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Before I get into the Terps, I just want to say that today was my first 100% Snow Day, not Liberal Leave, not come in late, but pure 100% Snowday, since high school.  Even in the Presidents Day Storm (Click here to read an article on that very subject written by my dad President\’s Day Snowstorm 2003) I had Liberal Leave that Tuesday.  Sure our court hadn’t seen a snowplow yet, but that didn’t keep us from having to use our own leave. 

Of course, we aren’t here to talk about that.  We are coming off an exciting win over UNC.  Chris has already done a great job recapping that, so we are going to move into the big picture.  I am going to take a look at how the conference is shaping up at this, just about half-way point. 

(Thanks to theacc.com for the standings graphic)

The True Contenders:

Duke, Maryland, and Wake Forest all have legitimate shots at the regular season ACC Title.  Duke currently has a game in the win column over Maryland and a full game over Wake.  However, expect this picture to be a little different by next week as the Terps travel to Durham for their long awaited battle in front of the Cameron Crazies.  While the Terps are battling UVA at home and Duke on the Road, the Blue Devils will be facing UNC.  Normally they say “Throw out the records when these teams meet”.  I hope that is true, because we really need a Tar Heel win.  The biggest winner in this is Wake who this week will be home to lowly BC, and a falling off Georgia Tech. 

The Down But Not Out’s:

The Hokies, Wahoo’s, Seminoles, and Yellow Jackets round out this categorie.  Virginia Tech, who has the second best overall record amongst ACC teams I think has the best chance to rise out of this category into the next, if one of the 3 above them fall.  They will face a very beatable NC State, though that one will be on the road, it really should be one the Hokies win if they want to go to the next level in the ACC.  They finish the week as the Saturday night game against UVA.  If the Blacksburg Students aren’t up for that, well I don’t know what to tell you.

As mentioned the Cavaliers will be in a hostile environment come Saturday night (I originally wrote that sentence with the word hostel which totally would have changed the meaning! Are the Wahoo’s going backpacking across Eurpoe?).  Anyway, typo’s aside, UVA will face the Terps Midweek.  I think it goes without saying we will find out a lot about UVA in the next 7 days. 

Florida State is up next.  I put them in the can also content section, but having lost twice to Maryland it is hard for me to imagine them making a run, especially considering they would not have the tie breaker against us.  The FSU schedule for this week, is a classic good news bad news deal.  Starting with the bad, the Seminoles travel to Little John to take on the Tigers.  If Clemson plays them anywhere near as tough as they played us there, that will be bad news for FSU.  The Good news is that they finish the week against BC at home.  Now there are no easy games in the ACC, but FSU can’t lose to BC on their own court, right?  I look for FSU to go 1-1 this week, which tells us very little about the direction they maybe heading.

And finally for those who still have a chance, we have Georgia Tech.  GT was flying high, but then Duke came to town (technically I guess GT went to Duke, but that ruins the cliche).  They also just barely squeaked by last place NC State despite playing in Atlanta.  Not the message a contending team should be sending, but then again a win is a win.  The road to the top isn’t going to be easy for the Yellow Jackets as they have to travel to Coral Gables to face Miami (winnable but tough) and then hit the road again at Wake Forest.  A bad week could make them go from ranked to an after thought pretty quickly.

The Cornered Animal:

You know what they say, an animal is most dangerous when it’s backed into a corner and has nothing to lose.  I think that is the perfect analogy for the Clemson Tigers.  I am shocked, especially after they shut us down, to see Clemson coming in at 4-5.  They are one below .500 team I don’t ever want to see again.  I still think this team is dangerous and can make noise in the ACC Tourney, but they need to make a move soon.  This week the Tigers host both Florida Schools, FSU mid week, and Miami on the weekend.  If it isn’t a Sunshine sweep, it may be time to accept the Tigers for who they are.  I personally think they will win both and climb right back into the mix.

Thanks for Coming Out:

These teams are done: BC, UNC, Miami, and NC State.  That’s right UNC is done. Enjoy this moment because we don’t see it much, but as Maryland was clearing the bench against the Heels, the fans started to chant N.I.T.  Stupid Terps fans, don’t you guys know you need to have a winning record to make the NIT?  UNC is very close to not having that.  They are 13-10 and play Duke this week.  They finish up the weekend against last place NC State, so that could stop the bleeding.  By the way both of those games are at home for the Heels.  A place they haven’t been since early last week.

Boston College is also done.  They are also in serious danger of finishing below .500 overall.  In fact at 12-11 with nothing but ACC games to go, it could be all but assured.  BC will try to find new life this week against Wake Forest tomorrow on the road (Don’t see it happening Eagles), and then at FSU on Valentines Day. 

Miami is up next, the Cane’s have only scratched out 2 ACC wins to this point, but because they are undefeated outside of conference, they are still at a respectabl 16-7.  Keeping that overall record respectable is going to be tough however.  The Canes will have Georgia Tech at home, followed by a road trip up to Clemson.  At 2-7 in conference play, even if the Canes win one of those, they aren’t going anywhere.

And Lastly NC State.  The Wolfpack have been playing well at home, but not so much on the road.  NC State is another school that is dangerously close to finishing the season with an overall losing record.  They are at 14-10 but I could see them dipping below that line.  This week won’t be any easier for the Wolfpack as they will face VT at home and UNC on the road.  For now all that is left to play for is not getting stuck with that 12 seed come conference tournament time. 

So this is how we look at the mid-way point.  A lot of basketball left to be played, but for some schools, well not enough.  I am pretty confidient the overall champ will come from those top 3, they seem to be playing well, and creating separation from the pack at about the time an eventual champ would be creating separation, but we shall see. 

So for those of you off of work today, go play in the snow, go watch a movie, go do something fun.  Because for me, snow days don’t come around very often.  Kind of like UNC and NIT chants!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 12:00 pm 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.