inner Cardinal
(Credits: Madeline Hack)
If someone had told me at the beginning of this season that our Louisville Cardinals would contend for back-to-back Big East Championship titles against a historic conference juggernaut in a matchup marking the storied history of the conference as it enters its waning days of existence, I would have thought that person had a great imagination.
Given the preseason hype surrounding this year’s squad, it’s not surprising we find ourselves right where we belong in the title chase. Nor am I surprised our opponent comes in the form of our rival Syracuse. However, no one could have predicted the changes the conference will undergo in the next year and that the final tournament would consist of a model foe versus a new foe.
Here’s how we got to the tournament final:
2013 Big East Championship
(Credits: http://www.bigeast.org)
Since joining the league in 2005, Louisville has continued traditional conference rivalries and acquired new ones. Aside from the annual Cincinnati showdown, no other rivalry has meant so much or garnered as much attention as the yearly conflicts with the Syracuse Orange. There is no doubt this rivalry will continue once both programs enter the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It is only fitting that this epic tournament final would be fought between a classic powerhouse and our Cardinals, the winningest Big East team since we entered the conference. Both programs have built lasting legacies as Big East programs and the combination of wins and losses and coaching staffs have allowed us to stand out among other teams.
As preseason favorites to contend for the conference title, Rick Pitino and the Cardinals have not disappointed. This conference final will be epic – I couldn’t ask for a better way to end an era than with a face-off between two great programs on the national stage.
Having split the first two meetings earlier this season in conference play, the Cardinals and Orange will settle the score under the lights of Madison Square Garden at 9 p.m. on Saturday.
#L1C4 – Louisville First, Cards Forever
While it is not clear whether the ACC will be able to take pride in 8, 9, or 10 teams in the tournament, the Confidential wants everyone to get excited NOW. We will be holding a contest–prize to be announced soon–for friends of the Confidential. That means YOU, plus anyone else that you want to invite.
We will be using Yahoo:
Group ID#: 25957
Password: acc
Here is the link: http://y.ahoo.it/dHZr68Lp
Go ahead and join today…
The Confidential.
As the ACC tournament shifts into Day 2, the fortunes of the two ACC “bubble” teams, Virginia and Maryland, remain alive. For Maryland, defeating Wake Forest was simply a necessity to stay in the discussion.
ESPN has updated its bubble watch for Maryland as follows:
Maryland [21-11 (8-10), RPI: 82, SOS: 118] The Terps survived an NIT-guaranteeing potential loss against the typically dismal Wake Forest Demon Deacons Thursday, a win which nonetheless still leaves them outside serious bubble contention. After all, the Terps do have just four wins against teams ranked better than 150 in the RPI; that two of them came against Duke and NC State doesn’t really matter, given the utter softness of Maryland’s nonconference schedule (No. 297), ugly RPI and a sheet full of cupcakes. It’s easy to pick on, say, Southern Miss when we’re talking about the mediocrity on the bubble, but really, the fact that the Terps are even still in fringe contention for an at-large bid says it best. And with all of that discouragement out of the way, Maryland’s win Thursday did one thing: It gave them another crack at Duke. I’m not sure I?’d slot Maryland in the tournament even if they do win Friday, but that win obviously couldn’t hurt.
The commentary on Virginia is not all that positive either, noting Virginia’s glut of “bad losses.”
But the great thing about the conference tournaments is that teams can control their own destinies by winning it all. The late, great Jimmy Valvano proved that with North Carolina State. And both Virginia and Maryland can still do so.
CBS and Jerry Palm have this cool new feature. Maybe it is not new, but it is new to us, anyway. In any event, you can enter in any college basketball team and see what they need to root for that day to boost their RPI. The link is here: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology/jerry-palm-reader/.
As an example, for Virginia, it lists:
Virginia Tech needs to beat North Carolina State
Game Info: 2:00 PM | TV: ESPNU
Morgan State needs to beat Savannah State
Game Info: 8:00 PM
Florida State needs to beat Clemson
Game Info: 9:00 PM | TV: ESPNU
With Syracuse’s convincing 75-63 win over Seton Hall on Wednesday, the Orange and the Pittsburgh Panthers will face off in a Big East quarterfinal at approximately 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. If there are any chants of “ACC, ACC” at Madison Square Garden tomorrow, it will not be from the fans of the two rival schools, as they are both set to join the ACC in 2013.
Of course, the bigger question is who would do the chanting? Not Notre Dame and Louisville fans, as both schools are joining the ACC too. Not UConn fans, as sanctions have the Huskies grounded for the rest of March and the University would give anything to be headed to the ACC anyway. Not USF fans, who undoubtedly have returned to their warm climate after losing to Seton Hall Tuesday. Not Georgetown, Villanova, and Marquette fans, as those schools are leaving the conference, even if taking the Big East name with them. Not Rutgers fans who are joyful that their sorry program is headed to the Big 10.
Nope… only Cincinnati remains both in New Y0rk City and left behind in the remnants of what was the Big East. So maybe those fans will be doing the chanting. And with all those teams headed for the door, there will be a lot of chanting to do.
Wait a sec… Cincinnati to the Big XII is still on the table? See http://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2013/03/latest-rumors-31313.html
Nevermind.
The out-of-conference games are done. Season 1 complete. The regular season conference games are done. Season 2 is complete. Now the college basketball world heads into Season 3: the Conference tournaments. For the ACC, the tournament kicks off tomorrow with four very good games.
Here is the complete schedule, courtesy of the Bleacher Report:
Tournament Schedule & TV Information
Thursday, March 14 (First Round)
Game 1: No. 8 Boston College vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech, 12 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Game 2: No. 5 NC State vs. No. 12 Virginia Tech, 2 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Game 3: No. 7 Maryland vs. No. 10 Wake Forest, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Game 4: No. 6 Florida State vs. No. 11 Clemson, 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Friday, March 15 (Second Round)
Game 5: No. 1 Miami vs. Game 1 Winner, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Game 6: No. 4 Virginia vs. Game 2 Winner, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Game 7: No. 2 Duke vs. Game 3 Winner, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Game 8: No. 3 North Carolina vs. Game 4 Winner, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Saturday, March 16 (Semifinals)
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN/ACC Network)
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN/ACC Network)
Sunday, March 17 (Finals)
Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN/ACC Network)
The big games to watch on Thursday are the Maryland-Wake Forest and North Carolina State-Virginia Tech games. Maryland is squarely on the bubble. There is no room for a loss against the Demon Deacons. North Carolina State is likely on the right side of the bubble. But one never knows just how at-large spots will be open. The Wolfpack are probably safe, but every year there is a surprise or two. It’s best to remove all doubt when you get the chance to.
More to come later, just wanted to get this out there ASAP.
So we, the Wolfpack nation, were reduced to this: pulling for the Maryland Quitterpins vs the favored Virginia Cavaliers. To make matter worse, the Terps teased us, at times controlling the game before falling short by only four points. So that was that; no first-round bye in the Acc Tournament, instead a meeting with Virginia Tech on Thursday afternoon.
But how did we get to this point? Time for a (not very) nostalgic look back at the 2013 season…
It started with rampant optimism. Many prognosticators had NCSU winning the conference, with at least one preaseason magazine picking the Pack to make the Final Four. The first sign that this might be inacurate came on the sunny isle of Puerto Rico, where State came out flat and lost to Oklahoma State 76-56 in a rout that may not have been as close as the score indicated. While the Cowboys would prove better than expected, the Pack would not meet their lofty expectations at all.
Still, the ship seemed to be righted on January 12th when State dominated then-number-one Duke 84-76. Standing at 14-2 and 3-0 in conference play, the Pack looked like they could handle anybody.
At least until the following Wednesday, when the game that perhaps defined this maddening rollercoaster ride occured: the 51-50 loss at Maryland. That’s when we all had to admit that despite the great recruiting class, despite the preseason predictions, despite last season’s surprise Sweet 16 appearance, this was no Final Four candidate.
There would be other peaks and valleys this year, beating North Carolina in Raleigh, losing to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, but the Pack slid slowly down the ratings from a preseason #6 to the current position of a team unranked but at least certain of an NCAA bid.
If force to give this team a letter grade based solely on the regular season, I would go B-. C+ if not for the split with both Duke and Carolina, B+ if not for the losses to Wake and Maryland, and to FSU when the bye was still ours to lose.
I am a bit disturbed as I check out State message boards around the net. Some are already howling for Mark Gottfried’s head. While much did go wrong this year, I urge patience. We are pretty much guaranteed a second straight trip to the Dance, and as all State fans know, once you get there, who knows? Our lack of depth is all that is holding us back at this point.
As for the upcoming ACC tournament, we open, as mentioned above, on Thursday vs Virginia Tech at 2 pm. We should expect to win that one. Then it will be Virginia on Friday, and I am smelling a Pack victory there as well, although it would be something of an upset. If so, Miami will likely be waiting in the semifinals, and that should be that. But if, and I cannot see it happening, we somehow stun the Canes, either Duke or Carolina will be waiting. I think Carolina; Duke tends to look ahead to the NCAAs and sometimes stumble in the conference tourney.
Anyway, the winner of State/Miami would then face the winner of Duke/UNC. Any matchup of these four teams will be a final for the ages. I think Miami vs UNC, and all bets are off.
The Confidential 