Turtledroppings.com – Maryland Football And Basketball Blog

I so wanted to use the phrase down the stretch they come, but it’s just a little too early for that.  But what I am going to do is another look at the ACC.  Ultimately it would be cool to look at each teams remaining schedule and try to project them out, but after Clemson lost to UVA yesterday and Duke losing to BC, I’m not about to put any of my predictions out in the public.  I think my humiliations should be kept private!  But regardless here is another snapshot of where we are today. 

We Wouldn’t Have a Dance Without Ya!

After some what of a rough start (what I wouldn’t give for what UNC calls a rough start), the Tarheels of North Carolina are right back where they need to be.  In first, but not just in 1st, but with a two game lead.  At 23-2 the expectations of UNC are so far above everyone elses that a 2 seed in the NCAA’s would be a disaster.  Sigh…

Up Next is Duke, as UNC showed the world, Duke is not on the same level as UNC, but for the sake of who is going to the NCAA’s from the ACC, they are all but a lock, so they get to go in this top category.  The thing about Duke that really kills me, isn’t that they beat us.  Fine, that happens, we can all move on, but when Duke plays in games that Maryland fans techincally should be hoping that they win (if you can ever bring yourself to cheer for them) they LOSE!  The can’t even screw up right.  And that’s why we hate them. 

With yesterday’s inexplicable loss to UVA, the Clemson Tigers have to be happy about where they are at this point in the season.  We have all seen this Tigers team parlay a 17-0 start into a NIT bid, but that isn’t going to happen this year.  Clemson is in, barring a…..no I am not going to do it.  The Tigers get in, they have had a great season and deserve to be dancing.  I think the biggest question surrounding them is just what seed they will be. 

By the way, if you wonder what makes great teams, between these 3 they have combined for 1 loss outside of the ACC.

The Turtle Droppings Vote of Confidience (or Kiss of Death)

These next few teams when all is said and done should be ok, but I just know somewhere in this group and the next, there is an epic collapse waiting to happen, it is just a matter of who. 

Leading off the 2nd level is Wake Forest.  I just can’t figure out these guys.  They should be head and shoulders above some of these teams they are tied with.  I am still sold on them because ultimately I think they are going to be just fine, in a way I could almost see them putting together a run to either go deep into the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament.  Wake has stumbled, but of the 2nd level teams, I feel they have the most upside.

Is it me or is it every year that Florida State is sitting on the bubble, some years are better than others, but most of the time they seem to exist in this NCAA Purgatory.  It must be hard on FSU B-ball fans.  Not that I have time to worry about the feelings of the Seminole faithful.  But FSU again appears to be right on the line.  At this moment I feel they are above the line, which makes our early season loss to them all the more painful.  If I had to pick, I’d say they get in, but this is based on today.  Who knows how FSU will finish up?

Heck I Don’t Know?

These guys may get or may not, and neither scenario would surprise me.  Also the complete collapse mentioned in the Vote of Confidience Section also applies here.

Virginia Tech doesn’t really have a bad resume at 6-4 and 16-8, but it isn’t sexy either.  When it comes to the NCAA’s you basically can’t give the committee any reason to not vote you in.   VT doesn’t have that black eye loss (think Morgan State) but while watching them at College Park on Saturday, they just didn’t look like a Tournament team.  Of course as a Maryland fan how should I know what a Tournament team looks like! (Ba-da-bum…..Thank you, I’ll be here all week, don’t forget to tip your waiters).  “A” material aside though, I think Tech has the upper hand because as mentioned earlier they lack the black eye game, and that could be the difference.

And that brings us to the Boston College Eagles, their win yesterday over Duke kicks them into this category.  It is a nice resume win, but like VT I just don’t think BC is all that good.  Maybe I should since they dealt us one of the years worst losses (A home L to a team that doesn’t reside in a state with “Carolina” in it’s name, (congratulations to Clemson for quailfying for that joke and making me remove the word “North”)).  All that being said, I like their chances much better than ours.

Hmmmm..I Don’t Think So

As a Maryland fan, I hate to admit this, but even after watching our most complete victory of the year, there are just too many ACC schools ahead of us in the standings.  We need to get to 8-8 to even begin the “Are we in” debate, and that requires stealing a win from UNC, Wake, Duke, or Clemson.  I will say that Wake and Clemson don’t seem nearly as invulnerable as they earlier in the year, but that is still a tough row to hoe, and it is assuming we win all the other games as well.  As a Terps fan are you willing to bet on that?

So You’re Saying There’s A Chance

To quote Dumb and Dumber, NC State is still techincally alive.  I mean they could win the ACC Tournament, or even finish the regular Conference Schedule 10-6, but I don’t see it happening.  I feel bad enough as a Terps fan hoping to get in, so I can’t imagine a team one game behind us in the standings feeling much better.  But who knows Wolfpack….who knows!

So Long, Fare Well, Aufedersehen, Good Bye

Did I just quote the sound of Music?  There goes our street cred.  Anyway, Miami has taken a turn for the worst.  At 3 games below .500 in conference play, in a Conference that has plenty of capable dance partners, the writing is on the wall for the Hurricanes (or Typhoons if you are reading this on the otherside of the international dateline).  Yes Terps fans, we blew a huge lead to a team now 3 games below .500 in the ACC.  Let that one digest for a few minutes.

Not even the greatest of spin masters could make me believe UVA has a shot.  They have already reached their 8th ACC loss of the season.  Sure they beat Clemson yesterday, but all that is going to do is add 3 minutes to the running time of UVA’s 2008-2009 “A Season of Hope” DVD (now on sale for .99$).  All UVA has to play for, is to be the roll of spoiler.  Considering they play Maryland the last game of the season, they may get to do just that.

What heck..Georgia Tech.  GT is actually better then UVA in my humble opinion…..which I am sure is great comfort to Yellow Jackets everywhere.  Sorry GT, maybe next year.

So there you have it.  A President’s Day look at the ACC……..Ah CRAP, I should have done a whole Presidents Day theme, oh well I screwed up.  Maybe next time I do a ranking like that.  I’m going to be kicking myself all day for this.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 9:02 am and is filed under Maryland Terps Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.