For perhaps the first time in Miami history, Canes fans were excited to head to diddukewin.com and find a green caps lock YES. It’s not often the Blue Devils find themselves being rooted for in South Florida, but on Saturday their victory propelled the Canes into the Quarterfinals of the ACC tournament, while giving the Canes a 3rd place finish in the ACC.
Yes, you read that right. The Miami Hurricanes finished 3rd place in the ACC. The team who has won their last 4 games by a combined 8 points, lost 3 straight games from February 10-17, lost by 10 to 13th place Georgia Tech, and has been without their best player for over two months, just finished ahead of Clemson and North Carolina. The only teams ahead of them in the final ACC standings are Virginia and Duke who are both ranked in the top 5. For as frustrating as this team has been at numerous times throughout the season, can we just take a moment to appreciate what they still somehow managed to accomplish? Did you do it? Good. Because now it’s time to move on to business.
The ACC Tournament gets underway tomorrow in Brooklyn, New York and the Canes have the privilege of enjoying the first two days of games without having to break a sweat. The action begins at Noon eastern with Boston College vs Georgia Tech, but the Canes will be most focused on the nightcap between Syracuse and Wake Forest. Syracuse comes into the tournament as the 11 seed and is fresh off a win over Clemson. While Wake could certainly put up a fight against the Orange, Syracuse simply has too much to play for and has been playing well of late.
Should Syracuse win as expected, it would set up a contest with UNC on Wednesday night. While some Canes fans might be rooting for the easiest road to the championship possible, it is actually better for the Canes if Syracuse advances to take on the Tar Heels instead of Wake. As of this morning, Joe Lunardi has the Canes as a 6 seed in the NCAA tournament. Just two weeks ago the Canes were on the dreaded 8 line, but after 4 straight wins they find themselves seemingly safely out of harm’s way. However, should Lunardi’s projection be off, and the committee see the Canes as more of a 7 seed at the moment, a loss to Wake Forest could be devastating. Yes, that is a lot of if’s, and Wake getting past Syracuse AND UNC seems incredibly unlikely, but it could happen.
But in the more likely scenario that Syracuse advances to take on the Heels, the Canes are in a win-win situation. If Syracuse were to pull off the upset against UNC and then pull off the upset against the Canes, the Orange would be safely in the tournament, and the loss wouldn’t hurt the Canes much, unless another team in another conference went on an incredible run. Plus, a contest against the Orange, means a chance for the Canes to redeem their home loss to Cuse back on February 17th, and the Orange will be playing their 3rd game in 3 days, which makes a Canes victory seem all the more likely (Somewhere Gerry McNamara is having a good laugh).
Should chalk hold true and UNC advance to the Quarters to take on the Canes, the Canes will surely be underdogs despite their victory in Chapel Hill a week ago. The Canes (mainly Ja’Quan Newton) stole the Senior night celebration from the Tar Heels and they will surely be out for blood in a rematch. But this is fine for the Canes. A second win over UNC could arguably move them up another line in the NCAA tournament (not that the 5 line is an ideal location), and a loss to the 12th ranked team in the country, even in blow out fashion, shouldn’t do much to impact the Canes ranking in a negative way.
In reality, Duke did the Canes the biggest favor imaginable. They helped them avoid any chance at a letdown game against a far inferior opponent that could plague the minds of the selection committee come Sunday. But how far can the Canes realistically go in the ACC tournament?
Bonzie Colson is back for the Fighting Irish and Notre Dame is in desperate need of some marquee wins to get on the right side of the bubble. They will have no problem taking down Pittsburgh, and their second-round matchup against Virginia Tech will be an absolute must watch. The Irish will be on a mission but Virginia Tech is no slouch. The winner will take on the Blue Devils in a game where anything can happen.
Maybe, I’m giving Notre Dame too much credit, but Colson is THAT good and can completely change the image of a game if he’s healthy. And remember the Irish have gone to back to back Elite 8s. The Hokies have already taken down Duke this season, but if Duke plays to their potential they should be able to beat either team.
For the Canes, the best matchup is probably the Hokies. They’ve beaten Virginia Tech twice this season, and though both games have been close, and it’s very hard to beat a team 3 times, this is a team that the Canes could beat every time they play them. Notre Dame is scary because of Colson, even if they are playing their 4th game in 4 days. But realistically the Canes would be squaring off against Duke in a revenge game. The Canes had Duke beat in Coral Gables, before imploding. Larranaga has a way of getting the Canes ready for games against UNC and Duke, so maybe this bracket is set up perfectly for the Canes to get to the final.
Should that happen, they will almost surely be taking on Virginia. Louisville and Florida State both had chances in the regular season to take down the Cavaliers, and though some would think that means they have a favorable matchup, it’s unlikely they’ll find the best team in the country playing that off again. NC State and Clemson don’t matchup well against the Cavaliers as proven by their regular season performances. Virginia absolutely embarrassed the Tigers in a 61-36 thromping in which the Tigers scored 13 second half points.
It seems that the teams that can challenge Virginia are all on Miami’s side of the bracket. So should the Canes get to the final they will have a chance to cut down the nets after taking down the top ranked team in the country. What seed line would that put the Canes on? The committee is unpredictable with how much they value conference tournament runs, as they have been inconsistent in the past, but wins over UNC, Duke and Virginia in 3 days, would surely shoot them up the seed lines. Possibly as high as a 3? It might sound crazy, but it could happen.
But the question is: can the Canes actually take down Virginia? Based on what we saw in Coral Gables, it doesn’t seem likely… but it’s March now. Anything can happen
Canes Prediction: Quarterfinal loss to UNC. I hate to say it, but the Tar Heels are going to be angry.
ACC Tournament Prediction: Duke. I don’t like typing this either, but this team can score against anyone, and if they play up to their talent there probably isn’t a better team in the country.
Yes, you read that right. The Miami Hurricanes finished 3rd place in the ACC. The team who has won their last 4 games by a combined 8 points, lost 3 straight games from February 10-17, lost by 10 to 13th place Georgia Tech, and has been without their best player for over two months, just finished ahead of Clemson and North Carolina. The only teams ahead of them in the final ACC standings are Virginia and Duke who are both ranked in the top 5. For as frustrating as this team has been at numerous times throughout the season, can we just take a moment to appreciate what they still somehow managed to accomplish? Did you do it? Good. Because now it’s time to move on to business.
The ACC Tournament gets underway tomorrow in Brooklyn, New York and the Canes have the privilege of enjoying the first two days of games without having to break a sweat. The action begins at Noon eastern with Boston College vs Georgia Tech, but the Canes will be most focused on the nightcap between Syracuse and Wake Forest. Syracuse comes into the tournament as the 11 seed and is fresh off a win over Clemson. While Wake could certainly put up a fight against the Orange, Syracuse simply has too much to play for and has been playing well of late.
Should Syracuse win as expected, it would set up a contest with UNC on Wednesday night. While some Canes fans might be rooting for the easiest road to the championship possible, it is actually better for the Canes if Syracuse advances to take on the Tar Heels instead of Wake. As of this morning, Joe Lunardi has the Canes as a 6 seed in the NCAA tournament. Just two weeks ago the Canes were on the dreaded 8 line, but after 4 straight wins they find themselves seemingly safely out of harm’s way. However, should Lunardi’s projection be off, and the committee see the Canes as more of a 7 seed at the moment, a loss to Wake Forest could be devastating. Yes, that is a lot of if’s, and Wake getting past Syracuse AND UNC seems incredibly unlikely, but it could happen.
But in the more likely scenario that Syracuse advances to take on the Heels, the Canes are in a win-win situation. If Syracuse were to pull off the upset against UNC and then pull off the upset against the Canes, the Orange would be safely in the tournament, and the loss wouldn’t hurt the Canes much, unless another team in another conference went on an incredible run. Plus, a contest against the Orange, means a chance for the Canes to redeem their home loss to Cuse back on February 17th, and the Orange will be playing their 3rd game in 3 days, which makes a Canes victory seem all the more likely (Somewhere Gerry McNamara is having a good laugh).
Should chalk hold true and UNC advance to the Quarters to take on the Canes, the Canes will surely be underdogs despite their victory in Chapel Hill a week ago. The Canes (mainly Ja’Quan Newton) stole the Senior night celebration from the Tar Heels and they will surely be out for blood in a rematch. But this is fine for the Canes. A second win over UNC could arguably move them up another line in the NCAA tournament (not that the 5 line is an ideal location), and a loss to the 12th ranked team in the country, even in blow out fashion, shouldn’t do much to impact the Canes ranking in a negative way.
In reality, Duke did the Canes the biggest favor imaginable. They helped them avoid any chance at a letdown game against a far inferior opponent that could plague the minds of the selection committee come Sunday. But how far can the Canes realistically go in the ACC tournament?
Bonzie Colson is back for the Fighting Irish and Notre Dame is in desperate need of some marquee wins to get on the right side of the bubble. They will have no problem taking down Pittsburgh, and their second-round matchup against Virginia Tech will be an absolute must watch. The Irish will be on a mission but Virginia Tech is no slouch. The winner will take on the Blue Devils in a game where anything can happen.
Maybe, I’m giving Notre Dame too much credit, but Colson is THAT good and can completely change the image of a game if he’s healthy. And remember the Irish have gone to back to back Elite 8s. The Hokies have already taken down Duke this season, but if Duke plays to their potential they should be able to beat either team.
For the Canes, the best matchup is probably the Hokies. They’ve beaten Virginia Tech twice this season, and though both games have been close, and it’s very hard to beat a team 3 times, this is a team that the Canes could beat every time they play them. Notre Dame is scary because of Colson, even if they are playing their 4th game in 4 days. But realistically the Canes would be squaring off against Duke in a revenge game. The Canes had Duke beat in Coral Gables, before imploding. Larranaga has a way of getting the Canes ready for games against UNC and Duke, so maybe this bracket is set up perfectly for the Canes to get to the final.
Should that happen, they will almost surely be taking on Virginia. Louisville and Florida State both had chances in the regular season to take down the Cavaliers, and though some would think that means they have a favorable matchup, it’s unlikely they’ll find the best team in the country playing that off again. NC State and Clemson don’t matchup well against the Cavaliers as proven by their regular season performances. Virginia absolutely embarrassed the Tigers in a 61-36 thromping in which the Tigers scored 13 second half points.
It seems that the teams that can challenge Virginia are all on Miami’s side of the bracket. So should the Canes get to the final they will have a chance to cut down the nets after taking down the top ranked team in the country. What seed line would that put the Canes on? The committee is unpredictable with how much they value conference tournament runs, as they have been inconsistent in the past, but wins over UNC, Duke and Virginia in 3 days, would surely shoot them up the seed lines. Possibly as high as a 3? It might sound crazy, but it could happen.
But the question is: can the Canes actually take down Virginia? Based on what we saw in Coral Gables, it doesn’t seem likely… but it’s March now. Anything can happen
Canes Prediction: Quarterfinal loss to UNC. I hate to say it, but the Tar Heels are going to be angry.
ACC Tournament Prediction: Duke. I don’t like typing this either, but this team can score against anyone, and if they play up to their talent there probably isn’t a better team in the country.
