The Confidential

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Archive for the tag “North Carolina”

12 Mar 2012

No 2012 Bowl for the North Carolina Tar Heels

No matter how well the 2012 North Carolina Tar Heels’ football team performs next year, a bowl game is out of the question.  The NCAA announced a series of sanctions against North Carolina that will include a 2012 bowl ban.

The sanctions arise out of accusations that former assistant coach John Blake had business and financial ties to a sports agency Pro Tect Management and agent Gary Wichard, which conferred improper benefits on various players including former star defensive tackle Marvin Austin. The NCAA infraction committee further determined as follows:

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is responsible for multiple violations, including academic fraud, impermissible agent benefits, ineligible participation and a failure to monitor its football program.

Over the course of three seasons, six football student-athletes competed while ineligible as a result of these violations, and multiple student-athletes received impermissible benefits totaling more than $31,000.

While employed by the university, a former assistant football coach [John Blake] was compensated by a sports agent [Gary Wichard] for the access he provided to student-athletes and failed to disclose the income to the university. The former assistant coach and a former tutor [Wiley] both committed unethical conduct and failed to cooperate with the investigation.

North Carolina attempted to avoid sanctions by self-imposing various penalties, such as suspending players for games or the season, firing head coach Butch Davis, forcing Blake to resign, reducing scholarships, and vacating wins.  While the NCAA was apparently impressed by the scope of the sanctions enough to take it into consideration, it still concluded that additional sanctions were required.

So North Carolina’s total sanctions amounts to a daunting list:

  • Loss of bowl eligibility for 2012
  • Forfeiture of 15 scholarships over the next three seasons
  • Three years probation
  • A $50,000 fine
  • Vacating all football victories from the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
  • Certain individuals also must be disassociated from the program for a varying period, including former tutor Jennifer Wiley and former Tar Heels wideout Hakeem Nicks.

In addition, Blake received a three-year “show cause,” effectively preventing him from NCAA employment for the near future.

All in all, these are pretty stiff penalties for North Carolina.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football and tagged , , , ,
12 Mar 2012

The Brackets Are Unveiled and the ACC is Well-Represented

Selection Sunday has come and gone, and the NCAA has revealed the 68 teams that will compete for the National Championship.  And the ACC is well-represented in this year’s Big Dance.

North Carolina was–as expected–given a #1 seed in the Midwest.  In fact, the Tar Heels received the #3 overall seed.  They will play the winner of a play-in game between Lamar and Vermont.  The looming 8-9 matchup for North Carolina is Creighton-Alabama.

In a move that was also expected, Duke was given a #2 seed.  The Blue Devils were assigned to the South region, where Kentucky is the #1 seed.  Duke will begin play against Lehigh.  The looming 7-10 matchup for Duke is a tough one–#7 Notre Dame vs. #10 Xavier.

On the strength of their run through the ACC tournament, Florida State was given a #3 seed in the East.  The #1 seed is Syracuse, while the #2 seed in the East is Ohio State.  The Seminoles will begin play against St. Bonaventure.  If they win that game, they will face the winner of the game between #6 Cincinnati and #11 Texas.

Virginia fell all the way to a #10 seed and was shipped out West.  They will play the #7 seed Florida, who may be a bit underseeded.  Even if Virginia wins, a very tough #2 seed in Missouri awaits.  Michigan State was the #1 seed in the West.

North Carolina State was given an 11 seed.  They will begin play against the #6 seed in the Midwest region, San Diego State.  If the Wolfpack wins, they will play the winner of #3 Georgetown and #14 Belmont.

As noted above, Syracuse was the #1 seed in the East.  They will begin play against #16 seed North Carolina-Ashville.  If they take care of business there, the #8-#9 matchup features Kansas State and Southern Mississippi.

Obviously, this means that Miami did not make the cut.  While the general consensus is that Iona was the only questionable addition to the field, the greater focus is on the exclusion of Drexel.  Like all bubble teams, Miami had its chances and fell short.  The NIT certainly awaits though.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
11 Mar 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: Third Round ACC Tournament Action

The third round of the ACC Conference Championship has concluded.  The Championship games is now set, with North Carolina facing Florida State.

Of the two semifinal games, the only one with NCAA tournament implications was the North Carolina-North Carolina State matchup.  After losing to North Carolina, 69-67, the Wolfpack are going to have to sweat it out today when the field of 68 is announced.  This was a golden opportunity for a win because the Tar Heels were forced to play without John Henson, who has a sprained wrist.  But North Carolina still had Tyler Zeller, who contributed 23 points and 9 rebounds.  Meanwhile, Harrison Barnes added 16 points and Kendall Marshall had 10 assists.  The Wolfpack were led by CJ Leslie’s 22 points and 7 rebounds, all the more impressive since he fouled out with 8 minutes to go.  The Wolfpack bench lost track of the foul totals.  North Carolina improved to 29-4, while North Carolina State fell to 22-12.

In the other semifinal matchup, Florida State defeated Duke, 62-59.  Florida State led by as many as 10 points in the second-half, but Duke had two chances to tie the game in the final seconds.  Michael Snaer led the Seminoles with 16 points.  Austin Rivers led the Blue Devils with 19 points.  With the loss, Duke drops to 27-6.  With the win, Florida State improves to 23-9.

The results of these games mean that Florida State with play North Carolina for the ACC Championship.  In their prior meeting, Florida State embarrassed North Carolina 90-57.  Naturally, the Tar Heels will be looking for revenge.

 

 

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , ,
10 Mar 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: Second Round ACC Tournament Action

The second round of the ACC Conference Championship has concluded.  Four teams advanced on March 9, 2012: North Carolina State, Duke, North Carolina, and Florida State.

As noted yesterday, North Carolina State is a team that many consider to be on the wrong side of the bubble.  So it was huge for the Wolfpack to come up with a victory over Virginia in the ACC Tournament, 67-64.  The big hero for North Carolina State was CJ Leslie, who scored 19 points and added 14 rebounds.  With the win, North Carolina State will move on to play North Carolina.  Mike Scott led Virginia with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

The news was not as good for Miami.  Florida State defeated the Hurricanes, 82-71.  The Seminoles were led by Michael Snaer’s 20 points.   Shane Larkin led Miami with 16 points.  Joe Lunardi has Miami as the second team in the “Last Four Out.”  For more analysis on Miami’s chances, see here.

In the other quarterfinal games, Duke defeated Virginia Tech, 60-56.  North Carolina defeated Maryland, 85-69.  In New York City, Syracuse suffered only its second loss of the season, losing to Cincinnati, 71-68.  The biggest news of these three games, however, was the wrist injury suffered by John Henson.  Right now, it is being called a sprain.

Saturday’s games:

  • #1 North Carolina v #5 North Carolina State 1:00 pm
  • #2 Duke v #3 Florida State, 3:00 pm

The Championship game will, of course, be Sunday afternoon.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , , ,
08 Mar 2012

ACC Lacrosse Weekly Report 4, March 8, 2012

Amazingly, the ACC lacrosse season is already a few weeks old.

News:

The Inside Lacrosse poll has Virginia #1, receiving 19 of the 20 first place votes.  Maryland is #4, Syracuse is #6, North Carolina is #8, and Duke is #9.  The USILA Coaches Poll is the same, except that Virginia has all 9 first place votes and Duke is ranked #11.

Recap of Last Week:

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Maryland 10, Duke 7.  “Senior Drew Snider had a hat trick to lead the No. 5 Maryland men’s lacrosse team to at 10-7 victory over No. 8 Duke in front of 4,137 at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium Saturday afternoon.”

Lehigh 9, North Carolina 8.  “Lehigh outscored North Carolina 5-0 over a span of 25:11 from the second through fourth quarters and went on to beat the fourth-ranked Tar Heels 9-8 at Fetzer Field Saturday night. The loss was the first for the Tar Heels against an unranked team at Fetzer Field since March 5, 2004 when Navy downed Carolina 9-8 in overtime.”

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Virginia 14, Syracuse 10.  “Colin Briggs scored three goals and assisted another to help the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers (5-0) top the No. 3 Syracuse Orange (2-1) on Sunday evening, 14-10, in front of 5,855 fans inside Klöckner Stadium.”

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

UMBC 8, Maryland 7.

Penn 10, North Carolina 6.

Virginia 16, Vermont 10.

Upcoming Games:

Saturday, March 10, 2012:

North Carolina v Princeton.

Duke @ Loyala.

Marist @ Maryland.

Virginia v Cornell

Syracuse @ St. John’s.

Monday, March 12, 2012:

Harvard @ Duke.

Records:

Virginia 6-0 (0-0 in conference).

Maryland 3-1 (1-0 in conference)

North Carolina 4-2 (0-0 in conference)

Duke 3-2 (0-1 in conference)

Syracuse 2-1

The Confidential’s ACC Lacrosse Rankings:

1.  Virginia (6-0).  Virginia has been simply dominant this year.

2.  Syracuse (2-1).  Syracuse tested Virginia for a significant time, before ultimately falling.

3.  Maryland (3-1).  Despite the loss to UMBC, Maryland did beat Duke in a conference matchup.

4.  North Carolina (4-2).  North Carolina’s losses to Lehigh and Penn were disappointments.

5.  Duke (3-2).  No shame in losing to Maryland.  But that’s two losses now for Duke. 

If you have any comments on the ACC Lacrosse season or this entry, please feel free to share!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Lacrosse and tagged , , , , , , , ,
07 Mar 2012

The Confidential’s Basketball Top 30 for March 7, 2012

With over 300 teams in college basketball, the top 25 is just not enough anymore.  Here is the Confidential’s Top 30 for March 7, 2012:

  1. Syracuse (30-1).  Syracuse looked very good in its home finale against Louisville, a team that has historically solved the 2-3 zone.
  2. Kentucky (30-1).  Kentucky is a team on a mission.  Is this the year for Coach Calipari?
  3. North Carolina (27-4).  The preseason favorites are rounding into form at the right time.  Nobody will want to play the Tar Heels.
  4. Kansas (26-5).  There has been a lot of rotation between the teams ranked 3rd through 8th… this week Kansas moves up to #4.
  5. Missouri (27-4).  Missouri looked very good defeating Iowa State and Texas Tech.  Recovered from a tough week the week before.
  6. Duke (26-5).  Lost big to North Carolina, leaving the Blue Devils with 2nd place in the ACC.  Tiebreaker in the ACC tournament perhaps?
  7. Ohio State (25-6).  Wins over motivated teams like Northwestern and Michigan State suggest that Ohio State is also peaking at the right time.
  8. Marquette (25-6).  Loss at Cincinnati was disappointing, but Marquette handled a very good Georgetown team to end the regular season.
  9. Michigan State (24-7).  No real shame in losing to Indiana and Ohio State.  Being handled by Indiana, even on the road, was surprising.
  10. Georgetown (22-7).  The Hoyas split a tough week–beating Notre Dame and losing to Marquette.  The slight edge over Baylor due to foe quality.
  11. Baylor (25-6).  Iowa State really needed to beat Baylor.  And did.  The Bears are still primed to make some noise in March Madness.
  12. Michigan (23-8).  Michigan got important wins to keep its hopes for a #3 seed alive, even if Illinois and Penn State are not great teams.
  13. Wisconsin (23-8).  The Badgers got two more wins, over Minnesota and Illinois, keep pace with the Big 10 leaders.
  14. Indiana (24-7).  Wins over Michigan State and Purdue–a great way to end the surprise turnaround season.  Especially in a deep year for the Big 10.
  15. Murray State (30-1).  Murray State struggled in the conference tournament championship game, but pulled out the victory late.  Teams on the bubble everywhere exhaled.
  16. Florida State (21-9).  The Seminoles finished strong, beating Virginia and suddenly challenging Clemson during the final week.  A lot of good wins for this Seminole team.
  17. Creighton (28-5).  With so many teams ahead of them losing, Creighton takes advantage with its three-win sweep of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
  18. San Diego State (24-6).  Like Creighton, San Diego State was able to avoid losing this past week.  Even if the wins were not overly impressive, they did not lose.
  19. UNLV (25-7).  UNLV lost to Colorado State, but rallied to defeat a good Wyoming team to end the regular season.  Up next?  Wyoming again.
  20. Wichita State (27-5).  The Shockers were shocked in the MWC tournament by Illinois State.  Still, this team is looking solid for an at-large bid.
  21. Notre Dame (21-10).  Notre Dame got back in the winning way with a victory over Providence.  Now it is on to the Big Apple to make some noise in the Big East tournament.
  22. Virginia (22-8).  Virginia lost to Florida State at home, which hurt.  But they got a key overtime win over Maryland to stop the losing streak.
  23. Louisville (22-9).  The Cardinals are really struggling offensively right now.  Also playing and losing to very good teams.
  24. Florida (22-9).  No shame in losing at Vanderbilt and to Kentucky.  But the Gators are really tacking on the losses right now.
  25. Temple (24-6).  A couple of nice wins over Massachusetts and Fordham to end the season on a high note.  A very good profile for the Owls.
  26. Virginia Commonwealth (28-6).  Three more wins for Virginia Commonwealth.  Big win to qualify for the Big Dance.
  27. Iowa State (22-9).  In a week with games against Missouri and Baylor, winning the home game and losing the road game is a fine result.  A tourney lock at this point.
  28. St. Mary’s (27-5).  St. Mary’s gets the edge over Gonzaga by defeating them in the West Coast Conference tournament championship game.
  29. Gonzaga (25-6).  See above.
  30. Vanderbilt (21-10).  Vandy responded to the nice win against Florida by losing to in-state rival Tennessee to conclude the season.

Tell us what you think.  Is anyone unfairly missing?  Anyone too high or too low?

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , ,
06 Mar 2012

ACC Basketball Rankings: March 6, 2012

This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  Here is how we view the ACC basketball schools as of March 6, 2012:

1. Syracuse (30-1)  What more can you say?  30-1 with a Big East schedule, plus victories over Florida, North Carolina State, Stanford, and Virginia Tech.

2. North Carolina (27-4)  North Carolina appears to be peaking at the right point of the season.  After getting demolished by Florida State, the Tar Heels won 12 of 13 down the stretch.

3. Duke (26-5)  Duke has had a great season.  Had the Blue Devils beat North Carolina they would have been a #1 seed in the Big Dance.

4. Florida State (21-9)  The Seminoles were an impressive 12-4 in conference play.  Plus, they beat Virginia last week.

5. Virginia (22-8)  One of three 9-7 teams, Virginia has had the best season start-to-finish.  The best overall record too.

6. Miami (18-11)  Miami and North Carolina State are squarely on the bubble.  Need some ACC tournament wins to feel safe.

7. North Carolina State (20-11).  Missed some opportunities down the stretch.  Probably need to win two in the ACC tournament to get off the bubble.

8. Clemson (16-14)  Clemson is now 7-7 in conference play.  They followed up the win over Virginia by beating Georgia Tech and North Carolina State.

9. Maryland (16-12)  After beating Miami, Maryland was primed to move up a few spots.  But then they lost to Georgia Tech.

10.  Virginia Tech (15-14)  This team has had more closes losses.  This past week was a 2-point loss to Virginia and an OT loss to Duke.

11. Pittsburgh (15-14)  Pittsburgh’s small momentum is over.  Hard to believe this team was once 13-2.

12. Wake Forest (13-15) They did beat Boston College by nearly 30.  Not a bad way to end the week.

13. Georgia Tech (10-18).  The losing streak is over.  And Georgia Tech beat a good Maryland team to accomplish that task.

14. Boston College (8-20)  Boston College had been showing some signs of life.  Losing by 29 to a sub .500 Wake Forest team is not such a sign.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , ,
03 Mar 2012

ACC Basketball: Final Weekend of Regular Season Games

Unfortunately, the ACC basketball season–at least the regular season–is about to come to an end.  This weekend will be the second-to-last games for several teams.  However, there is still much to be decided.

The current standings:

ACC
Team Conf. W-L Tot. W-L
Duke 13-2 26-4
North Carolina 13-2 26-4
Florida St. 11-4 20-9
Virginia 8-7 21-8
N.C. State 8-7 19-11
Miami (Fla.) 8-7 17-11
Clemson 8-7 16-13
Maryland 6-9 16-13
Virginia Tech 4-11 15-15
Wake Forest 4-11 13-16
Boston College 4-11 9-20
Georgia Tech 3-12 10-19

The games themselves will sort out a lot today.

The key game, of course, is the matchup between #4 Duke and #6 North Carolina.  It always is.  The intensity is even greater when the two teams enter the game with identical records at 26-4 overall and 13-2 in conference.  And today’s game just happens to be for the regular season title and the #1 seed in the ACC tournament.  So there’s that.

While #22 Florida State has third place all locked up, there is a 4-way tie for 4th place between Virginia, North Carolina State, Miami, and Clemson.  Miami has the easiest path, playing 9-20 Boston College.  Clemson has the toughest opponent, traveling to #22 Florida State on Sunday.  On Sunday, #24 Virginia will travel to Maryland for its finale, while North Carolina State travels to Virginia Tech.  The only other game features Wake Forest and Georgia Tech.

Meanwhile, #2 Syracuse will conclude its regular season on Saturday by hosting #17 Louisville.  Pittsburgh will travel to Connecticut in a battle between two disappointing teams.

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Weekend Preview and tagged , , , , , , ,
02 Mar 2012

Bracketology Update: ACC Style

There are now several individuals that offer predictions as to who is going to be part of the 68-team field for the Big Dance.  Here is where the major ones currently stand with respect to ACC teams:

As of February 29, 2012, ESPN “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi has Syracuse and five current ACC teams making the field.  In addition to the obvious Duke and North Carolina, Lunardi has Florida State, Virginia, and Miami.  The respective seeds are Syracuse (#1), Duke (#1), North Carolina (#2), Florida State (#4), Virginia (#8), and Miami (#12).  Hard to disagree with that. Florida State’s narrow victory over Virginia last night, 63-60, is not likely to change his analysis.

ESPN’s Eamonn Brennan has the same basic structure for teams either in the field or close to it.  Surprisingly, he has completely eliminated North Carolina State from consideration.  With a 19-11 record, this seems a bit hasty.  Especially after North Carolina State just beat Miami.

CBS’s Jerry Palm is not quite as positive.  Palm does not have Miami in his field currently.  So that leaves only Syracuse (#1), Duke (#1), North Carolina (#2), Florida State (#6), and Virginia (#9).  Palm is definitely “cool” on ACC teams as everyone beyond a #2 seed is at least one round lower than Lunardi.

Mike Huguenin of Rivals/Yahoo has a blend of Lunardi and Palm.  He has the teams just like Palm does in terms of seeding.  But unlike Palm, and like Lunardi, he also has Miami in the field as a #12 seed.

Finally, the interesting site the Bracket Project pulls from 50+ bracket projections.  After combining the various brackets, this is the national consensus:

  • Syracuse is a #1 seed and second overall
  • Duke is a #1 seed and third overall
  • North Carolina is a #2 seed and sixth overall
  • Florida State is a #5 seed
  • Virginia is a #8 seed
  • Miami is a #12 seed
  • North Carolina State is 7 spots out of the final at-large position.

So there it is.  Barring a run by North Carolina State, only Miami really seems on the fence for the Big Dance right now.  Hard to believe that brackets will be announced in just 9 days.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness, Predictions and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
01 Mar 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: February 29, 2012

Leap Day–February 29, 2012–a day of basketball for the ACC.

The big game of the day was the matchup between two bubble teams–North Carolina State and Miami.  Ultimately, the Wolfpack successfully defended its home court and kept its March hopes alive by defeating the Hurricanes, 77-73.  However, Miami led at the half by two points and this win did not come easily by any stretch.  Rion Brown came off the bench to lead Miami with 15 points, while Malcolm Grant added 14.  The Hurricanes dropped to 8-7 in conference play and 17-11 overall.  CJ Leslie was the big star for North Carolina State, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.  Lorenzo Brown added 16 for the Wolfpack, who improved to 8-7 in conference play and 19-11 overall.

How about a little credit to Boston College?  With nothing but pride to play for–and nothing to play for in many months in fact–the Eagles defeated Georgia Tech, 56-52, for yet another conference win.  Boston College was led by Matt Humphrey with 13 points and Ryan Anderson with 10 points.  Daniel Miller led Georgia Tech with 13 points.  With the loss, Georgia Tech drops to 10-19 overall and 3-12 in conference play.  With the win, Boston College improves to 9-20 overall, but also to 4-11 in conference play.  That’s just enough to get the Eagles out of last place in the ACC standings.

And the Confidential will throw some credit to Pittsburgh too.  The season has been a disappointment, but senior Ashton Gibbs led Pittsburgh to an 89-69 home win over St. Johns in the regular season home finale.  Gibbs scored 19 points and Dante Taylor added 17.  With the win, the Panthers moved to 16-14 overall and 5-12 in conference play.  A bright spot in an otherwise gloomy season.

Nothing gloomy for North Carolina.  The #6 Tar Heels improved to 26-4 by handily defeating Maryland, 88-64, in the final home game of the year.  Senior Tyler Zeller went out in style, scoring 30 points  and grabbing 8 rebounds in his home finale.  Josh Henson added 19 points and 9 rebounds, while Kendall Marshall dished out 8 assists.  North Carolina’s defense held ACC leading scorer Terrell Stoglin to 4 for 18 shooting, although he finished with 16 points.  Nick Faust led the Terps with a career-high 17 points.  With the loss, Maryland drops to 16-13 overall and 6-9 in conference play.

After these games, here are the updated ACC Standings:

ACC Standings

TEAM CONF OVERALL
Duke 13-2 26-4
North Carolina 13-2 26-4
Florida State 10-4 19-9
Virginia 8-6 21-7
North Carolina State 8-7 19-11
Miami (FL) 8-7 17-11
Clemson 7-7 15-13
Maryland 6-9 16-13
Virginia Tech 4-10 15-14
Wake Forest 4-11 13-16
Boston College 4-11 9-20
Georgia Tech 3-12 10-19
Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , ,

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