ACC Bracket Watch: Because We Can
By Joe Micik
Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
There’s more to college basketball season than merely lamenting how Boston College is under .500. We’re on the precipice of what is sure to be an exciting NCAA Tournament with a number of upsets and few dominant teams. Our expanding Atlantic Coast Conference is going to get several teams into the dance, and BC itself may have cost one of those teams a bid.
For the hell of it, we’ll look at all twelve of the current teams in the conference and what kind of seasons they’re having.
Locks
Miami Hurricanes
From the “Where The Hell Did This Come From?” File
One could easily have bought Miami improving this season and maybe making the tournament, but look: they’re going to be a #1 seed if nothing changes. The NCAA has devolved into a parody of itself but nonetheless still flings excrement at this university; the basketball team is providing somewhat of a needed diversion.
Duke Blue Devils
From the “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” File
Duke, a lock for the dance and a very high seed. Ho hum.
Most Likely
North Carolina Tar Heels
From the “BC Wishes Its “Down Years” Had 19-7 Records” File
UNC is going to be a somewhere-in-the-middle seed in the tourney in March and they’re probably not going to go very far given that this is not the best they’ve been recently, but the Heels are never short on talent.
North Carolina State Wolfpack
From the “I Still Loathe Scott Wood” File
Scott Wood is a professional Boston College killer, and he and his team will be back in the dance. Not as dominant as people thought, and will definitely not finish first in the ACC as predicted, but good enough.
Bubblicious
Maryland Terrapins
From the “Maybe We Should Have Scheduled Real Non-Conference Teams” File
Boston College just handed Maryland its worst loss by RPI of the season, and it came right after their best win. UMD’s non-conference strength of schedule is 294, their RPI is 69, and they’re now sub-.500 in the ACC. Tough call on them right now but after losing to BC, they’re probably “bubble but out.”
Virginia Cavaliers
From the “Thanks For Nothing, Old Dominion” File
UVA is in a very similar position to Maryland, except the Wahoos suffered a catastrophic loss against ODU earlier in the season. The Monarchs are easily one of the worst teams in the nation this year at 4-23. Right now, Virginia’s RPI is 76 and their SOS is 129. Tough call but I don’t know that I’d put them in the dance with that resume, either. If they’re in, they’re one of the last teams in.
Massively Overrated
Florida State Seminoles
From the “Remember That Time We Won The ACC?” File
FSU was the preseason #25 team in the nation, having just won the ACC Tournament in 2012. The Seminoles have been unimpressive this year at 14-12 (6-7) and will not be dancing unless they can put together back-to-back conference championships.
LOL
Clemson Tigers
From the “Our Football Team Scores More Points Than We Do” File
This is not the Clemson team of year’s past. When the Tigers have had offensive outages, they can get very ugly, and this group won’t be anywhere near the field of 68 this season.
Boston College Eagles
From the “It’s Going To Happen Eventually, Right?” File
It’s all so well documented on this site, but the optimism levels of the fanbase ebbs and flows based on the most recent game BC played. Right now, it’s near high tide after a solid win over Maryland and with Olivier Hanlan establishing himself as an ACC star. It goes without saying there will be no tournament for BC this year, but next year, it should be on the radar at least.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
From the “…No, It Probably Isn’t Going To” File
Wake Forest is a case study in what we don’t want BC to be. They’re in the third full season of their rebuild under Jeff Bzdelik and they still stink. Granted, not as much as in year #1, but still light years away from being relevant again.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
From the “Welp, We’re Better Than Wake Forest” File
Brian Gregory has the Jackets moving in the right direction after a 20-loss season last year. Like the other teams down here, nowhere near relevance, though.
Virginia Tech Hokies
From the “At Least There’s No Bubble Letdown This Year” File
On Selection Sunday, Seth Greenberg and his Hokies would get ritually screwed out of a bid over and over, but this year, there’s no Greenberg and no drama. VT fans know exactly where this group stands: they’re awful. Eight losses in a row as of this date.