In watching and reading a lot of the pre-tournament pieces and articles more than I usually do, two things jumped out at me:
1. The tournament seems to come in second (to the SuperBowl) in the number of experts that seemingly appear out of nowhere and purport to have valid opinions on the brackets and various tournament teams. While I certainly don't mind people like Jay Bilas and Seth Greenburg sharing their thoughts when they have spent the past several months covering the NCAA exclusively, is it really crucial that we are told what "bold predictions" are being made by some of these hacks? Myron Metcalf at ESPN is perhaps the worst. I have unfortunately read a few of his gems, and it is as if the guy hasn't even watched basketball at all this year. (Apparently, NONE of his predictions came true last year, yet he's back at it this year.) Meanwhile, something significant like Virginia losing De'Andre Hunter for the entire tourney occurs, and it barely gets a mention and virtually no analysis of how that might affect UVA's draw. It drives me crazy.
2. For a league that has had a pretty dominant year (#1 team in the nation, 3 ranked in the top 10 in the AP/RPI/BPI, 5 ranked in the top 25, etc.), it seems to me that many people are significantly discounting the ACC. I'm not sure why, but I would guess it's because UVA is not a **** pick and has a history of underperforming in the Big Dance, and neither Duke or UNC were able to earn a regular season or ACC tournament title -- so are not seen as dominant. Miami is predicted by many (most?) to go down to Loyola-Chicago, and Clemson appears to be the most popular pick in the entire bracket to be upset (by NM State). Even though VT, FSU and NC State are in the dreaded 8-9 spot, they all seem to have first round games that are at least a toss up. From what I've seen this year, Syracuse is the only team that I think is completely vulnerable this year and doesn't deserve to be in the tournament -- we will see tonight. Meanwhile, teams like Michigan State (which went 12-2 in its last 14 games, including beating a great Purdue team by 3 at home, and winning 11! games against non-NCAA tournament teams, before losing to Michigan in its conference tourney), and Arizona (who plays in a league where the best defense - Utah - is ranked #99 in NCAA defensive efficiency, but is matched up in the South against the #1 (Cincinnati) and #2 (UVA) defenses in the nation) are touted as more likely to make the Final Four.
In any event, what the above means is that I want to see our Canes, and the entire ACC, come out on absolute fire over the next four days, blow teams out, and show just how good the ACC is this year!
Go Canes!
1. The tournament seems to come in second (to the SuperBowl) in the number of experts that seemingly appear out of nowhere and purport to have valid opinions on the brackets and various tournament teams. While I certainly don't mind people like Jay Bilas and Seth Greenburg sharing their thoughts when they have spent the past several months covering the NCAA exclusively, is it really crucial that we are told what "bold predictions" are being made by some of these hacks? Myron Metcalf at ESPN is perhaps the worst. I have unfortunately read a few of his gems, and it is as if the guy hasn't even watched basketball at all this year. (Apparently, NONE of his predictions came true last year, yet he's back at it this year.) Meanwhile, something significant like Virginia losing De'Andre Hunter for the entire tourney occurs, and it barely gets a mention and virtually no analysis of how that might affect UVA's draw. It drives me crazy.
2. For a league that has had a pretty dominant year (#1 team in the nation, 3 ranked in the top 10 in the AP/RPI/BPI, 5 ranked in the top 25, etc.), it seems to me that many people are significantly discounting the ACC. I'm not sure why, but I would guess it's because UVA is not a **** pick and has a history of underperforming in the Big Dance, and neither Duke or UNC were able to earn a regular season or ACC tournament title -- so are not seen as dominant. Miami is predicted by many (most?) to go down to Loyola-Chicago, and Clemson appears to be the most popular pick in the entire bracket to be upset (by NM State). Even though VT, FSU and NC State are in the dreaded 8-9 spot, they all seem to have first round games that are at least a toss up. From what I've seen this year, Syracuse is the only team that I think is completely vulnerable this year and doesn't deserve to be in the tournament -- we will see tonight. Meanwhile, teams like Michigan State (which went 12-2 in its last 14 games, including beating a great Purdue team by 3 at home, and winning 11! games against non-NCAA tournament teams, before losing to Michigan in its conference tourney), and Arizona (who plays in a league where the best defense - Utah - is ranked #99 in NCAA defensive efficiency, but is matched up in the South against the #1 (Cincinnati) and #2 (UVA) defenses in the nation) are touted as more likely to make the Final Four.
In any event, what the above means is that I want to see our Canes, and the entire ACC, come out on absolute fire over the next four days, blow teams out, and show just how good the ACC is this year!
Go Canes!