The field of 8 is set in Omaha for the 2014 College World Series. This years field features three teams from the state of Texas, all three from the Big 12. The SEC has two participants while no other conference has more than one.
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The current ACC is 15 schools, one of which is Notre Dame. Notre Dame participates fully in all sports, with the exception of football. As we all know, the Fighting Irish are committed to play 5 schools a season in football. West Virginia is a full member of the Big XII. The Mountaineers athletic relevance has decreased substantially since making the geographically-unfriendly move. The question for ACC fans–if West Virginia were to make overtures about joining the ACC… would you rather have West Virginia full-time (allowing an addition of UConn to get to 16 teams) or Notre Dame (in its current form)?
I’m running a little behind on this as the Tournament actually started up on Tuesday, and there is a game going on as I write this so my apologies on the delay. I recently had to have ankle surgery and its thrown me all out of sorts. Anyway, lets get right into what you’re here for, the baseball news.
The 2014 NFL Draft has come and gone. Which ACC schools fared the best?
“The Cleveland Browns have traded the fourth pick to the Buffalo Bills. With the fourth pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills select Sammy Watkins, wide receiver, Clemson.”
The Bills gave up their 2015 first and fourth round draft picks for that trade, talk about a bold move. General Manager Doug Whaley told Sammy they were going to draft him and clearly, he meant it. The Bills had the 9th pick, but waiting their turn was not an option if they were going to get their number one choice. This trade was more than just getting Sammy Watkins; it was a statement to the NFL and Bills fans everywhere. The Bills are going to make it to the playoffs this season. Or bust. Let’s hope it’s not the latter.
From a Clemson standpoint, I love this pick. I was fortunate enough to watch CJ Spiller run over defenses as a Clemson Tiger for one season before he was drafted 9th overall by the Bills in 2010. I watched Sammy Watkins glide his way through secondary defenses countless times on his way to the end zone in that Tiger uniform and I am thrilled to see Spiller and Watkins as teammates next season.
“Clemson North” is what they are calling it, as the Bills now have five former Clemson Tigers on their roster. Running back, CJ Spiller, offensive linemen, Chris Hairston and Antoine McClain, safety, Jonathan Meeks, and now wide receiver, Sammy Watkins.
Sammy Watkins is a player so outstanding that he makes others around him better. To get EJ Manuel healthy and prepped for the 2014 season, there is no doubt Sammy is going to shine. He is on his way to scoring touchdowns on Sundays and I can’t wait to watch. He has been compared to Detroit Lions wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, but next fall Sammy Watkins will begin his professional legacy and players to come will be compared to him.
To all Bills fans out there, rejoice. Clemson Nation gives you Sammy Watkins and we only hope you grow to love him as much as we did (and still do).
The fun is not over for the Clemson faithful. Still left to be drafted are QB Tajh Boyd, WR Martavis Bryant, CB Brashad Breeland, and OL Brandon Thomas.
You can catch night two of the 2014 NFL Draft tonight on ESPN.
The NCAA has revealed the brackets for the 2014 Lacrosse Tournaments. As noted earlier, the ACC has been dominating mens and womens lacrosse this season. The seedings similarly reflect the ACC’s dominance.
On the mens side, Duke and Syracuse are seeded #1 and #2, respectively. Notre Dame, Maryland, and Virginia are the #6 through #8 seeds. North Carolina was not seeded. Nevertheless, all six schools qualified for the tourney.
On the womens side, Maryland, Syracuse, and North Carolina are seeded #1, #2, and #3. Virginia, Boston College, and Notre Dame are seeded #6 through #8. Duke is also in the field, making it a total of six schools in the tourney. The games begin on May 9, 2014.
Simply stated…as of today… which program is better… Clemson football or Syracuse basketball. Tell us why in the comments…
The best conference in lacrosse, the Atlantic Coast Conference, continues to impress. The latest top 20 for the men has all six schools ranked in the top 9. The fourth place team in the ACC, Notre Dame, is ranked fifth overall after winning the ACC tournament. Virginia, who was 1-4 in conference play, is ranked #8 overall. There is simply no precedent for such top-to-bottom conference domination.
That being said, it is Loyolla and Denver that are atop the standings at #1 and #2. and Johns Hopkins squeezes in between the ACC sextet at #6. It was quite a coup for the Big 10 to land Johns Hopkins–the Confidential still bemoans the ACC’s failure to do so. However, as lacrosse remains a non-revenue sport, there is only so much the conference could have or should have done in that regard.
There are few regular season games left for the ACC schools. on Saturday, there are a trio of games, as Notre Dame hosts #19 Army, Maryland hosts Navy, and Syracuse hosts Colgate. Duke travels to Boston on Sunday for its finale.
The women are similarly as impressive, with seven of the eight schools in the top 15. Of course, with Maryland #1, Syracuse #2, North Carolina #4, and Boston College #5, an argument can be made that the women are doing even better than the men.
All in all, the ACC is simply dominant in lacrosse. Let’s hope that the ACC can follow through on its dominant regular season by bringing home two trophies.
The ACC basketball coaching community is growing in talent with the addition of Buzz Williams. There are historical greats with national championships: Coach K, Boeheim, Pitino, and Roy Williams. There is the next tier of Bennett, Larranaga, Brey, Buzz Williams, Hamilton, Gottfried, and Dixon, all of whom are awaiting their first national championship as a coach. And all Mark Gottfried has done is go to three straight Big Dances at North Carolina State.
Georgia Tech’s Brian Gregory is from the Tom Izzo line, and had great success at Dayton, but has not done much yet for the Yellow Jackets. Brad Brownell is also doing good things at Clemson. Boston College and Wake Forest are set to announce new moves soon enough and, in the mean time, remain unknowns. Still, that is a very proven set of 11 coaches.
You could have an interesting debate ranking the historical greats, 1-2-3-4, based on their all-time cumulative performance. So let’s do a poll! Look, Coach K is going to be most people’s #1 all-time, so half of the options have him at #1. Try not to be a homer.
But here is another great question… you have an elimination game to win and get to pick one coach at his current level of performance–who would YOU take? Again, try not to be a homer. And let everyone know why you picked who you picked.
Comments encouraged!
The Confidential 