The Next Play: Men’s, women’s ACC tournament games, Canes homestand highlight the week
Well, that was fun.
THE game is over, and, more importantly for the rest of the ACC basketball world, the brackets are now set for the latest installment of the ACC Tournament.
Sure, yes, it’s being played in Brooklyn (that is the heart of ACC country right? No?), but it’s still a spectacle, and it’s still going to provide the requisite drama.
Yes, Duke is the top seed. The Blue Devils have certainly looked better playing away from Cameron this season, and are the overwhelming favorite at this week’s tournament.
But it’s funny what a little extra motivation can do for a team that might be playing for its NCAA tournament life. Those bubble teams — those that know they need to make a deep conference tourney run (or avoid an early exit) tend to play with a little extra fervor. Such is life for, well, the rest of the ACC. Latest bracket projections had Duke the only favored seed in an NCAA first-round game. No other ACC team is better than a No. 9 seed in the big tournament.
Wake Forest is trending up, and could perhaps jump to an 8- or a 7-seed with a spectacular ACC run. And, of course, any team not currently listed as “in” would automatically qualify if they were to produce the unthinkable Cinderella story and win the ACC tournament outright.
Hey, it’s happened before, and caused plenty of consternation among bubble teams.
How UNC responds coming out of the pressure cooker that was this past weekend; how Wake Forest acquits itself on a bigger stage after making a surprise run to the top end of the standings this season; how Duke handles being the overwhelming favorite; and how Miami and Notre Dame play with respect to the NCAA tourney chances are all major plot lines to which we’ll be glued this week.
Plus, which team(s) will play spoiler? Florida State has the chops — it beat Duke, after all. Syracuse can cause trouble with its zone defense, and oh yeah, the tournament is in New York. And Virginia and Virginia Tech have been tough outs for the top teams all season long.
Buckle up, basketball fans. Here we go.
Speaking of basketball
While we’re all winding down from Duke-UNC, and winding up for the ACC men’s tourney this week, let’s not forget the ACC women’s championship.
Sunday at noon, a full week before the brackets will be announced, the ACC women;s finale will tip off in the more traditional confines in Greensboro.
All season long, the ACC has had a solid presence in the AP Top 25, and when the tourney started, six ACC teams were among the teams listed. In the latest bracketology, all six of those teams — plus Miami as one of the last four in — are projected to the field.
With a week off this week between the ACC final and selection Sunday, and another few days off after that before playing again, there’s legitimate concern of rust before the tourney starts. There’s also the mentality at play that there is plenty of time to rest, so there won’t be any reason for the teams in Greensboro to hold anything back in Sunday’s finale.
Buckle up. Again.
On the ice
The Carolina Hurricanes are playing a host of home games this week, with a rare three-day break thrown in.
The Canes will host the expansion Seattle Kraken on Sunday, who will arrive with former Canes GM Ron Francis at the helm, and former Canes play-by-play voice John Forslund behind the mic.
The league-leading Colorado Avalanche and the always-tough Philadelphia Flyers round out the week’s home slate on Thursday and Saturday.
On the hardwood
Eight high school basketball teams will be crowned champions this week when each of the four classifications in NCHSAA play hand out their boys and girls state titles on Saturday across a pair of venues in Chapel Hill and Raleigh.
