virginia lost by 35 to tennessee last nite

[CorduroyG]

werent they supposed to be a "dangerous" team in the acc this year? if we lose more than 2 games in this conference im gonna be disappointed.

 

[AlaskaSU]

werent they supposed to be a "dangerous" team in the acc this year? if we lose more than 2 games in this conference im gonna be disappointed.

Scary thought: they are probably a dangerous team for most of the sucky ACC.

 

[texascpa]

I agree. I was thinking this morning "who the hell are we going to lose to in the ACC?" Now, it will be tough to be Duke twice and realistically we will probably split with them, but who else is out there? If we were playing UNC at Chapel Hill, I could see a loss, but we're not.

 

[senorpalmer]

I can already hear the ACC homers in March when Virginia goes 11-7 in conference (and has a 60 RPI) and is on the outside of a bid looking in..."but they won 11 conference games!"

 

[CorduroyG]

I agree. I was thinking this morning "who the hell are we going to lose to in the ACC?" Now, it will be tough to be Duke twice and realistically we will probably split with them, but who else is out there? If we were playing UNC at Chapel Hill, I could see a loss, but we're not.

at pitt will be tough since we always play terrible there. we close with 4 of the last 5 on the road so thats the rough part of the schedule, but i really think we're gonna be undefeated at 23-0 going into the pitt game on the road on feb 12.

 

[Eric15]

I agree. I was thinking this morning "who the hell are we going to lose to in the ACC?" Now, it will be tough to be Duke twice and realistically we will probably split with them, but who else is out there? If we were playing UNC at Chapel Hill, I could see a loss, but we're not.

In college hoops, all elite teams drop a game or two on the road against average conference competition. Some team will shoot the lights out (against maybe Maryland or FSU, etc.) on a night when shots just aren't falling for us. The board will panic, but it won't be a big deal.

 

[orange2win]

The ACC is bad this year. Lowly Virginia Commonwealth has already blown out Boston College and Virginia Tech and has beaten Virginia. Georgia Tech has been blown out by Vanderbilt. Miami lost to St. Francis.

Slip ups can happen in the OCS, but when these kind of teams are getting blown out by weaker programs, it raises a red flag.

 

[Knicks411]

Yeah I thought UVA was gonna be tough this year, maybe not.

Still, we're gonna lose some games in the league. And they will probably come at towards the back half of the schedule. Ken Pom is projecting 14-4 right now. We will be favored in every game up till @Pitt.

 

[scottynguyen]

Here are some ACC scores just from the month of December ...

UNC Greensboro 55 Virginia Tech 52
Xavier 68 Wake Forest 53
VCU 69 BC 50
Boston U 83 Maryland 77
VCU 82 Virginia Tech 52
North Dakota State 73 Notre Dame 69
Green Bay 75 Virginia 72

Notre Dame did crush Canisius by 6 a few days ago.

 

[Alsacs]

We are going to split with Pitt and Duke most likely so that is 2-2. We should sweep BC and Miami so that is 6-2

UNC, @UVA, @UMD, @Wake, @FSU are all tough games. We aren't going 16-2 IMO. I would agree with Knicks above we should go between 13-5 and 15-3.

 

[texascpa]

at pitt will be tough since we always play terrible there. we close with 4 of the last 5 on the road so thats the rough part of the schedule, but i really think we're gonna be undefeated at 23-0 going into the pitt game on the road on feb 12.

Ah, yes, the slugfest at Pitt. I forgot about that. That's going to be a tough one.

 

[Knicks411]

At this point the key for me is just to win the ACC. (Right, "just" winning the conference). Winning the league almost certainly sets us up for Buffalo/MSG, which should be the main focus at this point. But if 14-4 gets it done, then thats fine with me.

 

[Alsacs]

They key for me is spliting with Duke. Duke's resume is so inferior to Syracuse's right now. That Duke needs to probably sweep Syracuse and North Carolina to get MSG over Syracuse. Syracuse just needs 13-5/14-4/15-3 to lock up MSG IMO.

Duke's best wins right now UCLA and Michigan. If McGary doesn't come back this year Michigan won't be a top 25 team and UCLA is at best the Pac-12 #3 and borderline top 25 team. I think Syracuse has the non-conference scalps. If we take care of the Dome games against Pitt, Duke, North Carolina and beat the teams on the road we should its over for Duke barring sweeping SU/UNC and winning the ACC Tournament.

 

[pearl31]

Ken Pom is projecting 14-4 right now.

Does Ken Pom's head explode when his machine is utterly wrong in certain forecasts?

 

[Knicks411]

They key for me is spliting with Duke. Duke's resume is so inferior to Syracuse's right now. That Duke needs to probably sweep Syracuse and North Carolina to get MSG over Syracuse. Syracuse just needs 13-5/14-4/15-3 to lock up MSG IMO.

And then throw in whatever happens in the ACC tournament; could give Duke another chance for a win over us. I'm generally not the kind of guy who buys into the conspiracy theories about the selection committee, but it always does seem like Duke gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to seeding/placement.

It's obviously way too early to be looking at this, but its really good that Arizona is so strong this year; it seems like in the last few years there hasn't been a good West team, so someone gets sent out there as a 1. Shouldn't be an issue this year.

Does Ken Pom's head explode when his machine is utterly wrong in certain forecasts?

Yeah, it's pretty funny.

 

[realorange]

Last regular season game at FSU worries me. Decent team, at home with a good coach. Should be a good game. Glad I'll be there cheer the Cuse on to a win.

 

[Alsacs]

And then throw in whatever happens in the ACC tournament; could give Duke another chance for a win over us. I'm generally not the kind of guy who buys into the conspiracy theories about the selection committee, but it always does seem like Duke gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to seeding/placement.

It's obviously way too early to be looking at this, but its really good that Arizona is so strong this year; it seems like in the last few years there hasn't been a good West team, so someone gets sent out there as a 1. Shouldn't be an issue this year.



Yeah, it's pretty funny.

I thought Duke has been screwed the last 2 years. 2 years ago instead of getting the 2 seed in Boston which is where most of their fans/alums are located they got put in the South with #1 overall seed Kentucky.
This past year they got screwed as the 6 overall seed and 2 seed got put in Indianapolis with #1 overall seed Louisville whom they already played in the Bahamas instead of being put in the South in Dallas with Kansas the 4th 1 seed.

Duke got a break in 2010 when they won the title with #2 Villanova and #4 Purdue w/o Hummel that is their the perception was created. Duke won't be in MSG unless they dominate the ACC or we fall on our faces which is unlikely.

 

[CorduroyG]

We are going to split with Pitt and Duke most likely so that is 2-2. We should sweep BC and Miami so that is 6-2

UNC, @UVA, @UMD, @Wake, @FSU are all tough games. We aren't going 16-2 IMO. I would agree with Knicks above we should go between 13-5 and 15-3.

if we stay healthy i dont see any way we lose 5 games in the acc.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I agree. I was thinking this morning "who the hell are we going to lose to in the ACC?" Now, it will be tough to be Duke twice and realistically we will probably split with them, but who else is out there? If we were playing UNC at Chapel Hill, I could see a loss, but we're not.

I believe we have a home and home with Pitt. Dixon does a great job against the zone, though he seems to be having some trouble keeping his players these past few years. But that could be another loss, and you have to figure there will be a What game. I think that would be most likely during that closing stretch of the season, where we finish with 4 out of our last 5 games on the road

Of course we could lose to Carolina, too, since they have shown that they really raise their game against top competition.

But overall I agree. I don't see that many games that I'm "scared of". I'll be surprised if we lose more than 3 or 4 games the rest of the way.

 

[Townie72]

We are going to split with Pitt and Duke most likely so that is 2-2. We should sweep BC and Miami so that is 6-2

UNC, @UVA, @UMD, @Wake, @FSU are all tough games. We aren't going 16-2 IMO. I would agree with Knicks above we should go between 13-5 and 15-3.

Alsacs, stop letting even a threat of showers worry the happy paraders on the boar who seem t have amnesia about the long SU history.

We are going to shoot poorly a couple of nights and we are going to run up against competition who cannot seem to miss. Pitt is always tough for us. Duke at Duke will be a huge challenge. Duke at SU too as our long history with big games at the Dome has demonstrated.

13 and 5 or 14 and 4 are good guesses. 15 and 3 assumes we continue to get the kind of breaks we have gotten so far (like in Hawaii with missing players) and a continuation of very good free throw shooting (for SU) in some games.

 

[Townie72]

if we stay healthy i dont see any way we lose 5 games in the acc.

Vermont

 

[Orangezoo]

I think ennis could be pitt kryptonite for us. On the flip side I can see how duke and unc during their top years lose games in the acc. Unlike the big east where the conference slate is where the big matchups are... its the non conf that is the exciting part and the conf where you have a few big games with then a bunch you have to get through and not lose. Acc play will be important for the kids to maintain focus and avoid bad losses to teams desperately hoping for us to be their ticket to the dance.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I may have brought this up before (or someone else) but the road in the ACC is going to be harder than in the Big East. More on campus arenas, tougher crowds, and a dearth of NBA arenas.

However that looks like its going to be offset by the overall shittiness of the league.

 

[jncuse]

werent they supposed to be a "dangerous" team in the acc this year? if we lose more than 2 games in this conference im gonna be disappointed.

To be fair, I would expect us to have a similar record in the Old Big East as well.

- We are a good team. We are not losing many in any conference.

- If the Old Big East had remained together, it would be having a down year as well. Who is really good in the Old Big East this year? Louisville without Behanan, Dieng, Siva is a couple tiers down. Nova has played well but are they sustainable? I don't believe UConn is an elite team - perhaps some think otherwise. In terms of other programs Georgetown, Notre Dame, Marquette who have been successful in recent years are taking a step back. It has some really bad bottom feeders this year as well.

As I mentioned in another thread, the Old BE would be slightly better down the middle, but overall neither conference right now is at the level we faced in prior years.

 

[texascpa]

Vermont

How long are we going to use the Vermont game as a proxy of possible failute? C'mon it was 8 years ago.