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Two teams looking for challengers The holiday season is over. No more games against Wofford or UNCG. No more games at sea. No more made-for-television games that show up on the Worldwide Leader’s network of cable outlets.
Well, maybe there will be a few more of those.
But the holiday season has ended, and that means ACC basketball is finally here. By the end of the weekend, every team in the league will have played its conference opener.
By the time Mary-land’s game at N.C. State ends somewhere out on the edge of the TV dial Sunday night, we’ll have a better idea of what’s getting ready to happen in the ACC.
We think we know already. We think Carolina’s going to win all its league games and roll into March ranked somewhere near the top of the polls. We think Duke is going to win all its league games except those on Feb. 8 and March 3 and roll into the league tournament seething.
But we’re almost never right about these things. Duke and Carolina have been 1-2 in the league four times since 2006 (including ties) and almost nothing we’ve seen or heard so far suggests that will change this season. Historically, it hasn’t happened as many times as you might think.
But there’s not been a gap between them and the rest of the league quite as big as this for as long as since, well, ever. And for the first time, the other coaches in the league acknowledge it.
“It’s up to us to close the gap,” State coach Mark Gottfried said before the season began.
He wasn’t just talking about his school, but his and every other school in the league. Norm Sloan would’ve never said anything like that. Neither would Lefty Driesell or Terry Holland or Carl Tacy.
But as recent seasons are showing us, the ACC really is a two-team conference.
At least right now. That’s why they play the games though, and this weekend we’ll get the first glimpse at the new season under the per- ceived new order.
Make no mistake, all 12 schools were sleepwalking in December, and the slumber carried over past the new year in a couple of cases. When the horn sounded Wednesday night at the end of Duke’s 78-73 loss to Temple, it might’ve sounded like a bell tolling. When the buzzer echoed off the empty seats in Winston-Salem on Monday night at the end of Wake’s mind-numbing loss to Wofford, it might’ve sounded like a plaintive howl.
Those two outcomes hang in the air as we open the ACC season. Duke is still in preseason form. Wake is in last-season form. Mike Krzyzewski said the loss made him ill. Jeff Bzdelik compared his team to horse manure.
Heading into the weekend , the perceived order of things has been only slightly upset. Virginia is better than we thought. Florida State, the preseason choice to finish third, has struggled. Virginia Tech has a couple of wins over Oklahoma State, N.C. State beat Texas, and Miami finally has all its players back.
Beyond that, we’ll need to watch this weekend to see if there’s another team in the league worth watching beyond this weekend.
The conference is down. The bottom teams are as bad as anything we’ve ever seen. The question is about the teams at the top. Can UNC win the national title? Will Duke figure out its lineup and run down the Heels at the ACC Tournament? Can FSU, Virginia Tech, Miami, Virginia or N.C. State catch Duke before then?
The perception heading into the first weekend is that all those things are possible, but we’re a long way from Feb. 8 when Duke plays in Chapel Hill and the first games of the season fade into the past.
Is there room at the top? Not much. Does anyone really care who finishes third in the ACC? Not really.
This weekend is a celebration of things passing. If there’s anything worse than ACC basketball in December, it’s ACC football in December. Thank goodness we’re through with both.
The race for third will keep us occupied until something better comes along. And something better always comes along about the time North Carolina plays Duke.
Again and again and again.
That’s what we’re really looking forward to. That’s why they really play the games.
Love the comment on ACC BB and FB.
Well, maybe there will be a few more of those.
But the holiday season has ended, and that means ACC basketball is finally here. By the end of the weekend, every team in the league will have played its conference opener.
By the time Mary-land’s game at N.C. State ends somewhere out on the edge of the TV dial Sunday night, we’ll have a better idea of what’s getting ready to happen in the ACC.
We think we know already. We think Carolina’s going to win all its league games and roll into March ranked somewhere near the top of the polls. We think Duke is going to win all its league games except those on Feb. 8 and March 3 and roll into the league tournament seething.
But we’re almost never right about these things. Duke and Carolina have been 1-2 in the league four times since 2006 (including ties) and almost nothing we’ve seen or heard so far suggests that will change this season. Historically, it hasn’t happened as many times as you might think.
But there’s not been a gap between them and the rest of the league quite as big as this for as long as since, well, ever. And for the first time, the other coaches in the league acknowledge it.
“It’s up to us to close the gap,” State coach Mark Gottfried said before the season began.
He wasn’t just talking about his school, but his and every other school in the league. Norm Sloan would’ve never said anything like that. Neither would Lefty Driesell or Terry Holland or Carl Tacy.
But as recent seasons are showing us, the ACC really is a two-team conference.
At least right now. That’s why they play the games though, and this weekend we’ll get the first glimpse at the new season under the per- ceived new order.
Make no mistake, all 12 schools were sleepwalking in December, and the slumber carried over past the new year in a couple of cases. When the horn sounded Wednesday night at the end of Duke’s 78-73 loss to Temple, it might’ve sounded like a bell tolling. When the buzzer echoed off the empty seats in Winston-Salem on Monday night at the end of Wake’s mind-numbing loss to Wofford, it might’ve sounded like a plaintive howl.
Those two outcomes hang in the air as we open the ACC season. Duke is still in preseason form. Wake is in last-season form. Mike Krzyzewski said the loss made him ill. Jeff Bzdelik compared his team to horse manure.
Heading into the weekend , the perceived order of things has been only slightly upset. Virginia is better than we thought. Florida State, the preseason choice to finish third, has struggled. Virginia Tech has a couple of wins over Oklahoma State, N.C. State beat Texas, and Miami finally has all its players back.
Beyond that, we’ll need to watch this weekend to see if there’s another team in the league worth watching beyond this weekend.
The conference is down. The bottom teams are as bad as anything we’ve ever seen. The question is about the teams at the top. Can UNC win the national title? Will Duke figure out its lineup and run down the Heels at the ACC Tournament? Can FSU, Virginia Tech, Miami, Virginia or N.C. State catch Duke before then?
The perception heading into the first weekend is that all those things are possible, but we’re a long way from Feb. 8 when Duke plays in Chapel Hill and the first games of the season fade into the past.
Is there room at the top? Not much. Does anyone really care who finishes third in the ACC? Not really.
This weekend is a celebration of things passing. If there’s anything worse than ACC basketball in December, it’s ACC football in December. Thank goodness we’re through with both.
The race for third will keep us occupied until something better comes along. And something better always comes along about the time North Carolina plays Duke.
Again and again and again.
That’s what we’re really looking forward to. That’s why they really play the games.
Love the comment on ACC BB and FB.
