sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Lincoln's Birthday!
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was born on February 12, 1809. Over the years, he has become known as one of the greatest American presidents of all time. At the time of his death, in 1865, many saw him as a martyr, and it wasn't too long afterward that his birthday began being observed informally. In the mid-1870s, Julius Francis of Buffalo, New York, began honoring Lincoln on his birthday and petitioned Congress to make the day a legal holiday.
But, as of 2019, Lincoln's Birthday is not, nor has it ever been, its own federal holiday. On the state level, a handful of states celebrate Lincoln's birthday on its actual date. In recent years, it has been celebrated as a state holiday in Ohio, Missouri, New York, Illinois, and Connecticut. It is celebrated as such in California as well, but since 2009, it has no longer been a paid holiday there. Some states, Indiana being one example, have officially celebrated Lincoln's birthday, but not on the actual date of his birth. In prior years, more states officially celebrated his birthday; twenty-four states celebrated it in 1940, and ten celebrated it in 1990.
SU News
Pack Priorities for NC State Basketball vs. Syracuse (cbssports.com; video)
NC State comes back home to host Syracuse for a mid-week matchup.
Syracuse basketball faces tough upcoming tests in push for NCAA Tournament bid - The Juice Online (the juice; McGlynn)
Another year, another season spent on the bubble for Syracuse. The Orange sits at 17-7, its best record through 24 games since the 25-0 start to the 2013-14 season, yet Syracuse finds itself with work to do to make the NCAA tournament for what feels like the 70th year in a row.
Despite all the potential this squad has shown, the key for a berth in the NCAA tournament and a potential run will be consistency.
Since the start of conference play, this team has been all over the place. The Orange posted 65 points or fewer in five games, and eclipsed the 65-point mark six times. Defensively, the Orange have given up 65 or more points five times and held opponents under 65 six times. Syracuse has also had a tendency to struggle from 3-point range. SU has shot just 25.7 percent from behind the arc in its seven losses this season.
Make no mistake, this is a talented group and an outfit deserving of being in the Big Dance, but nothing it guaranteed, particularly when looking at the remaining schedule for SU.
After a solid 67-56 home win over Boston College, Syracuse faces seven remaining games, four on the road and three at home. SU must travel to NC State, host No. 16 Louisville and No. 2 Duke before a road trip against No. 8 North Carolina and Wake Forest. The Orange finish the season with a visit from No. 4 Virginia and a trip to Clemson. To say that poses a lot of potential pitfalls is an understatement. According to ESPN’s BPI, that is the toughest remaining schedule in college basketball.
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How we voted: ACC’s quality revealed once again in second meeting between heavyweights Duke, Virginia (spokesman.com; Lawson)
The Spokesman-Review’s Theo Lawson is one of 65 national media members voting in the Associated Press Top 25 basketball poll this season. Every week throughout the 2018-19 campaign, he’ll break down he voted, offering three thoughts on the latest edition of the poll, an update on the Pac-12’s ranked teams and a look at local Top 25 representative Gonzaga.
Three thoughts
1. We said last week the Big Ten may be the most competitive conference in college basketball, but in terms of sheer quality, it’s likely nobody is topping the ACC. Round two of Duke versus Virginia gave us more affirmation on that front Saturday. The Blue Devils have the stars to compete for a national title and the Cavaliers have the stifling defense to do the same, even after a second loss to Duke. It’s a loaded conference beyond those two, however, and UVA’s battle with North Carolina this week could be just as good as the one between Duke and Louisville.
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ACC Selection Sunday outlook: FSU and Clemson doing work, NCSU sliding back? (tomahawknation.com; Minnick)
It’s been two weeks since the first installment of our ACC bubble watch and what a fortnight it was for FSU and Clemson (for you kids at home, “fortnight” was a word in our lexicon long before “fortnite” was an addictive video game). The Seminoles and Tigers both added four wins in that time, with the ‘Noles in particular beefing up their resume with two quad one wins in back to back victories over Syracuse and Louisville. As a result, both squads have moved up in our tiers. Meanwhile, NC State and Virginia Tech have taken some lumps recently as the brutal conference schedule grinds on. This, my friends, is exactly why we are conservative with the tiers in which we place teams.
***Author’s note: Starting this year the NCAA has “eliminated” the RPI and is now using an efficiency based rating system referred to as NET. Much has been written about the NET’s faults, most notably that it uses raw efficiency instead of adjusting for the relative strength of the opponent. Nonetheless, it’s still an improvement from the RPI and will be the primary tool used by the NCAA selection committee, and it’s the only metric that will be used to determine the win quadrants for each team.
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ACC Daily Digest, Feb. 11: Could Khadhim Sy end up at another ACC program? Plus: UVA at UNC - ACCSports.com (accsports.com; Geisinger)
No one likes Mondays. Although a top-10 matchup in the ACC is on the agenda, which makes things slightly more tolerable. Here’s what’s going on around the ACC.
Notre Dame defends home floor vs. Georgia Tech, wins 69-59
Even with an off shooting night from John Mooney (11 points on 16 FGA), Notre Dame defeated Georgia Tech on Sunday. T.J. Gibbs put together an excellent performance, too: 20 points, (8-of-9 FTA), five assists and foul steals.
Pete Sampson
✔
@PeteSampson_
I’d say this is the worst first half that I’ve ever watched featuring Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. But we all know that’s not even remotely close to being true.
Halftime
Georgia Tech 25
Notre Dame 24
6:50 PM - Feb 10, 2019 · South Bend, IN
No. 4 Virginia survives No. 8 North Carolina's upset bid (usatoday.com; AP)
Kyle Guy scored 20 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers in the final two minutes, to help No. 4 Virginia beat No. 8 North Carolina 69-61 on Monday night.
De'Andre Hunter also had 20 points for the Cavaliers (21-2, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who played with veteran poise down the stretch after trailing for a good chunk of the second half.
The Cavaliers were coming off a second loss this season to No. 2 Duke and arrived in Chapel Hill facing the prospect of their first losing streak of any kind in two years. Yet Guy and his teammates rallied from seven down in the final eight minutes to snap UNC's seven-game winning streak.
Coby White scored 17 points to lead the Tar Heels (19-5, 9-2), who were off to their best start in league play under 16th-year coach Roy Williams. UNC shot just 35 percent for the game.
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Beating Virginia Twice In One Season Doesn’t Happen Much Anymore (DBR; Jacobs)
When Duke defeated Virginia at Charlottesville this past Saturday, much was made of the 81-71 result based on rankings, standings, reputations and the like. Rightly so.
Perhaps equally notable but largely overlooked, the Blue Devils were the first ACC squad since 2012, a period of eight years, that defeated Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers twice in the same season.
North Carolina and Florida State both beat UVa in 2012, when UNC and FSU went on to meet in the ACC Tournament final.
At this point, with matchups left on Feb. 23 and March 9, only Louisville has a chance to duplicate that feat in 2019.
Duke now has seven wins over the Cavs in the seven seasons since they became a winning program in ACC competition. The next-closest school in accumulating victories over Bennett’s buttoned-down bunch is Leonard Hamilton’s Florida State units, with five. If there’s a common denominator between Duke and FSU over that span, it’s the athleticism of their squads.
This past weekend’s win by Mike Krzyzewski’s club was the ninth in those seven seasons by an ACC team at John Paul Jones Arena. Of those nine, three belong to Duke, two to Virginia Tech, UVa’s archrival, and two to Florida State.
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In The Booth 2-11 ESPN Syracuse podcast (player.fm; radio; Matt)
Matt discusses Syracuse's win over Boston College including some post game comments from Jim Boeheim, the debut of the Alliance of American Football, Chris Spatola of ESPN and SiriusXM ACC Channel joins the show, and 'Do We Care?'
Episode 125- Syracuse Basketball: Boston College Postgame, N.C. State Preview! - Armchair All-Americans (armchairallamericans.com; podcast; CuseMilitia)
Episode 125- Syracuse Basketball: Boston College Postgame, N.C. State Preview!
Other
Syracuse wants $12M from NY for Skaneateles Lake water intake pipe (PS; Weiner)
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh asked New York lawmakers Monday for $12 million to help the city extend its water intake pipe on Skaneateles Lake and help avoid contamination from toxic algae blooms.
Walsh made the request while testifying at a hearing of the joint Legislative Fiscal Committees in Albany about state aid for municipalities in the proposed 2019 state budget.
The mayor said the city needs to extend its water intake pipe deeper and further into Skaneateles Lake, the source of Syracuse’s drinking water, to avoid new threats from harmful algae blooms that first emerged in 2017 and returned last summer.
Walsh’s testimony did not make it immediately clear if the $12 million would cover the full cost of the project.
State health officials in 2017 detected algae toxins in both of Syracuse’s water intake pipes in Skaneateles Lake, at 25 feet and 45 feet below the lake’s surface – a depth previously considered safe. The toxins were not found in tap water from Skaneateles Lake that serves Syracuse and some of its suburbs.
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