The Confidential

The ACC Sports Blog

Archive for the tag “Pittsburgh”

15 Mar 2012

The ACC and the Post-Season: Update

Well, it is College Basketball Tournament season.  The Big Dance commences in earnest today.

Before reaching the real March Madness… did you know that Pittsburgh is still playing basketball?  The Panthers defeated Wofford on Tuesday in something called the CBI, 81-63.  And Miami defeated Valparaiso in the NIT on Wednesday, 66-50.  Congratulations for those teams taking advantage of their post-season opportunities.

As for the Big Dance, all the current ACC teams begin play on Friday.  So here is what ACC fans should be watching for Thursday:

Syracuse.  The Orange are going to be playing without the Big East defensive player of the year, Fab Melo.  Will the Melo-less Orange be the first #1 seed to ever lose to a #16 seed?  North Carolina-Asheville is not your ordinary 16 seed.  The Bulldogs stayed with North Carolina State (lost by 9), battled North Carolina (lost by 16), gave UConn a run (lost by 10), and narrowly lost to Tennessee (lost by 4).  They also beat Utah by 16.  This is not a team that will shrink from Syracuse.  However, even without Melo, Syracuse would have been a 3 or 4 seed this year.  In fact, without the expectation of improvement by Melo, Syracuse was a top 5 team in the preseason.  The goal here is to win and develop the ability to play without Melo.  If so, Syracuse still has the tools to make a decent run.

 

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball 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 , , , , , ,
27 Feb 2012

ACC Basketball Rankings: February 27, 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 February 27, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (29-1)  Syracuse went on a 26-0 run to defeat South Florida.  Syracuse gave up a 17-point lead against UConn, but still won.  This team just wins right now.

2. Duke (25-4) Duke and North Carolina have identical 25-4 records, including the same 12-2 conference record.  But Duke beat North Carolina.

3. North Carolina (25-4)  North Carolina does get a chance at revenge this Saturday against Duke.  It should be winner take all for the ACC crown.

4. Florida State (19-9)  Have looked vulnerable lately.  A loss to Boston College and now a loss to Miami by 16.

5. Virginia (21-7)  At 8-6 in conference, Virginia is still a few wins behind Florida State.  Still lacks a high-quality win.

6. Miami (17-10)  Miami lost to Maryland earlier in the week, but rebounded nicely to take care of Florida State handily.  Needs a few more wins for March Madness to call.

7. North Carolina State (18-11).  The loss to North Carolina is excusable.  At this time of year, no excuse for losing to Clemson.

8. Clemson (13-13)  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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
20 Feb 2012

ACC Basketball Rankings: February 20, 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 February 20, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (27-1)  With road wins at Louisville and Rutgers (a difficult place to win), Syracuse continues their all-time best season start.  Upstart South Florida visits on Wednesday.

2. Duke (23-4) A very good win for the Blue Devils over North Carolina State.  Boston College, however, did not put up much of a fight at all.

3. North Carolina (23-4)  Challenging week ahead for the Tar Heels, with road trips to North Carolina State and Virginia.

4. Florida State (19-7)  Florida State got back to its winning ways against North Carolina State.  Duke visits on Thursday.

5. Virginia (20-7)  Virginia embarrassed Maryland on Saturday.  The Terps are used to embarrassment, having fired Ralph Friedgen and replaced him Randy Edsall.

6. North Carolina State (18-9).  Very tough week with losses to Duke and Florida State.  And next up is North Carolina.

7.  Miami (16-9)  Miami did the expected–losing to North Carolina and defeating Wake Forest.

8. Maryland (15-11)  Really outplayed by Virginia on Saturday.  Looking squarely at the NIT, barring a stretch run.

9.  Virginia Tech (15-12)  Two wins on the week for Virginia Tech, sandwiched around a loss by 1 point at Florida State.  A good week overall.

10.  Clemson (13-13)  A great win over Virginia moves Clemson up to 10.

11. Pittsburgh (15-12)  Pitt is back to losing often.

12. Boston College (8-19)  Boston College can keep its edge over Wake Forest by beating the Demon Deacons on Saturday.

13. Wake Forest (12-15) Wake Forest got another conference win–but it was against cellar-dweller Georgia Tech.

14. Georgia Tech (9-17).  Georgia Tech continues to lose.  The less said the better.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
14 Feb 2012
3 Comments

Syracuse & Pitt to Join ACC in 2013?

Ever since the ACC announced that it was expanding to take Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the conventional wisdom was that the plan would not be completed for at least one year.  Indeed, both schools were obligated to stay for 27 months after providing notice of their intent to depart.  While West Virginia has made news by suing to get out of its obligation (which was recently settled), Syracuse and Pitt remain within the Big East.  However, it looks like there is a real possibility of the expansion being completed for the 2013 season.

Although Big East commissioner John Marinatto has previously said that the 27-month obligation would be adhered to, he changed his tune a bit recently: “”But given the strength and speed of our expansion efforts, I think our board might be open to a discussion about 2013.”  Indeed, the article noted that the conference will have 13 football playing members in the 2013 season.  So it is not like the Big East will need the two schools.

With the recent news regarding the ACC’s television deal, there is some financial benefit to getting the expansion completed in 2013, rather than 2014.  If reports are true, the television deal will add at least $1 million per school and perhaps more.  It will not kick in until the expansion is done.  But there is no real urgency.

So everyone will just have to remain patient for at least one more year.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Conference Realignment and tagged , , ,
13 Feb 2012

ACC Basketball Rankings: February 13, 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 February 13, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (25-1)  It took overtime for Syracuse to beat Georgetown, but the Orange pulled away from UConn.  Up next is their nemesis: Louisville.

2. Duke (21-4)  A buzzer beater is still a win.  Duke was able to beat North Carolina on the road and then handle Maryland at home.Looked dominant in wins over Wake Forest and Maryland.  Next up?  Duke and Virginia.

3. North Carolina (21-4)  The loss to Duke was a disappointment.  The Tar Heels rebounded nicely in a win against Virginia.

4. Florida State (17-7)  Florida State is handling the good teams.  Unfortunately, it has been Clemson and Boston College that tripped them up.

5. Virginia (19-5)  The loss to the Tar Heels was not unexpected.  A road trip to Clemson awaits.

6. North Carolina State (18-7)  North Carolina State is making a nice run at the Big Dance.  The problem is that its games this week are against Duke (away) and Florida State (home).

7.  Miami (15-8)  Miami followed up the Duke win with a win over Virginia Tech.  But Florida State was too much for the Hurricanes.

8. Maryland (14-10)  Maryland is running short on opportunities to get the wins.  This week is Boston College (home) and Virginia (away).  The .500 weeks are not getting it done.

9. Pittsburgh (15-11)  The win over Villanova has faded.  The Panthers followed that up with road losses to USF and Seton Hall.

10.  Clemson (12-12)  Clemson split the week again, losing to Maryland and crushing Wake Forest.

11.  Virginia Tech (14-11)  The conference games have destroyed this team.  They finally had some luck against Boston College with a last second-win.

12. Boston College (8-17)  The win over Florida State has to be worth sliding up a few slots.  And they almost nipped Virginia Tech on the road.

13. Wake Forest (11-14) Not only is Wake Forest losing, they are getting blown out.  That is not going to get it done.

14. Georgia Tech (9-15)  Georgia Tech continues to struggle.  This season will end in disappointment, unfortunately.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
12 Feb 2012

Virginia Tech Wins in Final Seconds

Virginia Tech, a team desperate for wins just to make any post-season tournament, finally got a lucky bounce.  Dorian Finney-Smith scored on a tip-in with 1.8 seconds left to give Virginia Tech a 66-65 win over Boston College.  Finney-Smith led the Hokies with 17 points.  With the win, the Hokies move to 14-11 and 3-7 in conference play.

Boston College played good enough to win, shooting 55.8% from the field.  But it was not enough to get the win.  Ryan Anderson led Boston College with 17 points.  With the loss, the Eagles drop to 8-17 overall and 3-8 in conference play.

In the only other action, Pittsburgh fell to Seton Hall on the road, 73-66.  Herb Pope and Aaron Crosby each scored 19 points for the Pirates.  The Panthers were led by Ashton Gibbs’ 26 points.  That’s two losses in a row for Pittsburgh, as the already slim Big Dance hopes appear to be gone.

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

Boston College Stuns Florida State

The Seminoles can blame it on the Confidential.  For weeks, Florida State has been surging.  The Confidential finally took notice and put Florida State at #3 in the ACC and #13 overall–and the next game result was a loss to lowly (sorry) Boston College, 64-60.

If you are keeping score at home, this means that Florida State has beaten Duke on the road and demolished North Carolina, but also lost to Clemson by 20 and now Boston College.  Needless to say, this is a very disappointing loss.

For Boston College, however, it is a bright spot in a season that has had very few of them.  Jordan Daniels led the Eagles with 19 points.  Matt Humphrey added 15 points and Ryan Anderson contributed 14 points and six rebounds.  With the win, Boston College improves to 3-7 in conference play and 8-16 overall.

Michael Snaer scored 16 points for Florida State, but struggled mightily from the field going 6 for 18. With the loss, Florida State drops to 7-2 in conference play and 16-7 overall.

In the other non-rivalry games involving ACC teams:

  • #20 Virginia handily defeated Wake Forest, 68-44.  Mike Scott led the five-players that scored in double-figures for the Cavs with 19 points on 9 of 9 shooting from the field.  Virginia’s stifling defense held Wake Forest to 34.1% shooting.  Travis McKie led Wake Forest with 16 points.  With the loss, Wake Forest drops to 11-13.  Virginia improves to 19-4.
  • Pittsburgh’s four-game winning streak was snapped as South Florida continued its surprising season with a 63-51 win over the visiting Panthers.  The Bulls were led by Hugh Robertson’s 18 points.  The fact that South Florida shot 60.5% from the field certainly helped.  In contrast, Pitt was held to 34.6% shooting, led by Tray Woodall’s 11 points.  Pittsburgh is now 15-10 on the season and 4-8 in conference play.  South Florida is 14-10, including 7-4 in conference games.

Ryan Anderson, image courtesty of US Pressire and CBS Sports. Image can be found at http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/recap/NCAAB_20120208_FLST@BC

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , ,
06 Feb 2012
1 Comment

ACC Basketball Rankings: February 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 January 30, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (23-1)  With Fab Melo back, the Orange returned to their dominant ways.  However, all seven remaining games for the Orange are against teams in the top half of the Big East standings.  This will not end easy for Syracuse.

2. North Carolina (20-3)  Looked dominant in wins over Wake Forest and Maryland.  Next up?  Duke and Virginia.

3. Florida State (16-6)  That’s seven straight conference wins for the Seminoles.  In the process, they have defeated nationally ranked Virginia and North Carolina at home, while defeating Maryland and Duke on the road.

4. Duke (19-4)  The home loss to Florida State at the buzzer was a shocker.  Losing to Miami?  This isn’t football.

5. Virginia (18-4)  No shame in losing to Florida State on the road.  Virginia fared much better than the Tar Heels.

6. North Carolina State (17-7)  A good week for the Wolfpack, who beat both BC and Wake Forest to get back to their winning ways.  All five starters were in double-digits against Wake too.

7.  Miami (14-7)  The win over Duke, at Duke, was the marquee win that Miami needed.  Now they need to keep up the 6-3 conference pace down the stretch.

8. Maryland (13-9)  While the loss to North Carolina stings, it was the road loss to Miami that will be regretted.  That was a winnable game, as evidenced by the overtime.

9. Pittsburgh (15-9)  Don’t look know, but the Panthers have won four straight.  If they keep this up, the Big Dance is not out of the question.

10. Virginia Tech (13-10)  The Hokies took care of business against Clemson.  That 2-6 conference record still hurts.

11. Clemson (11-11)  Swept by both Virginia schools.  A tough road for the Tigers this past week.

12. Wake Forest (11-12)  Wake Forest was overmatched by North Carolina and North Carolina State.  Not a surprise.

13. Georgia Tech (9-14)  Georgia Tech is part of the 3-way tie in the ACC cellar at 2-7 in conference play.  The win over BC gets them to 13th.

14. Boston College (7-16)  The Eagles could have gotten out of the cellar with a win against Georgia Tech.  Alas, it was not meant to be.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
30 Jan 2012
1 Comment

ACC Basketball Rankings: January 30, 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 January 30, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (22-1)  While weaker minds will blame the Syracuse win on the referees, West Virginia had every opportunity to win the game–including the ball in the half court with 6+ seconds to go.  That they chose to shoot an off-balance three pointer instead of trying to use their advantage down low is not the referees’ fault.  Just sayin’.

2. Duke (18-3)  Duke keeps the #2 spot.  After losing to the Seminoles, Duke went on the road and beat a very good Maryland team.  And then a tough out-of-conference foe in St. Johns gave them a tough test at home.  Narrowly above North Carolina.  Will these two teams EVER play?

3. North Carolina (18-3)  Look out for the Tar Heels.  After the embarrassing blowout loss, North Carolina is on a roll.  North Carolina State did not provide much of a test though.  Upcoming two game road trip to Maryland and Wake Forest.

4. Virginia (17-3)  Rebounded nicely from the Virginia Tech stunner to defeat Boston College at home.  Even more impressive was the win at North Carolina State.

5. Florida State (14-6)  Another road win–this time over Wake Forest by a comfortable margin of 23.  If the Seminoles can get by Georgia Tech on Wednesday, the focus will shift to the visiting Cavaliers on Saturday.

6. North Carolina State (15-7)  Tough week for the Wolfpack, as they had to travel to Chapel Hill and then host Virginia.  Despite the two losses, still 4-3 in conference play.

7.  Maryland (13-7)  Maryland kept its record at .500 in conference by edging Virginia Tech on Saturday.  Nice bounce-back after losing to Duke.  Up next?  A trip to Miami.

8.  Miami (12-7)  The Hurricanes are up to 3-3 in conference play with wins over Georgia Tech and Boston College.  Both were significant margin victories on the road.  Return on home Wednesday to host Maryland.

9. Clemson (11-9)  3-3 in conference after beating Wake Forest on Saturday.  Next up is a trip to Virginia to play both schools in road games.  Doesn’t get any easier.

10. Pittsburgh (13-9)  The Panthers are starting to warm-up a bit.  On Saturday, they got their second win in a row with a victory over #9 Georgetown.

11. Wake Forest (11-10)  Tough call between Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.  The Demon Deacons have the extra conference win to provide the edge.

12. Virginia Tech (12-9)  The Hokies looked good in 2011, but 2012 has been very unkind.  They are now a dismal 1-5 in conference play.  Next up?  Duke.  Gulp.

13. Georgia Tech (8-13)  Georgia Tech cannot buy a win right now.  After traveling to red-hot Florida State midweek, Boston College comes to town.  That’s a must win for the coaching staff.

14. Boston College (7-14)  Doesn’t get any easier for the Eagles.  They host North Carolina State on Wednesday–a Wolfpack team that has lost to North Carolina and Virginia in its recent games, and really really needs a win.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →