ACC Basketball ain’t dead yet.
Saturday might have been the turning point of the season for several teams and the Atlantic Coast Conference, which has been panned as the weakest in years and maybe in ACC history.
The day before, Joe Lunardi came out with his latest projections for the 2022 NCAA tournament. A bit ridiculous for the second week in January, but I guess that’s what ESPN hired Joey Brackets for.
In his latest, Lunardi had eight teams each from the Big Ten and Big East and seven from the SEC, which looks like the best league to me, and Big 12. Down below that was five from the ACC, long considered best in hoops.
By day’s end, Joey was going brackets. Seven top 20 teams lost including first seeds Kansas and Duke. Carolina, a No. 9 seed in his Midwest region, slapped a second-half blowout on Virginia, which wasn’t included at all. Not up to its usual standard, UVa no longer has UNC in a headlock after seven straight wins over the Tar Heels dating back to 2017.
Caleb Love looks to dribble past a defender as UNC hosted Virginia on January 8. The Tar Heels beat the Cavaliers 74-58, snapping a seven-game losing streak to UVA. (Photo via Todd Melet.)
Their sudden reversion to passing the basketball and playing defense like they had only done sporadically this season gave them an 11-4 record and an upward arrow in trends. The next three ACC schools listed in JB’s field were Wake Forest (11), Louisville (11) and Virginia Tech (12).
By about 10 pm Saturday, Duke dropped its first ACC game and second of the season to surprisingly spectacular Miami, which notched its eighth straight win and will surely be on Lunardi’s board this week. Before tipoff, an average ACC fan maybe couldn’t have named a single player in the U’s lineup revamped by the transfer portal and the extra COVID season.
If this trend continues, the ACC’s “balance” could work out to its advantage rather than its detriment. Miami is now 5-0 and leads the standings, followed by one-loss Louisville, Carolina, Notre Dame and Duke.
As for the Tar Heels’ impressive 40 minutes of teamwork on both ends of the floor, it wasn’t just the Mondo Burger man, whose career highs double doubled his way into the UNC record book. The Heels stretched the floor, making it hard for the ‘Hoos to guard Brady Manek and Caleb Love.
You don’t beat any Virginia team without both sharing and protecting the ball. That they did in perhaps the fastest ACC game (1 hour, 45 minutes) of recent memory.
Photo via AP Photo/Gerry Broome.
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