Hated it so much that she would occasionally offer to pay my way through law school or any other kind of graduate program that might lead to my getting what she considered to be a “real” job.

She never understood my career choice, probably because from a perspective forged in the Old Country, she believed that attending ballgames was something you did in your spare time. Not as a full-time vocation.

It also didn’t help that my job gave her little to come back with during her weekly mahjong games when her friends began bragging about their grandchildren who were doctors, lawyers and accountants.

And things only got worse when both of my younger brothers followed in my misguided footsteps and became sportswriters, too. Even the one with a computer science degree from Georgia Tech.

Four-plus decades later, I still feel a twinge of guilt that I let poor Grandma Ethel down. But I have never once regretted my decision to do what I’ve done for a living.

I’ve never really worked a day in my adult life.

I’ve had the good fortune to interview some of the most iconic personalities in popular culture, attend games and events others have paid top dollar to see and had a front-row seat, sometimes literally, to history.

I was in the stands at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run and was courtside when both Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski became the winningest coach in college basketball history.

I’ve heard a roar so loud you could actually feel it as I watched in disbelief from the top row of bleachers adjacent to the 16th green at Augusta as Tiger Woods’ famous chip shot hung on the lip, then finally dropped in to clinch his third Masters title. 

I’ve had my laptop crushed by Grayson Allen, experienced the joy of seeing the Stanley Cup and the Lombardi Trophy presented, and felt the heartbreak of reporting on Len Bias’s demise from the hospital where he died 2 days after becoming a first-round NBA Draft pick.

And yet for all those Forest Gump-like brushes with greatness, they’re not what I remember best as I look back at my body of work. Rather, it’s the fascinating stories I’ve had the privilege of telling about athletes whose names you’ve never heard.

People like Phil Shirey, a recovering addict who resumed his football career at a Maryland community college and used the self-belief he gained in rehab to convince his coach he could make a game-winning 45-yard field goal as time expired. Then did. Even though he’d never attempted one in a game before and never made another one after.

Or brothers Terrence and Curtis Hunt, who still found the time and energy to pursue their passion for playing high school football despite having to spend 14 exhausting hours a day in the sun cropping tobacco on their family’s rural North Carolina farm.

It used to bother me that I was never able to fulfill my goal of writing for my hometown paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, or any other major publication that would have given me the national exposure I craved until finally hooking on with Saturday Road and Saturday Down South 3 years ago. 

Unfortunately, I sometimes vented that frustration in ways for which I’m not proud. I didn’t always enjoy the journey as much as I should have now that I’ve reached the destination.

But thanks to people who never stopped believing in me (you know who you are) and with the gift of retrospect, I now realize how important local journalism is to the communities it serves. And how fortunate I’ve been to play a role in helping those in Beaufort, S.C., Annapolis, Md., Fayetteville, Wilmington and other places around North Carolina stay informed and entertained.

It’s a reward far greater than any of the plaques and honors I’ve received.

Now it’s time to say goodbye. 

I’ve spent too many holidays working and too many anniversaries on the road covering Final Fours than at home where I should have been. Although I will continue to do some freelance work and begin work on another book, I am stepping away from the daily grind and retiring.

I’ve always heard athletes say that they know when it’s time to call it quits. That either their mind or their body – or both – tell them that they’ve had enough. My moment came at the ACC Tournament in March when I received the Skeeter Francis Award for lifetime contributions to coverage of the conference.

It felt like the perfect opportunity to leave on a high note, as that noted philosopher George Constanza once said.

It’s been a heck of a run, one for which I think even Grandma Ethel would be proud to brag about to her friends.

Begrudgingly, of course.

–30–

The post Going to ballgames has been fun, but the time has come to leave on a high note appeared first on Saturday Down South.

As he should have been.

Florida wouldn’t have even been in the national championship game, let alone win the title, without its star guard. 

Clayton rescued the Gators from almost certain second-round elimination with a late flurry to beat UConn. Then again with an even more dramatic comeback in the Elite Eight against Texas Tech before taking down SEC rival Auburn with a 34-point performance for the ages in Saturday’s national semifinal.

Clayton’s shoulders were strong enough to carry his team to the precipice of a championship. But they finally gave in under the weight of expectation and Houston’s suffocating defense.

Good thing teammate Will Richard was there to pick him and Florida up when both needed the lift.

While Clayton was being held without a point for the first 25 minutes and without a field goal for the first 32:15, Richard kept the Gators within hailing distance of the gritty Cougars. He scored 14 of his 18 points and made all 4 of Florida’s 3-pointers in the first half, then added 4 clutch free throws down the stretch while recording a steal to preserve a 1-point lead with 26 seconds to go.

Clayton may have the clear choice as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, but Richard was by far the most valuable player in the Gators’ 65-63 championship-clinching victory at Alamodome.

“We have multiple guys on this team that can go. Tonight was one of those nights with Will,” said Clayton who still managed to make an impact by heating up late and finishing with 11 points. “He showed it multiple times this year. You never know whose night it’s going to be and we showed that as a team.”

Richard, a 6-4 senior who has played the past 3 seasons at Florida after starting at Belmont, has been a key contributor throughout the season. He’s averaged 13.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

But he’s taken a back seat to backcourt mates Clayton and Alijah Martin in the NCAA Tournament by going just 1-for-6 from the floor against Auburn and 2-for-6 against Texas Tech, and missing all 5 of his 3-point attempts in the Elite Eight and national semifinal wins. 

Maybe he was just saving his buckets for when his team needed them?

And, man, did the Gators need them on Monday.

With Clayton and Martin being blanketed by the Cougars’ nation’s best defense, combining to make only 2 of their 13 attempts from beyond the arc, Richard didn’t have to be told that it was go-time.

Instinct kicked in and he almost singlehandedly kept his team within striking distance until it could manufacture what has become its trademark second-half tournament comeback. Not only did he lead Florida in scoring, he also had the most rebounds with 8 to go along with 2 assists, 2 steals and a block.

It’s fitting that Richard played such a key role in Saturday’s championship victory. He was the first player to commit to Todd Golden after the coach arrived from San Francisco in 2022.

“I was just trying to make plays to help us stay in the game, help us give ourselves the best chance to win,” Richard said. “They were guarding Walter and other guys pretty hard. Walter still had 7 assists. Even when they were guarding him so hard, I feel like he made plays to help the team win. It was just a good job by the team staying aggressive throughout that.”

Being down by as many as 12 in the second half against a team built around its defensive prowess – a team that had just beat Duke 2 nights earlier – might have been a losing proposition for most teams.

Not the Gators.

They trailed with 3 minutes or less on the clock in 3 of their 5 previous tournament games and somehow found ways to win. While Clayton and Denzel Aberdeen did most of the heavy lifting with this comeback, Richard did his part as well by hitting 4 clutch free throws down the stretch.

It took until the final 46 seconds for Florida to finally take the lead – its first since the score was 8-6 just before the first TV timeout. 

“Pulling out those (previous) games definitely gives you confidence,” Richard said. “It’s a testament to who we are as a team. I feel like we’re going to fight until the end and do whatever it takes to give ourselves a chance to win.”

No matter who ends up getting to take home the Most Outstanding Player trophy.

The post Walter Clayton was a deserving Most Outstanding Player, but Will Richard was Florida’s championship game MVP appeared first on Saturday Down South.

There just won’t be a Flagg flying when or if it happens.

Barring an unlikely turn of events in the next few days, Cooper Flagg’s expected 1-and-done career with the Blue Devils came to a premature end on Saturday with a stunning 70-67 loss to Houston in the national semifinals at Alamodome.

The immediate image of Flagg’s final shot clanging off the front of the rim in the final seconds to seal the Blue Devils’ fate will eventually be erased by the lasting legacy of an award-winning season that managed to live up to – and maybe even exceed – expectations that at one time seemed unrealistic.

Even though the wound of coming so close to the national championship without having anything to show for it is still painfully fresh, it’s never too soon to put Flagg’s performance into perspective and evaluate his place in Duke basketball‘s storied history.

The projected No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft has been called a unicorn, a 1-of-1, a generational talent and any number of other superlatives on his way to winning the Wooden Award as the nation’s top college player.

But it would be unfair to judge him against Christian Laettner, JJ Redick, Jay Williams and others who spent an entire career with the Blue Devils, growing and improving with each season until they became finished products. 

A much more accurate pursuit would be determining his place among the Who’s Who of Duke’s previous 1-and-done stars.

Specifically, Zion Williamson, who like Flagg generated widespread media hype, stuffed stat sheets, overcame a foot injury and earned an ACC championship ring, but fell short of carrying his team to a national title.

Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft, was a much more charismatic personality, to the point that ESPN eventually introduced a dedicated “Zion Cam” to follow his every movement both on the court and on the bench.

He put up slightly better numbers in 2019, averaging 22.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while shooting 68% from the floor compared to Flagg’s 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 48% accuracy. But Flagg is a much more polished talent at this point in his career. And he’s just as likely to make SportsCenter’s top 10 with a pass, steal or rebound as he is with a rim-shaking dunk.

And while, like Williamson, Flagg wasn’t able to help the Blue Devils raise that sixth banner, he at least got them to a Final Four before falling short. Duke was eliminated 1 round earlier, by Michigan State in the Elite Eight, in 2019.

The other factor that sets Flagg apart, not just from Williamson but previous 1-and-done standouts including fellow No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero in 2022, ACC Player of the Year Marvin Bagley III in 2018 and 2015 national champion Jahlil Okafor, Jabari Parker in 2014 and Brandon Ingram in 2016, is his impact on the direction of the program.

As the first great player of the post-Coach K era, his contribution to Jon Scheyer’s first Final Four has served as a bridge between the past and future of Duke basketball and is a tangible sign that the seamless transition from old to new is nearly complete.

And he’s done it as a teenager who would still be in high school if he hadn’t reclassified and arrived at Duke a year early.

“To have the season he’s had, how hard he plays, the highlights … all those things speak for themselves,” Scheyer said. “His energy is contagious for our team. He’s an amazing leader. Everything he does has taken our program to a new height this year.”

Just not to the highest rung on the ladder from which the national championship nets will be cut down on Monday.

That omission from his résumé is fodder for another debate.

Was the best 1-and-done player in Duke history a member of the best Blue Devils’ team not to win a national title? 

A case can be made, considering their 35-4 record, their nation’s best plus-21 scoring margin and their ACC-record 19 conference victories. Not to mention the quality of talent surrounding Flagg. 

Classmates Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach will also be first-round NBA picks. Maybe even lottery picks. And the role players were experienced, competent and steady. That is until the final 10 minutes of Saturday’s loss to Houston, in which they squandered a 14-point lead and a chance to enter the discussion as the best Duke team, period.

As good as these Blue Devils were, they still only come in a close second in the disappointment rankings to Mike Krzyzewski’s 1999 team that went 37-1 before losing on the final possession of the national championship game to UConn.

Now, as then, Duke came home from the Final Four without a banner to hang from the rafters of its venerable home court. But at least this time, they had a Flagg to commemorate the occasion.

The post Where does Cooper Flagg rank among Duke’s 1-and-done stars? Is he the Blue Devils’ best ever? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

But in the immediate aftermath of the Blue Devils’ 70-67 loss to Houston in Saturday’s second national semifinal, the vibe inside their locker room at Alamodome was one of stunned silence.

Players stared blankly at the floor, some with towels draped over their heads, as they tried to process what had just happened. 

How their dream of a national championship ended so abruptly.

And so cruelly.

Actually, the “how” is an easy one to explain.

Jon Scheyer’s team couldn’t make a shot when it needed one, couldn’t get the ball inbounds when it had to and couldn’t stop the Cougars with the game on the line in squandering a 6-point lead in the final 33 seconds.

It wouldn’t have mattered who Duke was playing, how good Houston’s defense was or how many shots LJ Cryer made down the stretch had Duke done Duke down the stretch, the way it did for the first 30-plus minutes of the game. The problem is that the Blue Devils didn’t do what the Blue Devils usually do when it mattered most.

“I thought our guys followed the game plan, controlled the game,” Scheyer said. “We had the lead for 35 minutes, winning by 6 with a minute to go. They made plays. You got to give ’em a ton of credit. We didn’t make those plays.”

The “why” it all happened, at the worst possible time, isn’t nearly as discernable.

The most plausible reason for the most stunning result in the Blue Devils’ storied NCAA history is inexperience.

Not the kind of inexperience that comes with having a core of freshman players making their first – and most likely only – NCAA Tournament appearance. Or a still-young coach trying to emerge from the shadow of a larger-than-life mentor.  

Although both probably factored into the equation.

For all that Wooden Award winner Cooper Flagg did to pull his team through, as he had on so many other occasions this season by contributing 27 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks, he left his potential game-tying jumper short off the front of the rim on Duke’s final possession.

Classmate Kon Knueppel disappeared offensively in the second half after scoring 12 points in the opening 20 minutes and 7-2 center Khaman Maluach didn’t pull down a single rebound in 21 minutes of court time.

In this case, the lack of experience that led to the Blue Devils’ demise is the kind that can only be gained under actual game pressure. That didn’t happen often enough for a team that led the nation in victory margin, winning its 35 games by an average of 21 points. 

Of the 9 games Duke played that were decided by single-digit margins, 4 ended in losses. It could easily have been 5 had North Carolina’s Jae’Lyn Withers not committed a lane violation in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

While Scheyer threw himself under the bus for those failures by saying that he didn’t do a good enough job of preparing his team for late-game situations in practice, the root cause of Saturday’s loss goes deeper than that.

He showed his own inexperience by allowing his team to take its foot off the accelerator in much the same way another young Duke coach – some guy named Krzyzewski – did against Louisville in 1986 in his first Final Four appearance.

In this case, the downward spiral that led to the Blue Devils’ demise was initiated with just over 8 minutes remaining.

Leading 49-45 and seemingly ready to cruise into Monday’s national championship game against Florida with a head of steam, Duke’s momentum was abruptly halted by a series of events that began with a 3-point basket by Houston’s LJ Cryer.

On the play, reserve forward Mason Gillis was called for a dead-ball technical foul for clocking the Cougars’ Joseph Tugler across the face while attempting to box him out. Cryer, a Final Four veteran with Baylor in 2021, made 1 of the 2 free throws that were awarded, then a mid-range jumper on the ensuing possession. 

And just like that, the Blue Devils’ comfortable 14-point lead was down to 8.

Game on.

“It’s a lot easier to finish the game when you have a 20-(point lead),” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “It’s a lot harder when you’ve got to finish it up 3 or up 4 or even up 6.”

That was obvious as the Blue Devils’ collars got visibly tighter with every possession from that point on. 

And not just on offense. 

While they did miss 9 of their final 10 field-goal attempts while managing only 9 points over the final 10.5 minutes, the loss can be pinned almost as much on defensive lapses that allowed the Cougars to outscore them 25-8 down the stretch, including a decisive 9-0 run in the final 33 seconds to end what Scheyer called “a special ride” in a heartbreaking way.

That heartbreak and the drama that brought it about is what makes the NCAA Tournament so great. And why so many people, even those who don’t follow college basketball at any other time of the year, get so caught up in the Madness of March.

Even when you think you’ve cracked the code on your bracket and have it all figured out something always seems to pop up and make you say: I can’t believe what I just saw. How the heck did that happen?

Just as Duke was left to do in a stunned losing locker room Saturday night.

The post From dominance to despair: Duke is left to wonder what happened after its epic Final Four collapse appeared first on Saturday Down South.

When she gets to a woman who asks if she has “anything light,” the flight attendant hands her what appears to be a slip of paper and says, “How about this leaflet: Famous Jewish Sports Legends?”

It’s an effective laugh line that makes light of the notion that people of the Jewish faith are better equipped to be lawyers and bankers than athletes.

But in the case of this year’s Final Four, the stereotype doesn’t hold up.

That’s because three of the four coaches whose teams will be facing off in the national semifinals at the AlamoDome on Saturday – Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, Florida head coach Todd Golden, and Duke head coach Jon Scheyer – are Members of the Tribe.

And the fourth, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, is a member of an actual Tribe. In this case, the Lumbee Nation of Eastern North Carolina.

It’s a confluence every bit as rare as the four No. 1 seeds that have survived and advanced their way through the NCAA Tournament to earn their spots in college basketball’s signature event.

But as far as Pearl is concerned, it’s hardly a surprise.

“There is great history and tradition in the game of basketball in the Jewish community because all it took was just one ball and maybe a basket in the inner cities, in the ghettos, and neighborhoods with most of American Jewry lived in this century,” said the veteran coach, who grew up in Boston. “We played basketball and were pretty good at it.

“Specifically, I’m really proud of Todd and really proud of Jon for being young Jewish coaches,  wearing their faith on their sleeves. They both played professionally in Israel and they’re both young mensches. It’s easier to be an old mensch than it is to be a young mensch these days.”

Mensch is a Yiddish word that roughly translates to “stand up guy.”

Pearl has been just that through his support for Israel in its ongoing war with Hamas and his efforts in calling attention to the rise of anti-Semitism the conflict has brought about as a result of protests on college campuses around the country.

He mentioned the subject again at a media availability in San Antonio on Friday when asked about the significance of having 3 Jewish coaches at the Final Four.

“I always tell my players that there are going to be obstacles to success, but not roadblocks,” he said. “I don’t want to hear that just because of anti-Semitism, racism and profiling, you can’t be anything you want to be.

“For three Jewish coaches and Kelvin Sampson, all of us, to be able to get here, if you work hard, do the right things and surround yourself with great people, anybody can be anything in this country because we live in, It’s the greatest country in the world.”

As the old mensch of the group, the 65-year-old Pearl is something of a role model to his two younger counterparts in San Antonio. And not just because of their shared heritage or that he’s the founder and first president of the Jewish College Coaches Association.

He has a personal connection to both Golden and Scheyer.

They were players on the U.S. team, coached by Pearl, that won the gold medal at 2009 Maccabi Games, a multi-sport event for Jewish athletes held every 4 years in Israel. A few years later, Pearl helped kickstart Golden’s coaching career by hiring the former St. Mary’s point guard as an assistant at Auburn.

“I’ve had close relationships with those guys for some time,” Scheyer said. “I’m really happy for them, to see what they’re doing.”

Scheyer, a former Duke All-American who helped the Blue Devils win the national championship in 2010, said that he’s proud of his Jewish heritage. 

But while he downplayed that aspect of his team’s accomplishment by adding that he’s just as proud to represent his alma mater at the Final Four, he acknowledged that “it’s a pretty rare thing to have three of us in the Final Four.”

At least one of them might not have gotten this far had it not been for his religion.

Florida’s success this season won’t help add another page or two to that leaflet of Jewish Sports Legends. But without Golden’s heritage, the Gators’ top mensch Walter Clayton Jr. might have ended up at St. John’s – where his former coach at Iona, Rick Pitino ended up – rather than in Gainesville.

“I remember Easter Sunday, getting a call from his mom,” Golden recalled. “She was a little concerned that maybe he had started swinging in the other direction, following Pitino. I guess one of the benefits of being Jewish is that we don’t celebrate Easter.”

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Duke has to beat Houston in Saturday’s second national semifinal before it can start thinking about who it might meet in Monday’s championship game. Let alone start cutting down nets at San Antonio’s AlamoDome.

Like the Blue Devils, the Cougars are a No. 1 regional seed. They’ve won 17 straight and boast the top-ranked defense in college basketball. 

Kelvin Sampson’s team is long, physical and experienced. 

Houston is no joke.. 

But as Alabama can attest, Duke can play a little defense, too. And Jon Scheyer has a lot more offensive firepower at his disposal, including the best, most well-rounded college player in the country.

So assuming the Blue Devils do what the Blue Devils do and advance another step closer to their first championship in the post-Coach K era, let’s take a sneak peek ahead at which of the 2 SEC teams in San Antonio could give them the most trouble.

Auburn, the NCAA Tournament’s top overall seed, takes on SEC Tournament champion Florida in a battle of conference rivals in Saturday’s first semifinal,

The Case For Auburn

The Tigers’ chances – against the Gators, not just Duke – are contingent on the health and availability of SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome.

The 6-10 double-double machine suffered injuries to his elbow and leg while defending around the rim during the second half of Sunday’s East Region championship game victory against Michigan State.

Although X-rays were negative and he returned to the game briefly, it was clear that he was in pain and limited in the use of his arm. He was held out of practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, and will almost certainly play. But questions remain about how effective he will be.

Broome scored 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds before fouling out in Auburn’s 84-78 loss to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 4.

If he’s anywhere close to full strength, Broome could cause trouble for the Blue Devils with his offensive rebounding and physicality that could potentially get both Khaman Maluach and his backup Patrick Ngongba into foul trouble. If he’s not able to provide his customary 18 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks, the pressure will be on fellow big Dylan Cardwell and 6-7 reserve Chaney Johnson to pick up the slack inside.

It would also help for perimeter players Chad Baker-Mazara, Miles Kelly and Tahaad Pettiford to have a hot shooting performance. Then again, those 3 combined to go 10-of-15 from 3-point range in their first meeting with the Blue Devils.

And it still wasn’t good enough.

On the other end of the court, the Tigers won’t just have to deal with stopping Cooper Flagg, who matched Broome’s output with 22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals back in December. And while it’s unlikely that Isaiah Evans will come off the bench draining 6 treys the way he did in December, it’s even more improbable that the duo of Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach will be held to a combined 8 points while attempting only 4 shots between them.

The Case For Florida

The Gators would present a much more challenging matchup for the Blue Devils, regardless of Broome’s health. 

Todd Golden’s team is one of the few in college basketball that can match Duke’s size and length. They start a pair of players 6-10 or taller in Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu, and come off the bench with 2 others just as tall, including versatile effort guy Thomas Haugh.

They’re also big enough in the backcourt to be less bothered by Duke’s switching defense than Alabama’s 6-1 star Mark Sears was in the Elite Eight last Saturday. The way Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. has been playing all season – but especially in this tournament – it might not matter who is assigned to guard him.

The All-American guard doesn’t just present problems for the Blue Devils because of his shotmaking ability, though he is shooting 54% from 3-point range and averaging 22.3 points in his team’s 4 NCAA victories. He’s doubly dangerous because of competitive nature that always seems to manifest itself just when his team needs it most.

Without Clayton’s heroics, Florida would never have gotten out of the second round against UConn in Raleigh. The Gators trailed the entire second half until their star sparked a late 8-0 run that finally pulled them through to a 2-point victory. Then Saturday in the Elite Eight against Texas Tech, his fadeaway 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining capped a comeback that erased a 10-point deficit in the final 5.5 minutes.

While there’s something to be said for surviving and advancing this time of year, it’s also a risky strategy to count on miracle comebacks game-in and game-out, especially against a team the caliber of Auburn. Or Duke, which has the defensive prowess to slow the usually fast-paced Gators down to a snail’s pace, force turnovers on the perimeter and score off the offensive glass – attributes that helped both UConn and Texas Tech put Florida on the ropes.

Even if the game does turn into a track meet, the Blue Devils have plenty of sprinters to put up a big offensive number of their own.

The Bottom Line

Given their choice, the Blue Devils would probably prefer to see Auburn again. Even though both teams are much different now than they were the first time they met 4 months ago, Duke has shown it can match up well against the Tigers. And there’s a possibility that their best player won’t be 100% healthy. 

Florida is longer, more potent offensively and playing better with 12 wins in its last 13 games, including an SEC Tournament title. And it possesses a clutch wild card in Clayton.

But the bottom line here is that if the Blue Devils bring their “A” game with them to San Antonio, it doesn’t really matter who they play. It’s the reason DraftKings Sportsbook has set Duke as a favorite against both SEC teams – -5.5 points on Auburn and -4.5 points against Florida.

That is, assuming Houston doesn’t crash the party and send the Blue Devils home early.

The post Auburn or Florida: Which SEC team could give Duke the most trouble? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It was 1991 and Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils were portrayed as a bunch of choirboys compared to Jerry Tarkanian and his undefeated UNLV outlaws in a Final Four rematch.

After getting blown out by a championship game-record 30 points the previous year by the aptly named Rebels, Duke pulled off an upset for the ages before beating Kansas 2 nights later for its first national title. 

And all was right with the college basketball world. At least it was until the following March against that other plucky underdog Kentucky.

No, seriously.

Whatever goodwill the Blue Devils had built up ended the moment Christian Laettner planted his size 16 Nike onto the chest of Aminu Timberlake, got away with it, then shot Duke back to the Final Four and onto another championship with the most replayed shot in the history of sports television.

That’s when Duke became the team everybody other than its own fans loved to hate.

It’s only natural. Every good drama needs a villain.

What’s the point of having a hero swoop in to save humanity if there’s no menacing bad guy around for him to vanquish?

On the big screen, that bad guy is usually a terrorist with stolen nuclear warheads or a cowboy wearing a black hat. In basketball, it’s been a bunch of annoying college kids wearing blue jerseys led by a snarling, ref-baiting coach.

The pendulum, however, might have started swinging back in the other direction

No, the Blue Devils will never have the positive Q score they did in those early days, before Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Wojo, JJ Redick, Grayson Allen and a steady succession of other over-privileged, cocky stars came along.

Still, there’s clearly a different vibe surrounding the talented crew that executed such a surgical takedown of Alabama in Newark on Saturday to earn Duke’s 18th trip to the Final Four.

It’s a change that began to take shape 3 years ago when Coach K rode off into the sunset, fittingly at the Final Four.

Although his hand-picked successor Jon Scheyer was schooled at his side both as a player and a trusted assistant, and has adopted many of the same philosophies as his mentor, the former Duke point guard expresses his intensity with a smile rather than a scowl.

And this season, he’s put together a roster of equally likeable players.

Likeable?

Okay, maybe that’s a stretch. It is Duke, after all.

But given the resilience on the court of Tyrese Proctor, the off-the-court courage of Khaman Maluach from war-torn South Sudan and the unselfishness of veteran transfers Sion James, Mason Gillis and Maliq Brown – all of whom willingly accepted complementary roles when they could have been starters elsewhere – it’s hard to hate these Blue Devils the way some of their predecessors were hated.

Even the team’s stars, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, play with such contagious energy, enthusiasm and personality that they’ve been tolerated if not embraced by mainstream fans, the national media and advertisers like AT&T. Menacing villains don’t have cute grandmas who knit their faces on sweaters and make sure they’re a good sport by shaking hands with everyone after winning at Bingo.

“Their attitudes the whole season, from Day 1, I think this group has been different,” Scheyer said after beating Alabama in the Elite Eight on Saturday to become only the third man ever to lead his alma mater to a Final Four as both a player and a coach. “I keep telling them, don’t change. Don’t change. Keep being them.”

These Blue Devils have the potential to pick up even more support next week in San Antonio now that they’re one of the last remaining obstacles standing in the way of Greg Sankey’s plan for world domination.

“That’s not something we really think about,” said James, a graduate transfer who played most of his career at Tulane. “We honestly try not to let outside stuff influence how we’re perceived. But yeah, it’s awesome to be seen as a likeable group. We’re just a bunch of guys who enjoy each other’s presence.”

If they keep this up, there’s a chance a few more people outside their “Brotherhood” might start liking them a little more, too.

Or at least, not hate them quite as much.

The post Yes, it’s still Duke. But this group of Blue Devils might actually be likeable appeared first on Saturday Down South.

But nothing in March is given. 

Even the bluest of blue bloods with rosters filled with  5-star standouts have to earn the opportunity to cut down news and raise banners.

It’s a painful lesson Duke learned a year ago when it was denied an opportunity to play in college basketball’s premier event by ACC rival NC State, a team that finished 10th in its conference during the regular season.

The sting of that defeat has stayed with coach Jon Scheyer and the 2 returning scholarship players from that 2024 team. And it has served as motivation throughout a season that has seen the Blue Devils win 35 of their 38 games.

Sure, the addition of the nation’s best freshman class, led by mature beyond-his-years star Cooper Flagg, helped bring about that success. So did an ACC that was historically down.

But when it came time to make all those wins mean something, Saturday against Alabama in the NCAA East Region final, this Duke team wasn’t about to take the opportunity lightly. It rolled the Crimson Tide 85-65 to earn its 18th trip to the Final Four and an opportunity to add another national championship banner to the 5 that already hang from the Cameron Indoor Stadium rafters.

“It’s the expectation, almost, because of how it’s been here,” senior guard Sion James, a transfer from Tulane, said afterward. “But it’s not a guarantee by any means. Just because we play for Duke doesn’t mean we’re going to the Final Four every year. It’s a grind. We had to work from the minute we got here to get to this position.”

As James implied, the blue-blood Blue Devils punched their ticket to San Antonio by putting on their blue collars and earning it.

They didn’t do it with a flashy array of dunks and 3-pointers or another epic stat-stuffing performance by Flagg, although they did shoot a blistering 53.6% from the floor while going 6-for-13 from beyond the arc. And their star still managed to go for 16 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists on a night in which he committed 4 turnovers and missed 10 shots.

Nope.

While offense sells tickets, as the time-worn cliché tells us, it’s defense that still wins championships. And Saturday at Prudential Center, Duke stifled the highest-scoring team in the nation with a suffocating effort that held Alabama to its second-lowest point total of the season.

It took the Crimson Tide until the 9:48 mark of the second half to surpass the 51 points they scored in the first half alone against BYU.

Two nights after blistering the Cougars for an NCAA Tournament-record 25 3-pointers in a 113-88 Sweet 16 beatdown, Alabama managed only 8 treys on 32 attempts. Sears, who scored 35 against the Cougars on Thursday was held to just 6 by an aggressive, switching Duke defense that would have made coach Norman Dale from the movie Hoosiers proud.

Only instead of having just one player capable of telling him what kind of gum Sears was chewing during the game, Scheyer would have several.

Tyrese Proctor, Sion James and Caleb Foster, with help from Flagg and even the 7-2 Khaman Maluach — they all took turns getting up in the Alabama star’s face, rarely letting him get an open look. It’s a defensive blanket that set the tone from the opening possession and stayed relentless to the final buzzer.

“I think it’s a credit to our guys for not getting spooked by the 25 3s because it can spook you where you’re so spread,” Scheyer said of the Crimson Tide’s Thursday night barrage. “I’m sure we’ll look back and (see that) we’re fortunate they missed some open ones, as well. But really I think the versatility for our guys is a big thing for us.”

That versatility, along with the size and length at every position, is what makes it such a nightmare matchup for any opponent.

From any conference. Even the SEC.

“Duke is as good a team as we’ve seen all year,” Alabama coach Nate Oats. “We’ve got some really good teams in the SEC. And they’re at that level.”

The Blue Devils’ Elite Eight victory was their second this season against an opponent from the nation’s best conference. They took down Auburn back in November. Saturday, they claimed the championship of Alabama by ending the Crimson Tide’s season.

They’re going to have to beat at least 1, possibly 2 more SEC teams in San Antonio to win the only championship that matters. The one that has been their only focus since being taught that painful lesson last March.

Nobody’s going to hand them the trophy and banner just because they have the letters D-U-K-E stitched across the front of their jerseys. Those are rewards they’re going to have to earn. 

As Oats and his Crimson Tide can attest, this Duke team is equipped to do just that.

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But first, both teams have a little business to get out of the way.

The Crimson Tide are 5.5-point favorites against BYU, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, for Thursday’s first East Region semifinal matchup at Prudential Center. The top-ranked Blue Devils are an even more solid favorite, giving up 9.5 points to Arizona.

But if March Madness has taught us anything over the years, even in a year like this in which chalk has prevailed more than usual, there’s no such thing as a sure thing. So it’s entirely possible for one or both of the region’s top-2 seeds to get sent home before their time.

The question is, which one should be on the highest level of upset alert?

Let’s take a look at the matchups and break it down:

Why Alabama Should Be Worried

The Crimson Tide have an SEC pedigree, Final Four experience and a dynamic leader with the clutch gene in Mark Sears. Add to that the fact that Grant Nelson’s knee, in the words of coach Nate Oats, is “about as close to 100% as it can be at this point in the NCAA Tournament.”

Slam dunk, right?

Not so fast.

In BYU, Alabama isn’t just playing a dangerous opponent that has won 11 of its last 12 games since early February, with the only loss coming to second-ranked Houston in the Big 12 Tournament championship game. It’s playing a team that will feel right at home playing the high-scoring, high-octane kind of pace the Crimson Tide will want to dictate.

Alabama is the highest-scoring team in the nation at 90.8 points per game and ranks No. 1 in KenPom’s adjusted tempo rankings at 75.0. But Kevin Young’s Cougars aren’t far behind in either category at 81.2 ppg and 67.4 in adjusted tempo. They’re also the top 3-point shooting team among the 16 that are still alive in the tournament, averaging just under 11 per game.

They’re deep, long and balanced, with only 2 players in their 9-man rotation – junior guard Richie Saunders and 6-9 freshman point guard Egor Demin – averaging in double figures.

That’s why, in Oats’ estimation, how his team plays on the defensive end of the floor will likely be the determining factor in whether it advances or not. 

No matter what it does offensively.

“Hopefully we continue to play well on offense, but our defense is going to have to be at an elite level with BYU,” Oats said at a pre-Sweet 16 media availability on Wednesday. “They’re in transition, they’re good in the halfcourt, they’re good on the boards. They’re pretty much good at everything. So our defense will get tested against these guys.”

While BYU comes into the game playing its best basketball of the season, Alabama has been trending in the opposite direction. It’s not as if the Crimson Tide have been playing poorly. They did win at then-No. 1 Auburn in their regular-season finale. 

But since starting 21-3 and being ranked No. 2 in the nation, they were just 4-5 heading into the NCAA Tournament while allowing at least 90 points 5 times. They also trained 15th-seeded Robert Morris well into the second half of their Tournament opener before rallying to win by 9.

Bama might not be so fortunate if it has to play catchup against BYU on Thursday.

Why Duke should be worried

If Cooper Flagg plays his usual Cooper Flagg game and Tyrese Proctor keeps making 6-7 3-pointers a game at a 90% clip as he did in the Blue Devils’ first 2 NCAA Tournament, it doesn’t matter who they play.

Lights out. They’re going to win.

Even if Proctor does cool down from his heater, Jon Scheyer’s team has any number of other ways to beat you. Especially with the potential for injured defensive specialist Maliq Brown to return for Thursday’s game against Arizona.

That, along with the fact that Duke has already beaten the Wildcats hy 14 this season – in Tucson, no less, is why FanDuel is giving the Blue Devils the lowest odds (+210) for cutting down the nets in San Antonio next week.

So what, if anything, can Arizona do to slow down Duke and pull off the upset? It can start by showing the Blue Devils a little Love.

That’s Love, as in the Wildcats’ leading scorer Caleb Love.

The fifth-year guard has experience breaking Duke’s heart. In 2022, while playing for rival North Carolina, he scored 22 points to help spoil Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium before delivering an even more painful blow by going off for 28 in the Final Four rematch that sent Coach K into retirement.

But while Love is fully capable of shooting this Duke team out of the tournament as well, he’s just as likely to bring his own team down as he did by going 0-for-9 from 3-point range against Clemson in last year’s Sweet 16 elimination. Love was also 1-of-9 from beyond the arc and 3-of-13 overall in Arizona’s 69-55 loss to the Blue Devils on Nov. 22.

Aside from shooting better than it did in November – not just Love, but everyone – the Wildcats’ best chance is getting Flagg into early foul trouble and keeping him on the bench for long stretches. Junior forward Tobe Awaka will likely draw the assignment of guarding the National Player of the Year favorite. But it will take a team effort to contain a Duke team that has won its first 2 Tournament games by 20 or more points and put the young Blue Devils under some game pressure with their season on the line.

Who’s in greater danger?

The bottom line is that both Duke and Alabama should take care of business and set up an epic Elite Eight showdown. But given the matchups and the trends, the Crimson Tide figure to be in greater upset danger.

Then again, this is March. So it’s just as possible that both teams could end up at home watching BYU and Arizona instead of playing one another with the Final Four on the line.

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But shooters don’t stop shooting just because a few don’t go in. So the Duke guard kept shooting his shot.

No adjustments. No tweaks. Just the confidence to believe that the next one is going in.

Which it did.

And it hasn’t stopped going in yet.

Over the past 3 games – in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte last week and the first 2 rounds of the NCAA’s East Region in Raleigh this weekend – Proctor has drained 19 of his 30 shots from beyond the arc.

That includes a blazing 7-of-8 performance in Sunday’s 89-66 second-round win against Baylor in which he became the first Blue Devil since his coach, Jon Scheyer in 2010, to make 5 or more 3-pointers in consecutive NCAA Tournament games.

The impressive display of sharpshooting prowess is all the more remarkable because of the futility that preceded it.

It’s a progression that mirrors the eventful 3-year odyssey that’s taken Proctor from Down Under as an early enrolling 5-star prospect struggling to fulfill his high expectations to the cusp of college basketball’s pinnacle.

“I think that’s what I’m most proud of, or as proud as anything, with the journey Tyrese and I have been on,” Scheyer said Sunday, stopping for several moments to collect himself after getting overcome by emotion, “because it’s harder to go through those journeys now.”

Given the current landscape of college sports and the mindset of today’s players, Proctor could easily have entered the NBA Draft after a freshman season that started slowly but finished with a flourish and an ACC Tournament championship.

It would have been just as understandable had he chosen to enter the transfer portal and started over someplace else after a disappointing sophomore campaign that went sideways early because of an ankle injury and never fully got back on track.

But after holding what Scheyer described as “honest conversations” about his future Proctor decided to keep shooting his shot at Duke.

And he’s hit nothing but net.

“I think from a young age I’ve never been a person to sort of jump off a ship in a sense,”  Proctor said, adding that he never stopped trusting himself, Scheyer or Duke’s storied program. “Everyone’s on a different journey, whether it’s 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years. I’m just making sure I’m level-headed and always trying to get better every day.”

He’s succeeded by sticking to the same process that helped him turn that 0-for-10 slump into his current can’t-miss heater.

“It’s just my preparation, just behind the scenes putting in the work and trusting myself,” he said. “When I’m on the court, I’m just playing free and having fun out there, just trying to cherish every moment I get with these guys.”

That attitude has helped Proctor improve his 3-point accuracy from around 33% for his first 2 seasons to his current .415, which ranks among the top 30 nationally.

But not all that progress can be measured in numbers.

Not only has the 6-6 junior upped his game on the court, but he’s also developed into an effective leader whose presence in the locker room and in games has been a steadying influence on a roster dominated by 1-and-done freshmen stars.

Proctor’s growth from inconsistent teenager to trusted veteran and the adversity he had to overcome along the way are the reasons Scheyer had to work so hard to hold back tears on Sunday when talking about his longest-tenured player.

“I was not in a convincing mode after (the 2023-24) season. It was just matter-of-fact, where I saw it for him and the opportunity,” Scheyer said. “We had honest conversations like we always do. But the difference is for a guy in that position to take it, as opposed to making excuses or running away from it. That’s the special part.

“So for this to happen for Tyrese, to hit 7 3s and be our key guy and all that after going through those moments. That speaks a lot to his character.”

So does the fact that he’s willingly deferred the spotlight of stardom to his younger teammate Cooper Flagg. And to a lesser extent, fellow freshman Kon Knueppel.

Individual accolades or not, Proctor is content to keep shooting his shot. And if they keep going in as often as they have lately, he’ll finish his eventful Blue Devil journey in the best way possible.

As a national champion.

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Sunday afternoon, Florida found out that it’s more than just a slogan.

It’s a lesson that was delivered by a team that knows better than anyone what it takes to win in March.

If the Gators go on to cut down the nets as national champions 2 weeks from now in San Antonio, they’ll have UConn – the team that’s won the last 2 titles – to thank.

The Huskies put up a determined fight in an effort to hold onto their crown for at least another round as they out-hustled, out-muscled and out-played Todd Golden’s top-seeded team for the first 38 minutes of their second-round NCAA West Region showdown at Lenovo Center. 

It took a little desperation and a lot of Walter Clayton Jr., but with its season on the line and its Tournament run in danger of ending almost before it could get started, Florida answered the challenge with the heart of a champion.

Clayton hit a 3-pointer with 2:54 remaining to give his team its first lead of the second half, then sparked a decisive 8-point run that finally provided the cushion for a 77-75 win that sends the Gators into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017.

“This is a great win for our program,” Golden said. “The time was now for us to take that next step and get Florida basketball back where it belongs. Being in the Sweet 16 is a great step in the right direction.

“It wasn’t necessarily pretty for a majority of the game for us. But that 8-0 run down the stretch was huge. Our players delivered today.”

No, it wasn’t pretty.

In fact, it was downright ugly at times.

It was a heavyweight battle in which the defending champ was determined to go down swinging if it couldn’t deliver a knockout blow.

UConn succeeded by imposing its will on Florida by turning the game into a slow-paced, physical slogfest. The Huskies frustrated the Gators into 12 turnovers and less than 40% shooting until senior guards Clayton, Alijah Martin and Will Richard – all of whom scored in double figures – decided that their college careers weren’t going to end on this court, on this day.

“I wouldn’t say (there were) nervous moments,” Richard said. “But there were moments where we knew we had to lock in and give a little extra because they were on that run and you’ve got to make plays to stop that.”

That’s a long-winded way of saying survive and advance.

Nothing else matters in March.

Now that the Gators have experienced it first-hand, they’ll be better equipped to handle the tests to come as they get progressively more challenging from here on out. Starting with a West Region semifinal date against Maryland next Thursday in San Francisco.

“A game like that lets you know that you’re ready to take that next step as a program and as a team,” Richard said. “It definitely helps us be better prepared for the next game and stuff like that, just facing adversity throughout the game and being resilient.”

In a lot of ways, Sunday’s second-round victory was every bit as impressive – if not more so – than the 26-point blowout Florida inflicted on 16th-seeded Norfolk State on Saturday.

It’s not a well-kept secret that the Gators are capable of putting the hammer down when they get out into the open court, run and make shots. The question was whether they have what it takes to adjust and find ways to win when adversity hits and things aren’t going according to plan.

It’s a question they answered with a resounding yes.

“Our guys have been pretty mentally tough all year,” Golden said. “They’ve done a good job of staying the course and kind of staying level-headed. We all know the reality, if you’re going to make a deep run in March, you’ve got to catch some breaks and you’ve got to win some games like this to be able to push through.”

It also doesn’t hurt to learn a few lessons along the way, including the one Golden’s Gators got on Sunday from a proud champion that forced them to play like a champion, too.

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Unfortunately, Duke and Florida aren’t playing a best-of-3 series. In fact, they didn’t play one another at all. 

That will have to wait another 3 weeks until they see each other again in San Antonio. 

If they both get that far.

But judging from the performances the Blue Devils and Gators put together in their back-to-back NCAA Tournament opening victories, it’s hard to imagine them not being on a collision course for an eventual national championship showdown.

It’s not that they barely broke a sweat in disposing of overmatched opponents. That’s what No. 1 regional seeds are supposed to do. It’s the way they did it that made the loudest statement.

There were no early deficits to overcome. No unnecessary drama. Just businesslike dominance from both teams.

Duke, the top seed in the NCAA’s East Region, eased fears about the health of star Cooper Flagg with a 93-49 beatdown of Mount St. Mary’s. Florida had a few more lapses than the Blue Devils when it took the court as the top dog in the West. But it still managed to stay focused long enough to put an equally lopsided 95-69 hurting on Norfolk State.

Both advanced to second-round games in Raleigh on Sunday. But if this was the starting point for deep Tournament runs, the bar has already been set about as high as Florida’s 7-9 redshirt Olivier Rioux.

“I just thought that these guys were incredibly mature without necessarily even playing in the NCAA Tournament besides Tyrese (Proctor) and Mason (Gillis),” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said of his young team. “I’m proud of the performance. We have to move on very quickly, But it’s really good to get our feet wet and understand what the Tournament is all about. …

“It feels different. It just does. So to experience that and to give really good effort and to have that killer instinct to come out, I think that’s the biggest thing I took away.”

Maybe it was for Scheyer. But for the rest of us, Duke getting off to a 18-4 headstart and resisting the urge to take its foot off the accelerator was a distant second to the health and contribution of the presumptive national Player of the Year.

For all the pregame assertions that Flagg was fully recovered from the ankle sprain he suffered during last week’s ACC Tournament – both from the player himself and his coach – questions remained until he showed it on the court.

It took less than 2 minutes for that to happen. Running the floor on a fastbreak with his typical hustle, Flagg took a pass from Proctor, went strong to the rim and scored as he was knocked to the floor. Even more encouraging was the fact that he got right up and showed no signs of distress.

“The last time he fell it wasn’t good news,” teammate Kon Knueppel said. “It was good to see him run back on defense.”

Flagg finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocked shots in 22 minutes before turning things over to the bench and walkons. It was part of an efficient effort that saw the Blue Devils shoot 50% from the floor and post a program-best 21-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Florida was just as impressive over the first 15 minutes of its game against Norfolk State. With the duo of Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin combining for 6 3-pointers and 27 points, the Gators jumped out to a 53-21 advantage.

But unlike Duke, the Gators began going for style points instead of being satisfied with just scoring more points.

“We kept looking at the scoreboard,” Martin said afterward. “We can’t do that at this level. We can’t give (any) team (any) hope. We’ve just got to be better going forward.”

The 16-seeded Spartans took advantage of that lapse in concentration to score the final 11 points of the half, then play even with Florida for a good portion of the second half before the Gators regained their composure and re-established control.

Even though the Gators’ lead never dipped below 20 and they were never in danger, the letdown could potentially be a warning sign as they advance in the tournament and level up in competition.

Or, as coach Todd Golden suggested, it could just as easily be a teaching moment that could give his team an even better chance of accomplishing its national championship goal.

Especially if it ends up facing that other talented top seed it shared a court with on Friday.

The post The 2 best teams were on the same court Friday … too bad we have to wait to see Duke and Florida play each other appeared first on Saturday Down South.

There are 17 of them at Cameron Indoor Stadium, including 5 for the national championships Duke has won.

But this is different.

When the Blue Devils coach glances upward at Lenovo Center during his team’s opening-round NCAA Tournament game on Friday, he can’t help but notice the Final Four banner hung by the team that ended Duke’s season and prevented it from making the trip to college basketball’s premier event just last year.

NC State upset the Blue Devils in the Elite Eight as part of its miraculous 2024 postseason run, a painful fact Scheyer was reminded of during his media availability before Thursday’s open practice on the Wolfpack’s home court.

“Yeah, I didn’t think of that,” Scheyer said, adding that the banner and what it represents will only add to his motivation when the top-seeded Blue Devils begin their NCAA run against Mount St. Mary’s.

“It’s interesting. When you start (a tournament), there’s always things along the way, at least for me, that help motivate me. So you just gave me one more, which is great.”

Duke is a 32.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook and doesn’t figure to encounter much difficulty in disposing of the 16th-seeded Mountaineers of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Especially now that star Cooper Flagg has recovered from the sprained ankle suffered during last week’s ACC Tournament. 

But you never know.

There have been 2 instances in recent years in which 16th seeds have shocked a pre-tournament favorite.

And there is at least 1 bit of ominous history hanging over the Blue Devils’ heads. If not for Friday’s opener, but a potential second-round matchup against either 8-seed Mississippi State or No. 9 Baylor on Sunday.

Dating back to 2010, Scheyer’s senior season as a player, Duke has lost 7 of its last 11 games played in the building now known as Lenovo Center. It’s a run of futility that includes losses to NC State in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2023, along with a loss to Mercer as a 2-seed in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

One of the most stunning setbacks in Duke’s rich basketball history.

“We didn’t do a good enough job that day and Mercer did,” said Scheyer, who was on the bench as an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski for that stunning result.

As for those other defeats, Coach K’s young successor chalked them up to the difficulty of playing a rivalry game on the road. And he isn’t buying into the idea that the building has any kind of bad juju.

“NC State, the teams that they’ve had, I don’t think it’s anything you take from that and say, man, we’ve got to do this because we’re playing in this building,” Scheyer said. “I think it’s all about us and our mentality. It’s not like the rims are a different height or slanted. I think it’s the fact they beat us those days. We have to win (Friday) by playing Duke basketball.”

Playing a familiar style will be a lot easier for the Blue Devils with the return of Flagg.

The national Player of the Year frontrunner sat out the final 2 games in Charlotte last weekend after coming down awkwardly with a rebound and spraining his left ankle in Duke’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal win against Georgia Tech.

Flagg’s teammates rallied to take care of business and defeated North Carolina and Louisville to win their school’s record 23rd conference championship. But to have any realistic shot at cutting down the nets at the Final Four in San Antonio, the Blue Devils are going to need their star back on the court.

Playing at his usual high level.

The 6-9 freshman, who leads Duke in scoring (18.9), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.1) and steals (2.0), returned to full-contact practice on Wednesday and has been given the go-ahead to play. He was moving well, with no hint of a limp during Thursday’s public practice session.

“From the start of the week, it was kind of like a build-up of jumping back into practice, doing some individual things with some of the coaches on the side. Then I was back at full practice,” Flagg said. “So I feel really good, I’m really confident about going 100 percent.”

His teammates are just as confident. And because only one of them – junior guard Tyrese Proctor – has ever played a game at Lenovo Center, there aren’t any bad memories to haunt them as they take the first steps toward ending somebody else’s season and hanging another Final Four banner of their own.

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It’s because everyone can participate, even if the only dunking they’re capable of doing is the kind that involves a doughnut and a cup of coffee.

Even before gambling became legal in many states, everyone from the hard-core hoops junkie who stays up late watching Mountain West games on his computer to Doris in the mail room who doesn’t have a clue who plays for Gonzaga but picks it because she thinks the name is funny was playing along at home by filling out a bracket.

Usually, the more you know about college basketball, the worse you end up doing.

But here goes, anyway. 

For all the quibbling about who should and shouldn’t have gotten in at the bottom of this year’s bracket, the top teams are the ones we should be concentrating on. The 4 No. 1 seeds look as strong as they’ve ever been and there’s a good chance they’ll all make it through to the Final Four for the first time since 2008.

But going straight chalk on a March Madness bracket isn’t any fun.

So I’m taking a few chances as I break down the regions, hoping I can at least make it through the opening round before my picks go up in smoke.

East

Winner – Duke

Team that can blow up my bracket – VCU

Duke might be starting the Tournament close to home as the No. 1 seed in the East. But there are potential roadblocks almost right away for the Blue Devils. 

And we’re not just talking about the competition in their bracket.

The venue, Raleigh’s Lenovo Center, has been a house of horrors for Duke over the past 15 years. The Blue Devils have dropped 7 or their past 11 games played on the home court of ACC rival NC State. That includes losses to the Wolfpack in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2023, and an infamous opening round NCAA Tournament upset at the hands of 15th-seeded Mercer in 2014.

History aside, the success or failure of Jon Scheyer’s ACC champions in this tournament will be determined more by the health of star Cooper Flagg than who they play. If the national Player of the Year favorite is at least 85% recovered from the sprained ankle that sidelined him for most of last week’s ACC Tournament, the Blue Devils can book their reservations for San Antonio.

But the journey will be interesting. There’s a potential second-round reunion with Jeremy Roach, the Baylor guard who went to the Final Four with Duke in 2022. There’s also the potential for a Sweet 16 matchup against Arizona, whose star guard Caleb Love played against the Blue Devils in that Final Four and has won his last 3 meetings with Duke. 

A key injury could also impact the other side of the East draw. 

While Alabama is battle-tested after making it to the Final Four a year ago and it has star power in the presence of Mark Sears, the Crimson Tide may be without 2024 postseason hero Grant Nelson, who left Saturday’s SEC semifinal loss to Tennessee with a knee injury. His status moving forward is uncertain. Even if he can return, there’s a possibility his effectiveness will be limited.

That would open the door for others, including No. 3 seed, high-scoring BYU, the No. 6 seed or a below-the-radar underdog like 11th-seeded VCU, the Atlantic-10 champion whose coach Ryan Odom is a hot commodity these days and whose top player Max Shulga is his conference’s Player of the Year.

West

Winner – Florida

Team that can blow up my bracket – Drake

Auburn has been the team that’s generated the most buzz this season. And the Tigers are the top overall seed in the Tournament. But the Gators enter the postseason as the champions of the best, most competitive league in the country and they’re on a heater with 12 wins in the last 13 games.

Todd Golden’s Gators average 85 points per game, third-best in the country. But while they have legitimate star power in senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., who leads the team at 17.5 points and 4.3 assists per game, they’re not dependent on one player to carry them. Their top 6 players all average better than 8 points per game, with 4 scoring in double-figures.

The biggest threat on the Florida side of the bracket is a talented, though sometimes enigmatic Memphis team. PJ Haggerty and the Tigers have wins against Tournament teams Michigan State, Clemson, Missouri, Ole Miss and UConn on their resume. But they’ve also suffered Quad 3 losses to Arkansas State and Temple, meaning that there’s no guarantee they’ll get past first-round opponent Colorado State.

The bottom half of the bracket features a Who’s Who of college coaches with Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks going up against John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks in the opening round, with the winner getting an expected date against St. John’s and Rick Pitino.

With all the attention being focused on those coaching giants, it might be easy to overlook a team coached by a guy who could be the next big thing. Drake’s Ben McCollum is rumored to be heading to Indiana once his team’s season is over. But that might take a while with Missouri Valley Player of the Year Bennett Stirtz leading a dangerous, experienced 11 seed that has already won 30 games this season and leads the nation in defense, allowing only 58.4 points per game. Mizzou better watch out.

South

Winner – Iowa State

Team that can blow up my bracket – Louisville

The Tigers might be the top overall seed. But given their recent performances heading into the Tournament and their history under Bruce Pearl once they get there, they’re most vulnerable No. 1 to an upset.

Yes, their 3 losses in the past 4 games have all come against ranked opponents. But they’re still losses. And the level of competition won’t be going down as they advance in the bracket.

That is, if they advance.

Since coming within a controversial last-second foul against Virginia of getting to the national championship game in 2019, Auburn has yet to make it past the Round of 32. It was a first-round casualty against Yale a year ago. 

Things could get dicey early again this time with a potential second-round duel against a grossly under-seeded Louisville. In the heart of Bluegrass Country at Lexington’s Rupp Arena, no less. Even if the Tigers can avoid that landmine, the task only gets more difficult with Big Ten Tournament champion Michigan and SEC rival Texas A&M looming.

And that’s before getting to the Elite Eight, where second-seeded Michigan State or No. 3 Iowa State is likely to be waiting. 

The Cyclones have already proven they can play with Auburn, having lost to the Tigers by only 2 at the Maui Invitational in November. Even without second-leading scorer Keshon Gilbert, who is sidelined with a groin injury, TJ Otzelberger’s 24-9 team still has enough firepower to crash the party in San Antonio.

Midwest

Winner – Tennessee

Team that can blow up my bracket – McNeese State

The Volunteers have gone from the Round of 64 in 2021 to the Round of 32 in 2022 to the Sweet 16 in 2023 to the Elite Eight last year. By that progression, this should be their time to finally break through and get to the Final Four.

But that’s not the only thing Rick Barnes’ second-seeded team has going for it. Tennessee is battle-tested after going through the gauntlet of the SEC and advancing to the final of the conference tournament. It boasts not 1, but 2 Wooden Award finalists in high-scoring shooting guard Chaz Lanier and dynamic playmaker Zakai Zeigler. 

While the Vols have plenty of options for putting the ball in the basket, their strength is their physical toughness and a defense that is third-best in the nation in KenPom’s efficiency rankings. There’s only one problem. And it’s not top-seeded Houston. In order to get to San Antonio, Tennessee could possibly have to go through SEC rival Kentucky, which has already won 2 head-to-head matchups between the teams this season.

Speaking of Houston, the Cougars are highly motivated to get another shot at the national championship after having their hopes dashed in the Sweet 16 last year because of an injury to leading scorer Jamal Sheed. This year’s team is once again a defensive force, ranked No. 3 by KenPom. But it’s also No. 10 nationally in offensive efficiency, giving it the ability to win games in different ways.

Kelvin Sampson’s team will get an early test against either Gonzaga or Georgia, then face a potential Sweet 16 showdown with another hard-nosed defensive team in Clemson. Defending national runner-up Purdue and All-American Braden Smith is also in the top half of the Midwest Bracket. 

If there’s a region with the potential to be blown up early and produce an unlikely Final Four outlier, it’s this one.

McNeese State has a roster dotted with power conference transfers and is coached by Will Wade, who has been connected to several major jobs once the Tournament is done. His Cowboys have won 27 games and are slotted against Clemson on the 12-5 line that’s a prime position for upsets. 

Final Four

Semifinals – Duke over Tennessee, Florida over Iowa State

National championship – Duke over Florida

I know. I cover the ACC, so naturally, I’m going to pick the team representing that conference.

Maybe there’s some truth to that perspective. But I’ve also seen the Blue Devils up close and personal for the entire season. I saw them beat Auburn, boat race Illinois and win the ACC Tournament championship with their best player sitting on the sideline for all but the first 16 minutes of the opening game.

Assuming Cooper Flagg is healthy enough to provide his usual stat-stuffing contribution, Jon Scheyer’s team has all the elements necessary to cut down the nets on the first Monday in April. They’ve got size at every position, especially inside with 7-2 rim protector Khaman Maluach. They’ve got versatile guards, a dynamic wing who can score on several different levels, experienced role players and a long-range gunner who can provide instant offense off the bench.

Most importantly, they have a physical and mental toughness Duke teams of recent vintage have lacked. That’s a quality that will come in handy against a Tennessee team that scored a second-round knockout by punching Duke in the mouth – literally – 2 seasons ago.

In the other semifinal, Florida will simply have too much firepower for Iowa State to match. While the Hawkeyes will be able to find ways of overcoming Gilbert’s to get to the Final Four, his 13-point and 4-assist average will be sorely missed against a team as offensively prolific as the Gators.

That brings us to the final showdown between 2 teams that will start this year’s tournament in the same place, Raleigh, but will have to wait 3 weeks before finally meeting for the title in San Antonio.

Duke and Florida.

It’s a matchup that promises to be fast-paced and high-scoring. Florida ranks third among Division I teams at 85.4 points per game while Duke isn’t far behind at 82.7.

But you know what they always say: Offense puts fans in the stands, but defense wins championships. And that’s what will put the Blue Devils over the top. 

Though they might not be able to hold the high-powered Gators down for 60 minutes, their toughness, their aggressive switching and their rim protection will generate enough stops down the stretch to pull out a close victory, complete the transition from Coach K to Jon Scheyer and raise a sixth championship banner to the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium.

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But as the old joke goes, the person who graduates last in his or her class at medical school is still called “Doctor.”

So while social media is already filling up with righteous indignation over North Carolina’s surprise inclusion into this year’s NCAA Tournament bracket, there is one incontrovertible fact about the Tar Heels’ selection as the last team into the field.  

Okay, make that 3 incontrovertible facts.

No. 1 is that the quality of teams on both sides of this year’s bubble is all the evidence needed to prove that the NCAA field shouldn’t be expanded beyond the current 68.

No. 2 is that Joe Lunardi is a charlatan who, with the assistance of ESPN, has convinced the college basketball world to give his “Bracketology” widespread credibility. Because even though his predictions are educated guesses based on actual data, they’re still nothing more than guesses.

The more important issue at hand is that, regardless of whether you think UNC is deserving or not, it’s still an NCAA Tournament team. 

It no longer matters how many Quad 1 wins the Tar Heels did or didn’t have, that they play in a conference the national pundits love to dump on or how close they came to being left out. 

And it was as close a shave as you can get without drawing blood. 

The only metrics that matter now are the numbers on the scoreboard when Hubert Davis’s team takes on San Diego State at the First Four in Dayton on Tuesday for a shot at getting into the main draw as the No. 11 seed in the South Region.

There’s actually a legitimate case that can be made to support the committee’s choice of UNC as the last team into the field beyond the fact that its brand name is to college basketball what Alabama’s is to football. And the conspiracy theory that its athletic director Bubba Cunningham was the chairman of the selection committee.

For the record, Cunningham followed protocol by dismissing himself from the room while the Tar Heels’ candidacy was being discussed. In his absence vice-chair Keith Gill of the Sun Belt Conference led the process, which he said in a post-reveal interview on CBS’s selection show, was done strictly by the numbers.

The problem is that the numbers the committee deemed most important weren’t the same as those being touted by Lunardi, as well as legitimate college basketball experts.

For whatever the reason, their metric of choice this year was Quad 1 victories. That happens to be the biggest area in which UNC’s résumé was lacking. The 22-13 Tar Heels had only 1 quality win – against UCLA in late December – in 13 opportunities.

But rather than dismissing the Tar Heels because of that one blemish, as everyone else was quick to do, the selection committee focused more on several of the other metrics used to form their decisions. Those that take into account factors such as schedule strength, wins above the bubble, recent performance and NET ranking.

Things that reflect a team’s entire body of work.

And UNC isn’t the only one to benefit from that broad interpretation of the analytics. Xavier also got in with just a single quality win, making the Musketeers and Tar Heels only the second and third teams since the metric was introduced in 2018-19 to do so.

In reality, the call on UNC probably shouldn’t have been as close as it was.

Not only does it have a NET of 36, which would have been the second-best ever to be left out of the Tournament field behind Indiana’s No. 29 last year, but it also ranked No. 1 among the last 4 in and first 4 out in the KenPom and Torvik ratings, Basketball Power Index, Out of Conference Strength of Schedule, Strength of Record and Wins above Bubble.

Even with all that going for them, it took a furious comeback from a 24-point second-half deficit to lose by just 3 against top-seed Duke in the ACC Tournament and the good fortune to have all but 1 potential bid-stealing conferences go chalk with their championships for the Tar Heels to squeeze their way into the bracket.

It wasn’t until Memphis escaped an upset bid by UAB in Sunday’s American Athletic Conference final that their spot in the field was finally secure.

Call them lucky if you want. Or even undeserving. But like that med student who barely skates by to earn the title of doctor, make sure you call the Tar Heels an NCAA Tournament team.

Because like it or not, that’s what they are.

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The Blue Devils overcame the adversity of losing their best player to injury early in their first game and rallied from a 5-point halftime deficit to beat Louisville 73-62 Saturday to win their record 23rd ACC Tournament title.

It was a statement victory that finished off an impressive 3-day run that showcased Duke’s depth, talent and resolve while validating its claim as the top overall seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament.

And yet, as good as MVP Kon Knueppel, freshman classmate Khaman Maluach and their teammates were with Cooper Flagg watching from the bench nursing a sprained left ankle, their only realistic hope of winning a national championship this season is if the projected No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft is healthy enough to contribute as usual.

The good news is that the 6-foot-9 prodigy showed no signs of a limp as he climbed the ladder to take his turn cutting down the Spectrum Center net on Saturday. Even more encouraging is the fact that Duke has informed the NCAA selection committee that its star will be available for the Tournament.

That, of course, doesn’t take into account the possibility that the Blue Devils have simply learned a lesson from the misfortune of Florida State’s football team and the effect reporting Jordan Travis’ season-ending injury had on its 2023 national title hopes.

Or the even more remote chance that Flagg and his advisors decide to shut their valuable commodity down to preserve his health – and potential earnings – for the Draft process.

Relying solely on coach Jon Scheyer’s postgame comments, though, the prognosis is that Flagg will be a go. If not for an opening-round walkover against a 16th-seeded sacrificial lamb, but for the more challenging second-round game that follows 2 days later.

“That’s exactly my intention,” Scheyer said. “I think it’s trending in a great way where Cooper will be ready to go right away in the NCAA Tournament.”

Assuming that’s the case, Scheyer’s top-ranked Blue Devils might be in an even stronger position to bring home their school’s sixth national championship than they were before they made the short trip from Durham to Charlotte just a few days ago.

Not only did they face some serious game pressure for the first time in a month – something they’ve had to do only a handful of times all season – but they found other ways to win besides getting the ball to Flagg and staying out of his way. They also got a chance to showcase some of the radiant talent that’s been effectively blotted out by the massive shadow cast by their generational star.

And it wasn’t just Knueppel, who stepped into a leading role by averaging 21 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists in the Tournament. Or veteran guard Tyrese Proctor, who broke out of a shooting slump to make 6 3-points and lead the team with 19 points in the title-clinching win.

An even bigger revelation, in both contribution and size, was the growth shown by Maluach and Duke’s other freshman center, Patrick Ngongba. 

The 7-foot-2 Maluach added a scoring component to his already developed rebounding and shot-blocking prowess by hitting for double figures in all 3 games. And the 6-11 Ngongba, whose early progress was slowed by a foot injury, blossomed in an expanded role made necessary by another key injury to defensive stopper Maliq Brown by going a combined 10 of 13 from the floor, pulling down 7 rebounds and blocking 5 shots.

“For us to be tested the last 3 games the way that we have, I think we’re going to learn a ton from it,” Scheyer said. “And it gives us extra motivation and lessons to move forward.”

The most valuable of those lessons was learned at halftime on Saturday.

It came in the form of a challenge by Scheyer to his team after it allowed the second-seeded Cardinals to shoot 55% from the floor and score 7 straight points into the break to trail 38-33 after 20 minutes.

The message was simple.

This isn’t the regular season anymore. You can’t play soft and expect to win against top teams. Every possession is going to be a struggle. And if you lose your focus and let your opponent push you around, as Louisville was doing, you’re going to be heading home a lot sooner than you want.

“I just challenged our guys because I didn’t think we had the necessary toughness you need to win a championship,” Scheyer said. “Our guys responded. They knew it. I thought they came out with just a different edge to them in the start of the second half.

“I think that’s something we had to go through to really understand. Postseason basketball is different.”

Now that they understand that, postseason Duke is a different team. It was good in winning the ACC regular season. And better in becoming the tournament champion.

Two down, one to go, as Knueppel proclaimed on the postgame podium after Saturday’s game.

With the Blue Devils’ continued evolution, they just might have what it takes to pull it off and earn an even more important banner 3 weeks from now in San Antonio. But only if their Flagg is flying at full mast.

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They’re games so legendary that they’re remembered by name with fondness or pain, depending on which shade of blue you prefer, even by those too young to have seen them when they happened.

Eight points in 17 seconds. Bloody Montross. Bloody Hansbrough. Wojo’s Senior Night. The Austin Rivers Game.

And now, the Lane Violation Game.

Years into the future, most of the important details of Duke’s epic 74-71 ACC Tournament semifinal win against North Carolina on Friday will likely be forgotten because of one decisive and incredibly rare play with 4.1 seconds remaining.

The Blue Devils’ first-half blitz without star Cooper Flagg. The second-half surge that helped the Tar Heels erase a 24-point deficit and put them in position to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. 

They’re reduced to footnotes by a single misstep at just the wrong time by UNC’s Jae’Lyn Withers.

The senior forward’s inspired play has been a catalyst for the Tar Heels’ resurgence over the past month. But on this occasion, he got too aggressive and was called for a lane violation that nullified what would have been a tying free throw by teammate Ven-Allen Lubin.

It was a stunning turn of events that allowed Duke to maintain its lead and hold on for the victory that sends it into Saturday’s championship game against second-seeded Louisville while relegating UNC to a precarious position on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before, especially up by 1,” said Kon Knueppel, whose 2 free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining sealed the deal for the top-ranked Blue Devils. “That was very interesting. We were obviously pretty happy.”

As could be expected, the Tar Heels and their fans that helped pack the sold-out Spectrum Center weren’t quite as pleased.

Withers did step into the lane. But only by the length of a toe.

The only real controversy was whether it was an egregious enough step to warrant a call at that critical moment of the game.

It’s a subject UNC coach Hubert Davis wasn’t in the mood to talk about afterward. He deflected a question about the call by saying “I’m not answering that. We lost 74-71.”

Because they did, the Tar Heels will now have to sweat out the next 48 hours until the NCAA’s 68-team bracket is announced.

At 22-13, with wins in the last 10 games and a solid NET ranking of 35, their résumé looks good enough to the naked eye to warrant an at-large bid. But with only 1 quality win to their credit, there’s better than a 50-50 chance that they’re going to end up disappointed for the second time in 3 years.

Even after coming within the slimmest of margins of taking down the No. 1 team in the nation. Albeit without its best player.

“I think we’ve (shown) in the past couple of weeks that we are a tournament team,” UNC star RJ Davis said. “If you look at the trajectory of our whole season, the way we dealt with adversity, we overcame all that. You couldn’t ask for a better team than (one) that goes through that type of adversity, goes through that type of criticism and still perseveres through it all. That’s a tournament team for you right there. That’s what March is about.”

March is also about surviving and advancing to play another day.

And that’s what Duke did.

But in doing so the Blue Devils showed a vulnerability that might not cost them the championship of this tournament, but could become fatal in the next one Cooper Flagg isn’t healthy enough to play. Or at least play close to his national Player of the Year level.

Duke looked good enough without him for a while. With Knueppel hitting from long range and the freshman duo of Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba dominating around the rim, the Blue Devils broke the game open with a 15-0 run to end the first half and a strong start to the second.

It wasn’t until the Tar Heels closed to within striking distance during the final 7 minutes – a time in which Flagg is usually called upon to have the ball in his hands and take control – that his absence began to show.

“Cooper makes so many plays for us,” Scheyer said. “His ability to break down defenders and teams don’t usually want to switch him. So what happened tonight, they were switching everything. They did a great job jamming us and they’re athletic. They make it hard on you. So you have to make some plays to break down the defense.”

The Blue Devils didn’t make many of those plays down the stretch. But as Scheyer was quick to point out, his team was able to make 1 more than the Tar Heels.

And that was enough to win yet another unforgettable game in the storied history of the North Carolina-Duke rivalry.

One that was decided by the length of a toe.

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You know who you are.

Whether you want to admit it or not, the Tournament is already underway. And all 364 Division I programs are invited.

Everyone, even those so far off the proverbial bubble that they’d need a GPS just to locate it, have an equal shot at playing their way into the bracket once the field gets narrowed down to its final 68 on Selection Sunday.

Just ask NC State, which rode a magical wave of momentum to 9 straight elimination victories – including 5 in as many days to win the ACC championship – all the way to last year’s Final Four. Or St. Francis, which will be part of this year’s First Four despite an unsightly 16-17 record.

While running the table and cutting down the nets in a conference tournament is the best way to take the guesswork out of the NCAA equation, it’s not even a necessity for some teams.

Teams like North Carolina.

It’s not certain exactly how many wins the Tar Heels need to survive and advance into the main phase of March Madness. That’s an answer only members of the committee will be able to determine this weekend.

But Hubert Davis’s suddenly resurgent team is doing everything it can to strengthen its resume and increase its chances.

UNC has accomplished everything it set out to do so far during its first 2 games of the ACC Tournament. It made short work of 12th-seeded Notre Dame on Wednesday and took down No. 4 Wake Forest on Thursday.

Now the real work begins.

With a résumé devoid of quality wins, the pressure will get ramped up even higher when the fifth-seeded Tar Heels face top-ranked Duke in a semifinal matchup on Friday that could very well be an elimination game for more than just the conference title.

Not that RJ Davis and his teammates are looking at it that way.

“For us, it’s just going out there and hoop,” the senior guard said after scoring 23 points in UNC’s 68-59 win against the Deacons. “We’re not worried about elimination or tomorrow’s game. We’re just worried about staying composed and playing our basketball.”

The Tar Heels have redefined what their kind of basketball is over the past month. After hitting rock bottom with lopsided losses at Duke and Clemson in early February, they’ve reinvented themselves with a bigger lineup and a sense of urgency that has been on full display at Spectrum Center this week.

“I’m so proud of how they’ve stayed connected, stayed the course through ups and downs,” coach Hubert Davis said. “There’s a level of toughness here that has been developed over the last 7-8 months we’ve been together. We were in these types of situations earlier in the year and weren’t able to get stronger. We were able to do it today. To be able to see these guys perform under pressure and do it together is one of the most amazing things that you can see as a coach.”

Amazing is a good way to describe the run Davis’s team is putting together. UNC has won 8 of its last 9 to improve to 22-12. 

Under most circumstances, that record, a solid NET ranking of 36 and UNC’s storied history might already be good enough. And it still might be depending on how many bids get stolen around the country over the next 2 days. But with only 1 quality win on their résumé, now is not the time to leave anything to chance.

Only 1 team, Drake in 2022, has earned an at-large NCAA bid with just a single Quad 1 victory.

That’s why Friday’s semifinal game is so pivotal.

The Tar Heels can erase the most glaring blemish on their postseason résumé – and all but assure their spot in the field of 68 – with a victory. All they have to do is figure out a way to knock off an opponent that has only lost 3 times all season and beaten them twice.

Both by double-digit margins.

The good news is that UNC’s task got exponentially less daunting on Thursday when Blue Devils star Cooper Flagg went down with an ankle injury in his team’s win against Georgia Tech. Coach Jon Scheyer said that it’s highly doubtful Flagg will play again in this tournament to be as healthy as possible for the next one.

Veteran forward Maliq Brown was also injured against the Yellow Jackets and won’t be available.

Even with the national Player of the Year frontrunner and the Blue Devils’ defensive stopper off the bench out of the equation, the Tar Heels will still have their hands full with Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, Isaiah Evans and what’s left of the Duke’s 5-star rotation.

Still, there’s always a chance, just as there was in 2022 when UNC got on a similar late-season heater, beat the favored Blue Devils twice, including once at the Final Four, to earn an improbable shot at a national championship. This Tar Heels team still has a long way to go before it can start dreaming of history repeating itself.

But you have to start somewhere.

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The Blue Devils’ star injured his left ankle and had to be helped to the locker room late in the first half of Thursday’s conference 78-70 quarterfinal victory against Georgia Tech. Although he returned to the bench in the second half, clearly favoring the ankle, he didn’t return to the game.

His status moving forward is still uncertain. But according to coach Jon Scheyer, it’s highly doubtful the national Player of the Year frontrunner will be available for either Friday’s semifinal matchup against North Carolina or a possible championship game on Saturday.

Even if Flagg says he’s able to play. Which Scheyer is expecting him to do. 

“I already know how he’s wired,” Scheyer said. “But look, to be honest with you, I would have to be convinced by everybody in the locker room when I go back there that he should play. It’s not worth it. It just isn’t.

“We’ve got to see if we can get him right for this run that we can make in the (NCAA) Tournament.”

Flagg went down with an ankle injury after grabbing a rebound with 2:46 left in the first half. His left foot appeared to slip out from underneath him as he landed and he immediately crashed to the floor in pain. 

The 6-9 wing hobbled to the bench, where he was attended to by Duke’s medical staff before being heading to the locker room with the assistance of 2 teammates. 

X-rays taken at halftime were negative. Scheyer said that Flagg suffered a sprained ankle, adding that he expected it to swell up overnight.

Flagg was off to a slow start before his injury, going just 1-for-7 from the floor (0-for-3 3-pointers) with 4 rebounds and a turnover. He wasn’t the only Duke player that struggled early, though. 

The Blue Devils fell behind 26-12 with 9 minutes remaining in the first half and were still down by 9 when their star was sidelined. 

“It sucks that you really don’t have time to react to it,” teammate Kon Knueppel said of Flagg’s injury.

Maybe that was for the best. Because instead of making a bad situation worse, Flagg’s absence seemed to light a spark under Duke. After giving up a quick 3-pointer by Georgia Tech’s Naithan George, the Blue Devils finished the half on a 9-2 run. They carried the momentum into the second half, scoring 22 of the first 31 points to finally take control.

Knueppel led the charge by putting up a Flagg-like stat line of 28 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals while Isaiah Evans and Khaman Maluach added 14 points each. Evans’ points came mostly from long range, Maluach’s mostly on dunks off Knueppel lobs.

“Obviously Coop is a huge part of our team,” said Evans, who made 4 of his 8 3-point attempts on a day in which the rest of the team was a frigid 3-for-22. “It hurts to see him going down. But it’s next man up and we’re going to keep picking our guys up.”

The question is whether Duke has enough firepower left to keep winning now that the level of competition is about to be raised.

Not only did the Blue Devils lose Flagg on Thursday, they also played most of the game without defensive stopper Maliq Brown, who dislocated the same shoulder that sidelined him for 4 of the final 5 games of the regular season.

The prognosis for his return is even more bleak than Flagg’s.

Scheyer said that the junior forward was in extreme pain as he was taken from the arena on a stretcher and transported to a nearby hospital. The Duke coach said Brown “is going to miss time.”

Reserves Mason Gillis and Patrick Ngongba came off the bench to help make up for the loss of Flagg and Brown by making significant contributions to the come-from-behind victory. It’s going to take more of the same for the Blue Devils to continue advancing in the tournament.

“We’re going to do it the same way we’ve done everything this year, which is together and connected,” senior guard Sion James said. “We knew there was going to be adversity throughout the tournament and things weren’t going to go according to plan. It started that way, but we stayed together.”

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The top-ranked Blue Devils roared from behind to beat the eighth-seeded Yellow Jackets 78-70 at Spectrum Center and advance to a semifinal date with either North Carolina or Wake Forest. But their chances of continuing their dominance of the conference and winning the tournament championship were thrown into doubt by an injury to star Cooper Flagg.

The national Player of the Year favorite went down with an ankle injury after grabbing a rebound with 2:46 left in the first half.

Flagg’s left foot appeared to slip out from underneath him as he landed and he immediately crashed to the floor in pain. He hobbled to the bench, where he was attended to by Duke’s medical staff before being helped to the locker room by a pair of teammates.

The 6-9 wing was seen sitting in a wheelchair during halftime. But he returned to the bench under his own power, though clearly favoring his ankle, during the first media timeout of the second half.

He didn’t return.

His status for the remainder of the tournament and next week’s NCAA Tournament has not yet been determined.

Flagg was off to a slow start before his injury, going just 1-for-7 from the floor (0-for-3 3-pointers) with 4 rebounds and a turnover. He wasn’t the only Duke player that struggled early, though. 

The Blue Devils fell behind 26-12 with 9 minutes remaining in the first half. Flagg’s injury seemed to light a spark under them, however. They outscored Tech 9-2 for the remainder of the half and opened the second half on a 16-2 run to regain control. 

Teammate Kon Knueppel took up much of the slack by posting a Flagg-like stat line of 28 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals.

While Duke may have avoided disaster with Flagg, the news wasn’t all good on the injury front. Junior forward Maliq Brown also left the game with what appeared to be a re-aggravation of the shoulder injury that forced him to miss 9 games earlier this season.

Brown was also taken to the locker room and later left the arena on a stretcher.

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That’s when the top 4 seeds make their first appearance at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center.

Although there’s always a chance of something unexpected happening, as NC State proved by running the table as the No. 10 seed a year ago in Washington, this year’s tournament champion is almost certain to come from the group that includes top-seeded Duke, No. 2 Louisville and No. 3 Clemson, with No. 4 Wake Forest hoping to save its fading NCAA Tournament hopes by pulling off an upset or 2.

The Blue Devils will get things started this afternoon against No. 8-seeded Georgia Tech while the Cardinals play No. 7 Stanford, the Tigers face No. 6 SMU and the Deacons take on No. 5 North Carolina.

Each of their opponents has played at least once already in this event. Now that the preliminaries are finally out of the way, here is 1 big question facing each of the top 4 teams now that the real tournament is about to get underway:

Will Duke try to save something for the NCAA Tournament?

Jon Scheyer is a disciple of Mike Krzyzewski, who was never an advocate of holding anything back when there’s a trophy to be won and a banner to hang from the rafters at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

So don’t expect the top-seeded and top-ranked Blue Devils to coast through this tournament with the idea of saving themselves for the next, more important one. Maintaining momentum and cutting down the nets on Saturday, especially if it involves a chance of beating Clemson and avenging the only blemish on their ACC record, remains Job 1.

That being said, the other major goal over the next 3 days is to make sure that everyone in the regular rotation leaves Charlotte healthy. Duke has endured some injury scares over the past few weeks with starting guard Tyrese Proctor and defensive specialist Maliq Brown both missing time with what turned out to be minor maladies.

Does Louisville have anything left to prove?

The short answer is no. Pat Kelsey’s second-seeded Cardinals are playing with house money from here on out. Anything else they accomplish, either this week or next week in the NCAA Tournament, is a bonus.

They’ve already exceeded all expectations with their regular-season performance. They’ve won 25 games, earned Kelsey the ACC’s Coach of the Year award and are safely into the NCAA field for the first time since 2019.

Louisville arrives in Charlotte as the league’s hottest team, having won 9 straight and 19 of their last 20 with the only loss coming back on Feb. 1 at Georgia Tech. 

Of all the top seeds, the Cardinals are the biggest variable. They’ve proven their ability to play with and beat the best, having taken down Clemson and forced Duke to rally from a 14-point deficit before dropping a single-digit decision. And yet, because of their lack of depth and their dependence on the 3-point shot, there’s always the possibility of an early exit.

Is this finally the year Clemson ends its championship drought?

The Tigers have been in the ACC since its inception in 1953 and yet, they’re still trying to win their first tournament championship. They’re the only original member without at least 1 title. In fact, they’ve made it to the final just twice, in 1962 and 2008, losing both times.

But there are signs that this could finally be the year in which the law of averages finally catches up with Clemson and ends its long drought.

For one thing, Brad Brownell’s team has already beaten top-seeded Duke, having handed the nation’s No. 1 team its only conference loss before a raucous court-storming crowd at Littlejohn Coliseum on Feb. 8. Its 26 wins are the most in a regular season in school history. And because of its No. 3 seeding, it won’t have to see the Blue Devils again until Saturday’s championship game.

But first things first. Before the Tigers can think about cutting down the nets at Spectrum Center, they’ll have to find a way to get through today’s opening game. That’s something they’ve failed to do in 50 of their previous 69 tournaments. And 23-win SMU, the No 6 seed, is hardly a pushover.

Which Wake Forest will show up in Charlotte?

Today’s quarterfinal showdown between Wake Forest and North Carolina is essentially an NCAA Tournament elimination game for both teams. 

While a win won’t get either the Deacons or the Tar Heels into the field of 68, it will keep their slim hopes on life support for at least another day. A loss, on the other hand, will officially knock one of them off the bubble.

Even though Wake won the regular-season matchup between the in-state rivals, it’s a 5.5-point underdog in its rematch with the Tar Heels, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. A big reason for that is the up-and-down nature of the Deacons this season. 

At its best, Steve Forbes’ team has looked every bit the part of a top-4 seed. It beat No. 22 Michigan back in November, led Duke for most of the second half before faltering down the stretch in February and routed Georgia Tech by 26 last Saturday. On the flipside, though, the Deacons are in bubble trouble because of inexplicable losses to ACC bottom-feeders NC State, Virginia and Florida State.

Those stumbles have helped drop Wake to No. 68 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. But with Quad 1 opportunities available over the next 3 days, starting with today’s game against UNC, an at-large bid is still a realistic possibility..

But only if the good Deacons show up in Charlotte. 

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They have one final opportunity to state their case to the committee this week during their conference championship events.

Not everyone has to run the table, cut down the nets and earn an automatic bid the way NC State did in the ACC last year. For some teams it only means doing enough to maintain their spots inside the bracket. For others, there’s a lot more work to do just to give themselves a chance. 

Even then their postseason fate will have as much to do with potential bid stealers and the whim of committee members as their performance on the court as metrics on a résumé.

So as the clock ticks down the final days to Selection Sunday, here’s a look at where the most prominent bubble teams stand and what they need to do in their respective conference tournaments to make their most convincing final arguments for the committee.

• ACC: North Carolina (20-12, 13-7, 40 NET), SMU (22-9, 13-7, 44 NET), Wake Forest (21-10, 13-7, 68 NET).  The Tar Heels could have strengthened their position considerably by beating Duke last Saturday. But they couldn’t hold onto a 7-point second half lead. And now they’ve got their work cut out for them. The good news for Hubert Davis’s fifth-seeded team is that it could potentially get another shot at the Blue Devils this week in Charlotte. But first things first. The Tar Heels need to avoid an opening-round slip against either Pittsburgh or Notre Dame and then avenge a regular-season loss to fourth-seeded Wake Forest in the quarterfinals to earn the rematch. That’s a game that could have just as much meaning for the Deacons, who are in even deeper bubble trouble because of the 2 Quad 3 blemishes on their resume. Sixth-seeded SMU is in the worst shape of the 3 ACC hopefuls, with no Quad 1 wins to their credit. But because they’re on the opposite side of the bracket from Duke, they have the possibility of getting 2 this week with possible matchups against Clemson and Louisville.
• Big Ten: Indiana (19-12, 10-10, 52 NET), Ohio State (17-14, 9-11, 36 NET). Nebraska has already played its way off the bubble by losing to Iowa in Sunday’s regular-season finale. The loss eliminated the Cornhuskers from the conference tournament. And at just 3 games over .500, with a NET in the high 50s, the best they can hope for now is a first-round home game in the NIT. Even with a much stronger NET of 36, 10th-seeded Ohio State could find itself in a similar situation if it stubs its toe in the opening round against those same Hawkeyes. As for the Big Ten’s other bubble team, ninth-seeded Indiana, the Hoosiers’ late-season surge has them in an advantageous position regardless of what happens in Indy – although an opening-round win against No. 8 Oregon would likely keep the Hoosiers out of Dayton and the First Four.  
• Big 12: Baylor (18-13, 10-10, 31 NET), West Virginia (19-12, 10-10, 46 NET), Cincinnati (17-14, 7-13, 50 NET). The Bears have 5 Quad 1 wins and a solid No. 31 NET. And yet, it would be in their best interest not to lose their tournament opener against either Kansas State or Arizona State on Wednesday. Beyond that, a win against ninth-ranked Texas Tech would be gravy. West Virginia will also need to avoid an early upset against the survivor between TCU and Colorado. Even then, it might take a quarterfinal win against No. 2 Houston to ensure the Mountaineers a spot in the NCAA bracket. Cincinnati, in the meantime, has the steepest mountain to climb. With only 1 Quad 1 win to their credit, the Bearcats will need to win at least twice – against Oklahoma State on Tuesday and Iowa State on Wednesday – just to stay in the bubble conversation.
• Big East: Xavier (21-10, 13-7, 44 NET), Villanova (18-13, 11-9, 53 NET). The Musketeers come into the postseason on a 7-game winning streak. Their résumé, however, is eerily similar to that of North Carolina. Twenty-one wins overall. Winning conference record. NET ranking in the 40s. But only 1 Quad 1 victory. Since the current system was adopted in 2018-19, only 1 team – Drake in 2022 – has ever gotten in with a single Quad 1 win. That makes Thursday’s Big East quarterfinal against fifth-ranked Marquette an absolute must win. Villanova is in even more dire straits. The Wildcats made things even more difficult on themselves by losing their final regular season game to Georgetown. They’ll probably have to win at least twice and maybe more to hear their name called on Sunday.
• SEC: Georgia (20-11, 8-10, 30 NET), Arkansas (19-12, 8-10, 38 NET), Oklahoma (19-12, 6-12, 47 NET), Texas (17-14, 6-12, 42 NET). The SEC’s bid to surpass the NCAA Tournament record of 11 bids got a big boost in Saturday’s regular-season finales. Georgia all but locked itself into the field with an impressive 79-68 win against Vanderbilt. Arkansas also helped itself immensely with an upset of 25th-ranked Mississippi State, although the Razorbacks can’t afford a second loss in the past 2 weeks to lowly South Carolina when they get the Gamecocks again in the SEC Tournament opener on Wednesday. While Oklahoma also took care of business on Saturday, winning a bubble showdown against rival Texas, it could also use a win on Wednesday against Georgia to take the decision out of the hands of the committee. Texas, on the other hand, is currently on the outside of the bubble looking in. But with 6 Quad 1 wins, a run to the semifinals that would include victories against ranked foes Texas A&M and Tennessee would put the Longhorns right back in the NCAA picture.
• Others: Utah State (25-6, 15-6 Mountain West, 37 NET), San Diego State (21-8, 14-6 Mountain West, 51 NET), Boise State (22-9, 14-6, 45 NET), Colorado State (22-9, 16-4 Mountain West, 54 NET), Dayton (22-9, 12-6 Atlantic-10, 67 NET). This is a tricky category, since any stolen bids would add teams to the list while potentially bumping others off. Even in a best-case scenario, it’s likely that with the SEC and Big Ten taking up so many at-large bids, there will only be room in the bracket for 2 of the Mountain West teams mentioned here. Utah State has the best résumé of the bunch with 2 Quad 1 wins and on bad losses, while San Diego State has history – having made a Final Four run just 2 Tournaments ago. Colorado State has more work to do this week with only 1 Quad 1 win on its résumé while Boise State had 2 Quad 1 wins, but an ugly Quad 4 loss to offset it. Dayton’s best hope, other than the moon and aligning just right, is to win the A-10 Tournament. Or at the very least get to the final and play VCU to the wire. 

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North Carolina’s retired Hall of Fame coach thought so little of his conference’s annual postseason event that he once referred to it as “nothing more than a great cocktail party.”

It might have been back in the day.

Back when the Tar Heels were more concerned with where they’d be going to play in the NCAA Tournament than if they’d be invited to college basketball’s big dance.

But that’s not the case this year.

The schmoozing. The fun and games. That’s for others this time around. Hubert Davis’ team has far too much work to do when it gets to Charlotte next week for such trivial matters.

UNC might not have to run the table and cut down the ACC Tournament nets as its rival NC State did a year ago. But with the Tar Heels’ postseason fate squarely on the line and their bubble dangerously close to bursting, it’s likely going to take a trip to next Saturday’s championship game to keep their realistic NCAA hopes alive.

Anything less and the only cocktails being served around Chapel Hill on Selection Sunday will be the kind used to douse the pain of missing out on March Madness for the second time in 3 seasons.

UNC could have removed much of that burden from its collective shoulders on Saturday by beating arch-rival – and soon-to-be No. 1 – Duke at Smith Center.

And for a while, it looked as if it might be possible.

With star guard RJ Davis re-discovering the shooting touch that helped earn him the ACC’s Player of the Year award in 2024 in his final home appearance, the Tar Heels roared back from a double-digit first-half deficit to take a 7-point lead with 15:44 remaining.

But just as visions of a desperately-needed Quad 1 victory began dancing in the heads of the raucous sellout crowd, the Blue Devils responded to the challenge by re-establishing the dominance they showed in the previous meeting at Cameron last month to pull away for an 82-69 victory that put UNC right back into bubble trouble.

“You’re really in control of two things. How you react and how you respond,” Hubert Davis said afterward. “I’ve been proud of how this team has reacted and responded all year, specifically over the last month staying connected and staying the course. I don’t think that’s going to change at all. We’ll regroup and be ready to go in practice and our play will be on point on Wednesday.”

As the No. 5 seed, the Tar Heels will begin their ACC Tournament on Wednesday against either 12th-seeded Notre Dame and conference scoring champion Markus Burton or No. 13 Pittsburgh. A win would earn them a quarterfinal date against fourth-seeded Wake Forest.

Neither game will do anything to help their NCAA chances other than to keep them on life support for another day.

Even with 20 wins and a respectable enough NET ranking of 42, their resume has a glaring blemish only a potential rematch with Duke in the ACC semifinal in Charlotte can help mask.

UNC is now 1-10 in Quad 1 opportunities, with the only victory coming against UCLA at Madison Square Garden way back on Dec. 21. That’s a big deal. Because since the current metrics were adopted in 2018-19, only 1 team – Drake in 2021 – has earned an at-large NCAA bid with only a single Quad 1 win.

But that’s still way too far in the future for the Tar Heels to start thinking about yet.

“We just have to stay together,” freshman forward Drake Powell said. “Going into the ACC Tournament, we’re 0-0 so whatever happened in the past doesn’t matter.”

Actually, though, in this case, it does.

To have any shot at getting to Friday for a chance at that elusive Quad 1 victory, the Tar Heels are going to have to pack up the momentum they built during the 6-game winning streak that was snapped on Saturday and bring it with them to Charlotte.

As they showed by outscoring the Blue Devils 35-13 during a 12-minute stretch surrounding halftime – albeit with Duke star Cooper Flagg on the bench with foul trouble for most of it – they have the ability to stay on even terms with the best team in the country when they defend, rebound and with some offensive cohesiveness.

“Our job and our responsibility is whomever we play, to be prepared to play our best game on Wednesday,” Hubert Davis said. “If we play well enough, we get to play on Thursday and our preparation will be focused on that. You can only control what you can control.”

The problem for Davis and his Tar Heels is that those controllable opportunities are rapidly dwindling as they head to Charlotte this week.

And it won’t be for a cocktail party.

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Two of them are from the ACC.

Florida State and North Carolina are both off to 13-0 starts as they head into the start of the conference schedule this weekend. 

That’s nothing new for the Seminoles. They won their first 19 games and were the last Division I team to suffer a loss in 2024 on the way to earning a trip to the College World Series. The Tar Heels also made it to Omaha last season. But their hot start is the best since going 16-0 in 2013.

Both teams are still looking up at SEC teams in the national polls. UNC is No. 4 behind LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas in this week’s D1Baseball.com rankings while FSU checks in at No. 6, behind Georgia.

But they remain 1-2 in our ACC power rankings.

Week 4 ACC power rankings

FSU and UNC weren’t the only conference teams that enjoyed an unbeaten week. Clemson swept its annual 3-game series against in-state rival South Carolina while Virginia, Duke and NC State all bounced back from early stumbles to start the slow climb back toward the top of the rankings, where they’ll eventually end up.

Here’s a look at how all 16 of the ACC’s baseball teams stack up as they head into Week 4 and the start of league play:

16. Boston College (4-5)

• Last week: 2-2
• Previous ranking: 16

The Eagles had a promising weekend by winning 2 of 3 at the Central Virginia Challenge in Richmond. They beat William & Maryland and VCU sandwiched around a loss to the host Spiders. But they failed to capitalize on the momentum by coughing up a 5-run lead in the final 2 innings in a loss to Longwood. Even in the victories, pitching continues to be an issue for BC. Its pitching staff surrendered 15 or more hits and 11 or more runs in all but 1 of the games.

15. Cal (6-6)

• Last week: 1-3
• Previous ranking: 15

The Bears’ week is best summed up by a single play in the sixth inning of Monday’s series finale against Santa Clara. After appearing to hit a game-tying home run just inside the foul pole in left field, junior third baseman Cade Campbell was called out for missing first base on his way around the bases. Cal ended up losing the game 9-0, its third loss in 4 games against the Broncos. The one bright spot to an otherwise dismal weekend was a 19-3 win on Sunday in which the Bears tied a school record with 8 homers. Including 3 by Campbell that actually counted.

14. Pittsburgh (8-3)

• Last week 3-1
• Previous ranking: 12

The Panthers have spent the past 2 weeks playing in North Carolina. And at the rate they’re going, they might not want to leave. After taking 2 of 3 from Monmouth in Cary, they returned to the Tar Heel State to do the same from UNC Greensboro this weekend. Then on the way back home, they stopped in Asheville to administer an 8-1 beatdown on UNC Asheville on Tuesday. Even though they had a winning week, they dropped 2 spots in this week’s rankings. But that was more because of teams behind them moving up than anything they did.

13. Notre Dame (8-1)

• Last week: 3-0
• Previous ranking: 11

The Irish swept a weekend series from 1-10 Belmont in Nashville. But it wasn’t easy. It took home runs from Carson Tinney, Connor Hincks and Nick DeMarco to win 12-8 on Friday, a career-best 6.1-inning, 8 strikeout start from Jackson Dennies for a 2-1 victory on Saturday and a tie-breaking 3-run eighth inning homer by Brad Gumpf to pull away for a 6-2 win on Sunday.

12. NC State (8-5)

• Last week: 5-0
• Previous ranking: 14

The Wolfpack came into the week on a 5-game losing streak, but turned things around with a 3-game weekend sweep of Canisius and weekday games against UNC Greensboro and Campbell. Does that mean Elliott Avent’s team has gotten its mojo back? Only time will tell. But it’s an encouraging sign that State got dominant performances from top pitchers Dominic Fritton (6 innings, 1 run, 12 strikeouts against Canisius on Friday) and Ryan Marhon (7 shutout innings, 11 strikeouts on Sunday) and Jacob Duden (3 no-hit innings, 6 strikeouts against Campbell in his first career start on Wednesday).

11. Duke (8-5)

• Last week: 4-0
• Previous ranking: 13

Like NC State, the Blue Devils took some positive steps toward returning to form by sweeping 3 games from Northwestern, then beating North Carolina A&T on Tuesday. As was the case with the Wolfpack, the story of the week was pitching. After giving up an average of 8 runs in their first 9 games, they limited the Wildcats and Aggies to just 3.25 in their 4 wins this week. And they did it by committee, with only Friday night starter Kyle Johnson working more than 3.1 innings in any of the games.

10. Virginia Tech (10-3)

• Last week: 4-1
• Previous ranking: 10

The Hokies spent the weekend in Greenville, NC, to participate in the Keith LeClair Invitational and made short work of Indiana State and Kent State before dropping a 6-1 decision to host East Carolina on Sunday. Brett Renfroe went 5 shutout innings with 9 strikeouts against the Sycamores. Sam Tackett was the hitting star by going 6-for-11 with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored in the 3 games. Tech returned home to score a pair of run-rule wins against Norfolk State and will begin ACC play on Friday against Georgia Tech.

9. Georgia Tech (11-2)

• Last week: 3-0
• Previous ranking: 9

Speaking of the Yellow Jackets … Danny Hall’s team brought out the heavy lumber in a weekend sweep of Western Michigan and a Tuesday win against neighboring Kennesaw State. Tech scored double-figure runs in all 4 games and outscored its opposition by a 56-12 margin. Leadoff man Kyle Lodise did most of the damage by going 7-for-14 with 3 homers and 10 RBI while Alex Hernandez went deep twice.

8. Stanford (10-2)

• Last week: 2-2
• Previous ranking: 5

The Cardinal started the week undefeated, but after winning the opener of their 4-game series against Xavier on Friday to extend their winning streak to 10 for their best start since 2018, they lost 2 of the next 3 to head into their debut ACC series at North Carolina on a downer. Despite their team cooling off, sophomore outfielder Brady Reynolds stayed hot by hitting safely in all 4 games while freshman first baseman Rintaro Sasaki also had hits in each game while finishing February with a team-leading .378 average and 11 RBI.

7. Miami (11-3)

• Last week 3-3
• Previous ranking: 8

The Hurricanes got a reality check in Gainesville this week after starting the season with 10 straight wins. They lost the first 2 games to No. 7 Florida – 6-2 on Friday and 6-3 on Saturday. But they salvaged a 13-7 win in Sunday’s series finale on the strength of a 5-run fifth inning and 4 RBI from DH Bobby Marsh, then carried the momentum over into weekday wins against Florida International and Villanova. The latter, in run-rule fashion.

6. Louisville (9-2)

• Last week: 3-1
• Previous ranking: 6

The Cardinals maintained their spot at No. 6 with a winning week. But concerns about pitching could foreshadow trouble down the road. Friday night ace Patrick Forbes yielded a pair of homers in a 6-run second inning against St. John’s that forced his teammates to rally from behind in an 8-6 win. On Saturday, it was the bullpen that melted down while giving up 11 runs over the final 3 innings of a 13-7 loss to the previously winless Red Storm. Louisville finished off the series win on Sunday before giving up 8 runs in an 11-inning victory against Morehead State on Tuesday.

5. Wake Forest (11-3)

• Last week: 3-2
• Previous ranking: 4

The 15th-ranked Deacons split a 4-game weekend round-robin, going 1-1 against both Princeton and former ACC rival Maryland. The 2 losses were each by a single run, but they came about differently. After giving up 3 runs in the top of the ninth in a 9-8 setback to the Terrapins on Saturday, they fell behind 7-1 early and  couldn’t catch up in a 7-6 loss to the Tigers on Sunday. Wake bounced back to beat Maryland on the strength of Blake Morningstar’s pitching and the hitting of freshman Dalton Wentz, who went 6-for-10 in the 2 games on Sunday. Wentz stayed hot with 2 more hits and 3 RBI in a 14-6 win at Appalachian State on Tuesday.

4. Virginia (8-3)

• Last week: 4-0
• Previous ranking: 7

After a bad weekend at Round Rock, where they lost 2 of 3 to power conference opponents, the ninth-ranked Cavaliers used a home series against Dartmouth of the Ivy League and a weekday matchup against William & Mary to get back on a winning track. They took advantage of the opportunity by outscoring their overmatched foes 50-11, with 3 of the wins coming by run-rule. Although the offense was spread evenly throughout the lineup, leadoff man Eric Becker (9-for-14, 6 RBI, HR) was the hitting star of the week as UVa geared up for its opening ACC series against Boston College.

3. Clemson (12-1)

• Last week: 4-0
• Previous ranking: 3

The Tigers don’t move up in the ACC power rankings, even though they jumped 2 spots to No. 11 in the national polls. But that’s probably fine with Eric Bakich and his players. The only ranking that matters to them is that they’re officially No. 1 in the state of South Carolina again after finishing off a sweep of rival South Carolina for the second straight year. Ethan Darden, who picked 7 scoreless innings in Saturday’s win, was named Clemson’s MVP of the annual in-state series. Second baseman Jarren Purify was the hitting star with hits and RBI in all 3 games to go along with a homer on Saturday. The Tigers avoided a letdown by beating USC Upstate 7-0 on Tuesday to extend their win streak to 9.

2. North Carolina (13-0)

• Last week: 4-0
• Previous ranking 2

The Tar Heels had little trouble disposing of Stony Brook in a 3-game sweep highlighted by another dominating performance from ace Jason DeCaro. But it was Tuesday’s 5-4, 11-inning victory against No. 24 Coastal Carolina that defined the week for coach Scott Forbes’ fourth-ranked team. After giving up the tying run in the ninth and cutting down the potential go-ahead run in the top of the 11th, Gavin Gallaher – who won an NCAA Regional game against LIU with a walkoff grand slam last season – struck again with a deep sacrifice fly to center to win the game and keep the Tar Heels’ unbeaten record intact.

1. Florida State (13-0)

• Last week: 5-0
• Previous ranking: 1

It’s hard to think of a team that’s ranked No. 7 nationally as flying under the radar. But the Seminoles are. They’ve methodically reeled off 13 straight wins to start the season, including a 3-game weekend sweep of Georgetown before posting a pair of workmanlike weekday wins against North Florida and Bethune-Cookman. They rank second in the ACC with a .343 team batting average and they’re No. 1 in the league in team ERA with both Wes Mendes and Jamie Arnold yielding only about a run per game each. With Lipscomb coming up this weekend, it will probably take until a March 11 showdown with Florida for Link Jarrett’s team to get its shot at attracting a little more national attention.

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It produced some good theater. And it provided the “Realignment X-perts” with plenty of fodder for speculation. None of it based in fact.

But in the end, the drawn-out legal battle between the ACC and its 2 highest-profile members, Florida State and Clemson, was destined to lead to this inevitable conclusion.

With an out-of-court settlement in which everyone involved can declare victory.

The deal, which was approved by all sides and formally announced on Tuesday, gives the Seminoles and Tigers a bigger piece of the ACC’s financial pie under a new uneven revenue distribution format based on television viewership. While at the same time, maintaining a much more realistic path to the College Football Playoff than those in the SEC or Big Ten.

Just as they wanted.

They also get a potential escape clause that will allow them to leave 6 years earlier than before, provided someone is interested in taking them.

The conference, meanwhile, finally gets to enjoy a period of peaceful existence without the constant threat of extinction looming overhead like an early spring thunderhead.

Under the settlement, 40% of the ACC’s annual television revenue will be split evenly among all its members, other than the 3 schools that were added by the league last year. The rest of the money will be distributed using a formula based on ratings over the past 5 years.

Additionally, the exit fee for leaving the conference will be reduced by $18 million per year through 2029-30. After that, the cost will drop to $75 million while also allowing departing programs to retain their media rights with the league.

“We remain proud members of the ACC, one of the strongest conferences in the country,” Clemson president Jim Clements said in a statement issued shortly after his school’s Board of Trustees voted to accept the settlement.

One big, happy family again.  At least for the next 5 years.

It would likely have taken that long, anyway, to have sorted out the dueling lawsuits – filed in 3 different states – and their subsequent appeals. If nothing else, Tuesday’s settlement buys everyone involved a little time to plot out their next move.

That goes for more than just the litigants.

Because while estimates cited by both FSU and Clemson suggest that the ACC’s top earners could see an increase of as much as $15 million per year under the new distribution format, those at the other end of the spectrum could see their bottom line reduced by as much as $7 million apiece.

If you’re Wake Forest, Boston College, Syracuse or one of the other poor, unfortunate souls heretofore known as “the have nots,” you’re going to have to decide if the security of a power conference is worth the cost of a reduced share of the profits that will undoubtedly slant the playing field in favor of your higher-profile rivals.

As for the “haves,” the goal is to strengthen their brand as much as possible. Not just to increase the amount of money coming in. But to better position their programs for whatever comes next.

Whether it’s the death of the ACC, as so many are predicting, or a nationwide restructuring of college football as a whole.

It’s anybody’s guess what the landscape will look like next year at this time, or once revenue sharing kicks in, let alone 5 years from now. By then, conferences as we’ve known them for the past 100 years or so might no longer exist.

Even if things stay the same, there’s no guarantee that Florida State, Clemson or anyone else, for that matter, will have any place to go, assuming they actually do want to leave.

Maybe it’s just that cooler heads are finally beginning to prevail now that the hostilities have ended and the lawsuits have been dropped. But from the sound of the comments coming out of Tallahassee and the Upstate of South Carolina, you have to wonder if this settlement wasn’t the end game all along.

The bluster of FSU Trustee Drew Weatherford’s assertion 2 summers ago that “It’s not a matter of if we leave the ACC, but how and when we leave,” has been replaced by a tone of reconciliation in the statement issued by university president Richard McCullough.

“From the start, we’ve held firm to the belief that the best solution would be one that enables FSU and every ACC institution to earn enhanced revenue through performance,” he said.

It’s anybody’s guess how this case might have played out had it eventually seen the inside of a courtroom and been decided by a judge. Or more accurately, a series of judges. And only time will tell which side will benefit most from its resolution.

But at least for now, everyone can declare victory and finally move on.

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Unless South Carolina has something to say about it.

The Gamecocks are in the midst of a miserable season at 12-17. They’re dead last in the conference and going nowhere fast. But after losing 14 straight to start their SEC schedule, they’ve suddenly hit on a winning formula.

And it couldn’t have come at a worse time for their conference rivals trying to stay on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

First, Lamont Paris’s team delivered a 15-point rout of Texas, a result that immediately negated the positive impact of the Longhorns’ win at Kentucky a week earlier and sent them into a 3-game tailspin.

Then Saturday, South Carolina put an equally unsightly blemish on Arkansas’s postseason resume by hanging a 72-53 beatdown on John Calipari’s Razorbacks that was even worse than the final score indicates.

Arkansas didn’t reach double-figure scoring – as a team, not individually – until the final 3 minutes of the half. They didn’t break 20 until the 12:35 mark of the second half and shot just 28.8% from the floor and went 3-for-22 from beyond the 3-point arc.

“It was a dud,” Calipari said afterward. “It was humiliating.”

Yes it was.

And the Razorbacks don’t have much time to try and mitigate the damage. They’re still in decent shape in the NET at No. 47 with 4 Quad 1 wins. But at just 17-12 overall and 6-10 in the conference, they’re not a Tournament lock by any means. 

Neither are Georgia, Oklahoma or Texas. A lot will depend on how heavily the selection committee weighs the SEC’s depth and quality against conference records that are likely to end up multiple games below .500. It’s an interpretation that will determine whether or not the conference breaks the Tournament record of 11 bids. And by how much.

This final week of the regular season could be a tipping point. 

While the first 10 teams in the SEC standings, 9 of which are ranked, are all solidly in the field of 68, it would be helpful for the 4 hopefuls with sub-.500 conference records below them to make a strong closing argument before they put their fate into the hands of the selection committee.

Especially the Bulldogs, whose next game is in Columbia against those suddenly hot, bubble-bursting Gamecocks.

SEC teams aren’t the only ones working to put themselves in position for the final few spots in the NCAA’s 68-team field. Here’s a look at how the bubble stacks up throughout college basketball:

• ACC: North Carolina (19-11, 12-6, 42 NET), SMU (21-8, 12-6, 41 NET). The Tar Heels have won 5 straight, but all of the victories have come against the bottom third of their conference. If they can survive a trap game against another bottom-feeder Tuesday against Virginia Tech they’ll have an opportunity to catapult themselves into the bracket against No. 2 Duke on Saturday. UNC’s best asset is that 10 of its 11 losses are of the Quad 1 variety. Its biggest liability is that it has only 1 Quad 1 victory. But that’s still 1 more than ACC rival SMU, which also had 3 Quad 2 losses despite a slightly better NET. Wake Forest, meanwhile, has played itself off the bubble with losses to NC State and Virginia, followed by a 37-point whipping at the hands of Duke on Monday.
• Big Ten: Indiana (18-11, 9-9, 55 NET), Nebraska (17-12, 7-11, 57 NET), Ohio State (16-13, 8-10, 36 NET). The Big Ten will likely be a litmus test on how much importance the selection committee puts on metrics compared to actual wins and losses. Ohio State, in particular. The Buckeyes are just 16-13, 8-10 in the conference with 4 losses in their last 6 games. But their NET is strong at No. 36. Their final 2 games are against fellow bubble teams Nebraska and Indiana will go a long way to determining the fate of all 3 contenders. Indiana figures to be in the best shape despite a problematic NET. But at least the Hoosiers are hot, having won 4 of the last 5 with a pair of ranked upsets. 
• Big 12: Baylor (17-12, 9-9, 32 NET), West Virginia 17-12, 8-10, 48 NET), Cincinnati (17-12, 7-11, 40 NET). The Bears should be in good shape as long as they don’t stumble against TCU on Tuesday. And they can take themselves out of First Four consideration by finishing the regular season with an upset of No. 3 Houston. Both the Mountaineers and Bearcats still have a lot of work to do, beyond the final 2 regular season games. Of the 2, WVU has a much more realistic shot at sneaking into the field because of its 5 Quad 1 wins, compared to only 1 for Cincinnati.
• Big East: Xavier (19-10, 1107, 49 NET), Villanova (18-12, 11-8, 51 NET). The Musketeers’ resume is similar to that of North Carolina in the ACC. A lot of wins against teams below them in the standings, but only 1 victory of note. They did help their case on Saturday, however, with a convincing 83-61 win against NCAA team Creighton. The Wildcats, meanwhile, have rallied from a slow start by winning 6 of their last 8. But their NCAA hopes will depend on their ability to carry that momentum into the conference tournament.
• SEC: Georgia (18-11, 6-10, 33 NET), Arkansas (17-12, 4-9, 47 NET), Texas (16-13, 5-11, 46 NET), Oklahoma (17-12, 4-12, 53 NET). The Bulldogs are the only team that helped themselves last week by winning twice, including an upset of No. 4 Florida. The Razorbacks, Longhorns and Sooners all stumbled in games they couldn’t afford to lose. And they’ll all play one other this week. The Texas-Oklahoma regular-season finale on Saturday could be an elimination game. Especially for the Sooners, whose season trajectory after going undefeated in the nonconference portion of the schedule is similar to the one that kept South Carolina out of the tournament in 2016.
• Mid-majors: San Diego State (20-7, 13-5 Mountain West, 50 NET), Boise State (21-8, 13-5, 43 NET). A year ago, both teams would be safely in the field. But the combination of the Mountain West’s disappointing Tournament performance last March and less depth in the conference this season, both are squarely on the bubble. Both teams did what they could to strengthen their case by going 2-0 last week. But where they fall on the bubble will depend a lot on how many bids get stolen and how much value the committee decides to place on the competition in the Mountain West.

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Not the kind of madness that involves brackets, buzzer-beaters and the cutting down of nets. This is the kind that comes when the coaching carousel starts spinning at full speed before the final game is played.

The kind that creates awkward situations such as the one that took place at Miami last Tuesday. With a coach on one bench working to help his current team beat the team on the other bench, the team he’s about to be hired to coach in the future.

It’s not so much that the Hurricanes have approached Duke assistant Jai Lucas about filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Jim Larrañaga in January. That sort of thing happens all the time. It just usually stays confined to back channels until the appropriate time.

In this case it didn’t.

Three days before the Blue Devils traveled to Coral Gables to inflict their obligatory beatdown on the ACC’s worst team, reports began surfacing that Lucas’s eventual hiring by Miami was more a matter of when, not if.

Though neither side is ready to confirm the arrangement, for obvious reasons, no one denied it, either. Though Jon Scheyer, Lucas’s boss for at least the next few weeks, came close when pressed about the matter during his postgame remarks.

“Absolutely he’s a head coach. No question about it,” Scheyer said after Duke’s 97-60 victory. “It’s part of why I hired him. And the job he’s done for us has been incredible. Any report or anything that’s out there, I’m just getting wind of it now. But we’ll cross that bridge and figure it out. But I can tell you 100% that Jai is an amazing coach.”

That much can be verified without the benefit of a press release.

Lucas has paid his dues, put in his time learning from some of the best coaches in the game – Rick Barnes at Texas, John Calipari at Kentucky and now Scheyer – and is prepared for the challenge of leading a team of his own.

His work with the Blue Devils’ backcourt is tangible through the growth of Tyrese Proctor this season and as defensive coordinator of the No. 4 defense in the country, according to KenPom.

If Miami has chosen to go in the direction of an untested first-time coach, Lucas has the right profile to get the Hurricanes back on the path that took them to the Final Four just 2 seasons ago. 

He’s young and vibrant, and savvy to the intricacies of NIL and the transfer portal. He’s a proven recruiter, having helped Scheyer build Duke’s current star-studded roster. The son of former Maryland All-American and No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick John Lucas, he’s been around basketball his entire life.

He’s got a name that gives him instant credibility and a résumé to back it up.

The Lucas to Miami drama isn’t the only ACC coaching news deflecting attention from the usual March to the NCAA Tournament and coaches trying to save their jobs, not look for other employment.

Speaking of which …

Just down the road from Duke in Chapel Hill, word began to leak out about Hubert Davis’s future at North Carolina. And surprise, it’s not what anyone expected.

Turns out he’s not going anywhere.

Never was.

While everyone around college basketball, myself included, was speculating that Davis might be in trouble if the Tar Heels don’t make the NCAA Tournament, which might be a moot point anyway because of the way his Tar Heels are playing right now, the coach has been safe and secure after signing a 2-year contract extension back in December.

It’s been an unusual year for coaching in the ACC.

Virginia’s Tony Bennett retired a week before the start of practice because he was burned out trying to keep up with the changing landscape of college athletics. Larrañaga called it quits after his team got off to a horrendous start and Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton followed him out the door a few weeks ago amid issues both on and off the court.

The Cavaliers’ opening is likely the next one to be filled. And that could happen before the season is over, too, if the school’s administration decides to elevate interim coach Ron Sanchez to the job permanently. As Bennett wanted, his players and several rival coaches have begun actively lobbying.

That, however, would be a mistake.

It’s not as if UVa is terrible. The Cavaliers are 14-14 overall, 7-10 in the ACC with 3 regular season games and the conference tournament remaining.

As much as the folks in Charlottesville have “embraced the pace” during their team’s run as a national contender, Bennett’s deliberate, defense-oriented style of play had already begun to get stale before he decided to pull the ripcord last fall.

Players don’t stay around long enough to become fluent in the pack line defense anymore. And transfers aren’t interested in coming to a program whose system won’t allow them to compile the gaudy stats they believe will help them get to the League.

So the time has come for the Cavaliers to make a clean break and try something new by bringing in a coach from outside the program.

That’s a decision that will most likely be made once the season finally plays itself out.

But you never know. Once the coaching carousel starts spinning, it’s hard to stop it.

Even this early in March.

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So while predicted ACC frontrunners Virginia, Duke and NC State have reason to be concerned by their stumbling starts, it’s too soon to panic.

The Cavaliers started the year ranked No. 2 in the D1Baseball preseason poll. The Blue Devils were No. 11 and the Wolfpack No. 13. But between them, they’ve combined for just an 11-12 record over the opening 2 weeks.

With the start of the conference schedule still 2 weeks away, there’s plenty of time to work out the issues that are plaguing them. Just as there’s time for the ACC’s 3 remaining unbeaten teams – Florida State, North Carolina and Stanford – to get even better.

Week 3 ACC power rankings

The early struggles of the UVA, Duke and NC State, combined with encouraging starts by Stanford, Louisville and Notre Dame, have produced a major juggling of the rankings. Here’s how the ACC’s 16 teams stack up heading into Week 3 of the long season:

16. Boston College

The Eagles lost 2 of 3 at New Orleans over the weekend, both by a single run, to fall below .500 (2-3) for the season. Hitting hasn’t been the problem for Todd Interdonato’s team. It’s averaging 7.8 runs per game with a cumulative batting average of .303. The pitching staff, however, is off to a slow start with a team ERA of 6.65.

15. Cal

After opening the season with a series win against Nevada, the Bears lost 2 of 3 in a weekend series against Houston. Redshirt freshman Gavin Eddy and junior Cole Clark came within 2 outs of the program’s first no-hitter since 1978 before finishing with a 2-hit, 5-1 victory against the Cougars. Cal bounced back with a midweek win on Wednesday. But even then, it took 11 innings and a come-from-behind effort to get past 2-7 Cal State Bakersfield.

14. NC State

It’s been a miserable week for Elliott Avent’s team. The Wolfpack went to Jacksonville, Fla. to play in the Jax College Baseball Classic and dropped all 3 games, managing only 6 runs combined in losses to Ohio State, Alabama and Coastal Carolina. Things only got worse once State returned home. A 5-1 loss to Richmond on Tuesday extended its losing streak to 5 since an opening weekend sweep of Fordham. The Wolfpack’s fall from No. 6 in last week’s power rankings is the biggest this week.

13. Duke

Just when it looked as though the Blue Devils had gotten their act together, especially on the mound by outscoring Cornell 34-8 in the final 2 games of their weekend series. Saturday’s win was the 382nd of coach Chris Pollard’s career, making him the winningest coach in program history. But the positive momentum didn’t last long. A 9-6 loss to Campbell on Tuesday and an 11-4 defeat at the hands of Liberty on Wednesday have dropped Duke below .500 at 4-5.

12. Pittsburgh

The Panthers were looking good after starting the season with 5 straight neutral-site wins. But after a 1-run loss to Monmouth in Cary, N.C., they returned North and dropped their home opener against Bucknell on Tuesday. Pitt mustered only 4 hits in the 7-3 loss to the Bison. Things will only get tougher for the Panthers moving forward as they return to North Carolina this weekend for a 3-game series at UNC Greensboro that kicks off an 11-game road trip. 

11. Notre Dame

Pitching was the name of the game for the Irish this weekend, as they improved to 5-1 with 3 crisply-played victories in Deland, Fla. Jack Radel and 3 relievers got things off to a winning start by holding Iowa to a single run in an 11-inning 2-1 triumph that was decided on a homer by Connor Hincks. That was followed by a 12-2 win against UMBC with Jackson Dennies striking out 8 in 5.1 innings and an 8-2 win against host Stetson. Up 4 spots from No. 15, the Irish are the biggest mover in this week’s rankings.

10. Virginia Tech

The Hokies have come out swinging to start the season. They’re hitting .364 as a team with 83 runs in their first 8 games. Redshirt senior outfielder Sam Tackett is hitting .500 (13-for-26) with 4 homers and 12 driven in, sophomore catcher David McCann is hitting .448 (13-for-29) with 2 homers and 8 RBI while junior second baseman Jared Davis is hitting .429 (12-for-28). After taking 2 of 3 from UNC Greensboro over the weekend, Tech improved to 6-2 with a Tuesday victory against James Madison.

9. Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets came within 6 outs of winning their weekend series against Marshall. But the bullpen imploded in the final game on Monday, giving up 9 runs in the final 3 innings of a 12-8 loss. Relief pitching was an issue in each of the final 3 games of the series. The Thundering Herd scored 16 runs in 15 innings against the Tech bullpen. A 16-7 win against West Georgia on Thursday upped the Yellow Jackets’ record to 6-2.

8. Miami

The Hurricanes (8-1) enjoyed a dominant weekend while pounding out 4 straight wins against Princeton. It was their first 4-game sweep since a home-opening series against Towson in 2022. Miami outscored its Ivy League opponent 36-5, including an 8-0 shutout in the final game on Sunday on a combined 1-hitter highlighted by a 9-strikeout effort over 6 innings by starter Brian Walters. The Hurricanes then continued their winning ways with a 14-6 victory against Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday.

7. Virginia

The Cavaliers continue to spin their wheels after coming out of the starting gate at No. 2 in the preseason polls. Though they’re not exactly struggling. They could easily be 6-1 rather than 4-3 if their 2 extra-inning losses had gone the other way. Still, there are clearly issues to address after going 1-2 in 3 games – with setbacks to Oregon State and Oklahoma – at the Karback Round Rock Classic in Texas. On a positive note, ace Evan Blanco made his first appearance following a preseason injury in a 6-4 win against VMI on Tuesday, although he was on a strict 25-pitch count and lasted only 1 inning.

6. Louisville

Pitching and defense are usually a winning combination and the Cardinals have been strong at both so far. Their pitchers are averaging 11.3 strikeouts per 9 innings and they’ve made only 4 errors through 7 games. But it’s their bats that have them off to an explosive 6-1 start. Louisville pounded out 31 runs and pounded out 19 extra-base hits in a 3-game weekend sweep of Western Michigan. They ranked 11th nationally with a .351 team batting average before going off for 16 hits and 15 runs against Butler on Wednesday. 

5. Stanford

The Cardinal returned to their Pac-12 roots by sweeping a 4-game series against former conference rival Washington. They’ve now won 7 of their last 8 against the Huskies and are off an 8-0 start for the first time since beginning the 2018 season with 10 straight wins. Their current 8-game streak is their longest since reeling off 17 in a row in May 2022. Stanford’s offense is averaging 8.9 runs per game, led by ACC Player of the Week Trevor Haskins, who homered in all 4 games while going 7-for-18 with 12 RBI.

4. Wake Forest

Even with ACC Pitcher of the Year Chase Burns having moved on to the professional ranks, coach Tom Walter still has plenty of live arms at his disposal. They were on full display over the past 4 games, all wins. Missouri transfer Logan Lunsford struck out 13 in 5.1 innings on Friday and Tennessee transfer Matthew Dallas allowed only 1 hit over 6 innings on Saturday in back-to-back shutouts of St. John’s. Then after finishing off the series of the Red Storm on Sunday, Wake’s bullpen took over in a midweek win against Elon. After falling behind 6-0 in the top of the first, 6 relief pitchers shut the Phoenix down the rest of the way in a 9-6 win that extended the Deacons’ nonconference home winning streak to 64 straight.

3. Clemson

The Tigers opened their home schedule by winning all 4 of their games in the Clemson Invitational, beating VCU and North Carolina A&M twice each. The final 2 featured pitching gems by starters Ethan Darden and Justin LeGuernic. Clemson’s bats then took over in a 20-7 run-rule victory against Winthrop on Tuesday that improved its record to 7-1. The Tigers warmed up for this weekend’s series against arch-rival South Carolina by scoring runs in all 6 of the innings they went to the plate while tallying their most runs since scoring 20 against Miami in March 2022.

2. North Carolina

The fifth-ranked Tar Heels completed their first-ever 3-game sweep of in-state rival East Carolina, including a 2-0 shutout behind ace Jason DeCaro in the opener at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday. They followed that up with midweek wins against VCU and North Carolina A&T. The most encouraging aspect of UNC’s perfect 9-0 start, its best since 2019, has been the play of Hunter Stokley. The graduate first baseman, who missed all but 3 games last season with a hand injury, hit .667 in the 4 games against ECU before slamming a pair of homers against VCU. He’s got 15 hits in his first 36 at-bats with 10 runs scored and 11 driven in.

1. Florida State

The Seminoles aren’t just off to the most impressive start among ACC teams. As one of the nation’s 12 remaining unbeatens at 8-0, a case can be made that they’re among the very best in all of college baseball over the first 2 weeks. Link Jarrett’s seventh-ranked team put on a balanced display of hitting, pitching and defense in outscoring defending Ivy League champion Penn 44-9 during a 4-game weekend sweep. Ace Jamie Arnold was dominant again in striking out 8 in 5 scoreless innings on Friday. But he had plenty of help behind him. FSU’s 1.35 team earned run average is the second best nationally, behind only ACC rival Miami. Offensively, the Noles are hitting .340 with 11 homers. They pounded out 16 hits in a 9-6 win against Jacksonville on Wednesday for their second 8-0 start in as many years.

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Those are questions that can’t be answered until the final day of the regular season when UNC gets another crack at rival Duke.

This time at the Dean Dome.

Until then, Hubert Davis and his team are doing what they can to stay close to the NCAA bubble by playing their most sustained stretch of good basketball of the season. And beating the teams it’s supposed to beat.

Monday night’s 96-85 win at Florida State was the Tar Heels’ fourth straight. It improved the Tar Heels’ record to 18-11 (11-6 ACC) and ensured that they’ll at least stay in their current No. 45 spot in the NET rankings.

As was the case with previous victories against Syracuse, NC State and Virginia, the Quad 2 win in Tallahassee isn’t the type that will necessarily get UNC into the 68-team field. But at least it wasn’t the kind of loss that could potentially knock them out.

Which is virtually any loss from here on out.

“We’re in the mindset of there’s no other option but to win,” junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin said after Saturday’s 81-66 mastery of UVA in Chapel Hill. “We’re going to do everything we can to do that,”

Whatever margin for error the Tar Heels had was lost during a 7-day stretch earlier this month when they fell behind by 32 in the second half on the way to a loss at Duke, followed by an equally lopsided beatdown at the hands of Clemson.

If that 20-point setback turns out to be rock bottom, then the week that followed it will be remembered as a turning point.

UNC used the open date in its schedule to its advantage by practicing with a greater sense of urgency while working to address the issues that have plagued it since the start of the season.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Tar Heels have looked like a different team since then.

“Our practices from that point on have been different,” Davis said. “They’ve been feisty, extremely competitive and short-tempered. The competitive fight has been there and whatever it ends up in terms of what it looks like, I just feel like we’re getting better.”

Asked what took so long for the light to come on, Davis replied simply: “Who cares? It’s here now.”

The contrast has been most noticeable in the paint and on the glass. After ranking either first or second in the ACC in rebounding margin in every season over the past decade, this year’s margin of plus-2.2 is just eighth in the league, well off the usual pace.

And yet, since the Clemson game, the Tar Heels have outrebounded their opponents by a UNC-like 146-103. And their 51 offensive rebounds during that stretch have produced 75 second-chance points. Including a season-high 24 against Floria State.

It’s a transformation that has been brought about in equal parts by effort, a taller lineup with the insertion of 6-6 freshman Drake Powell into the starting lineup and the re-awakening of big man Jae’Lyn Withers.

The 6-9 graduate student had become an afterthought in UNC’s rotation from mid-January to mid-February when he played double-figure minutes only 3 times in 8 games. He’s averaged 23.5 minutes during this 4-game winning streak, contributing 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while making 10 of his 16 3-point attempts.

“This is his last year. You see the end and you can see things from a different perspective,” Davis said of Withers. “I think that perspective has really helped out J-Whit from the standpoint of really wanting to be consistent and solid in his play on both ends of the floor. That’s what he’s done.”

Withers’ recent improvement has sparked comparisons to the late-season surge of former Tar Heel Brady Manek that helped carry UNC from the bubble to the national championship game in 2022.

But with upcoming games against ACC bottom-feeders Miami and Virginia Tech before the regular-season finale against Duke and the conference tournament, there’s still a lot of work left for Withers and his team to do just to get into this year’s tournament.

Here’s a look at the NCAA Tournament bubble around the country:

• ACC: UNC (18-11, 11-6, 45 NET), Wake Forest (19-8, 11-5, 63 NET), SMU (20-7, 11-5, 39 NET). While the Tar Heels’ stock is on the rise, the ACC’s 2 other bubble teams took dangerous steps back this week. Wake Forest went 8 minutes without a field goal during its second late collapse this month in suffering a loss to last-place NC State it could absolutely not afford on Saturday. SMU still has the best NET of the 3 at No. 39. But the Mustangs still don’t have a Quad 1 win. And they wasted one of their final opportunities on Saturday with a 10-point home loss to Clemson.
• Big Ten: Illinois (17-11, 9-8, 23 NET), Nebraska (17-11, 7-10, 54 NET), Indiana (16-11, 7-9, 56 NET). Don’t look now, but here comes Indiana. Coach Mike Woodson might be on his way out, but it’s still possible for his Hoosiers to play their way back into NCAA contention after upsets of No. 11 Michigan State and No. 13 Purdue in their past 2 games. Illinois, on the other hand, appears to be trending in the opposite direction. Burdened by a flu epidemic and a season-ending injury to star freshman Morez Johnson Jr., the Illini have lost 3 straight, including a 110-67 humiliation at the hands of Duke on Saturday. Nebraska didn’t help its cause by stacking an ugly 49-46 home loss to Michigan on Monday on top of an even uglier 17-point setback at Penn State on Wednesday.
• Big 12: Baylor (15-11, 8-8, 30 NET), West Virginia (16-11, 7-9, 48 NET), Cincinnati (16-11, 6-10, 44 NET). Baylor is still in the field by virtue of its 5 Quad 1 wins and strong NET. But after losing twice last week, including at cellar-dwelling Colorado, the Bears are suddenly flirting with the bubble. West Virginia, which also has 5 Q1 wins, helped itself by winning a showdown against fellow bubble team Cincinnati two Sundays ago. Despite the loss, the Bearcats still have a better NET than the Mountaineers.
• Big East: Xavier (18-10, 10-7, 53 NET), Villanova (16-12, 9-8, 50 NET). Xavier has won 4 straight, giving its NCAA résumé a significant boost with a home game against Creighton coming on Saturday. Villanova broke a 2-game losing streak by upsetting No. 16 Marquette last Saturday. But with 3 Quad 3-4 blemishes on their record, the Wildcats may already have dug themselves too deep a hope to escape.
• SEC: Vanderbilt (18-9, 6-8, 43 NET), Arkansas (16-11, 5-9, 40 NET), Texas (16-11, 5-9, 38 NET), Oklahoma (17-10, 4-10, 51 NET), Georgia (16-11, 4-10, 41 NET). Vanderbilt had a good week with a win against No. 24 Ole Miss for its third Q1 win of the season. Oklahoma also chalked up a Q1 win by taking down No. 21 Mississippi State, but at 4-10 in the conference, the Sooners probably need another upset or 2 to get onto the right of the bubble. On the other end of the scale, Texas suffered an egregious loss when it laid an 84-69 egg against South Carolina, a team that hadn’t previously won an SEC game this season. While Arkansas and Georgia also went winless last week, at least all of their losses came against ranked opponents. And the Razorbacks picked up a much-needed ranked win over Mizzou on Saturday.
• Mid-majors: San Diego State (18-7, 11-5 Mountain West, 49 NET), VCU (21-5, 12-2 Atlantic 10, 31 NET), Boise State (19-8, 11-5 Mountain West, 46 NET). There’s a group of teams, led by UC San Diego of the Big West, that could turn into at-large bid-stealers if they don’t win their conference tournaments.VCU is also in that category, especially after beating co-A10 leader George Mason on Saturday. Boise State also helped its cause by going 2-0 for the week. But with less depth in the Mountain West than there was a year ago, the Broncos need all the wins they can get the rest of the way to avoid being disappointed on Selection Sunday.

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There are too many excuses to explain away the Blue Devils’ 110-67 dominance of Illinois.

That’s the Big Ten Illinois. Not some directional version of it served up for a ritual crushing like some early-season sacrificial cupcake.

You’ll point out that Illini are a team trending toward the bubble. That they’ve been beset by injuries all season and illness recently. That they had a bad night in which they missed a lot of open looks, including 24 of their 26 3-point attempts. Or that Duke was playing in the friendly confines of “Cameron North,” its home away from home.

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

If you don’t see it or worse, if you can’t bring yourself to acknowledge it, fine.

But if there was any doubt before, there shouldn’t be now. This Duke team is something special. And it continues to raise its ceiling as it gears up to make a deep run into March and April. Maybe all the way to the finish line.

Saturday’s beatdown of Illinois wasn’t just a win. 

It was a statement.

Not that kind of statement. The Blue Devils already took care of that back in December ago when they took down Auburn. The team currently perched at the top of the national polls.

This was a statement that screams even louder than the balance of 7 different players scoring in double figures, the 28 assists on 40 field goals, the 44-30 rebounding advantage, the 52% 3-point accuracy or the lopsided final margin of victory.

It was a performance that showed that Duke is the kind of team that uses its missteps as learning experiences to help it grow rather than allowing them to become a blueprint for future opponents to follow.

There were few, if any, of the glaring defensive lapses that helped beat them at Clemson. And instead of getting bored, lifting off the accelerator and allowing the opposition to make a prolonged late run as the Blue Devils did after getting up by 32 against rival North Carolina 3 weeks ago, this time they kept the hammer down until the bitter end.

The 43-point margin of victory was Duke’s largest in a regular-season neutral-site game since the ACC was formed in 1953. And the loss was the worst in Illinois’ history.

And it did so with a key member of its rotation, rebounding and defensive specialist Maliq Brown, on the bench in street clothes nursing a dislocated shoulder.

“We’re coming together really well right now,” star freshman Cooper Flagg said afterward in a courtside interview with FOX Sports reporter Allison Williams. “We’re at our best when the ball is moving and we’re getting a lot of assists. We’re playing some pretty good basketball right now and we’re going to try to keep getting better.”

One way to bring about that improvement is to keep finding challenges even when none appear to be needed. That’s what coach Jon Scheyer did for his team by playing this game against a high-level nonconference opponent instead of taking the week off during the break in its ACC schedule.

It’s a trick he learned from his mentor Mike Krzyzewski, who played teams such as Georgetown, St. John’s and UCLA around this time of the year to help give the Blue Devils a taste of what was to come once tournament time arrived.

The 2010 national championship team Scheyer played on had a home game against Tulsa in late February. The 2015 team that won Duke’s most recent title prepped with a win against St. John’s at MSG in a game that gave Coach K his 1,000th career victory.

Scheyer took the concept one step further than the venue and opponent on Saturday by playing the game with a Wilson EVO NXT ball, the kind the NCAA uses for postseason play, rather than Duke’s customary Nike Elite model.

“Those kinds of things may seem small,” Scheyer said during a pregame media session on Thursday, adding that “I think it makes a ton of sense. … It’s great for a team to get a small taste outside the (conference) bubble we’re in.”

And in doing so, give the haters who still insist Duke really isn’t that good one less thing to hold against it.

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The best pitchers usually get saved for the more important weekend games, especially once conference play begins. And coaches are more likely to juggle their lineups to get at-bats for players other than their usual starters.

It provides a recipe for upsets, as NC State, Wake Forest and Miami all learned on Tuesday.

The Wolfpack squandered a 9th-inning lead in losing at home to Liberty while the Deacons and Hurricanes both went on the road to play neighboring mid-majors, falling to UNC Greensboro and Florida Atlantic, respectively.

While the setbacks were disappointing and look bad on those teams’ records, they’re nothing to get worked up about.

It’s a long season. And it’s only just begun.

Week 2 ACC power rankings

With the opening week now in the books, here’s how the ACC’s 16 baseball teams stack up, taking into account both a generally successful weekend throughout the conference and those dreaded midweek landmines: 

16. Boston College (1-1)

The Eagles couldn’t hold an early lead in their opener at USC Upstate on Friday, losing 10-7. But they flipped the script on Sunday by rallying for 3 runs in the final 2 innings for an 11-9 win that split the rain-shortened series in Spartanburg, SC. Jack Toomey went 4-for-7 with a homer and 3 RBI in the series to key an offense that hit a combined .292. But pitching is a concern after giving up 18 earned runs in the first 2 games.

15. Notre Dame (2-1)

One big inning was the difference between a winning and losing opening weekend for the Irish against North Florida in Jacksonville. After winning the first game of the series 5-3 on Friday, Notre Dame blew open a tie game by scoring 10 times in the top of the sixth, a rally that saw Estevan Moreno hit both a double and a grand slam. The Ospreys got their revenge by winning 8-1 for a split of the Saturday doubleheader.

14. Pittsburgh (3-0)

An opening weekend series sweep is always an encouraging way to start a season. Experience, however, should teach the Panthers not to get too excited over their 3 wins against Eastern Michigan in Port Charlotte, Fla. They also started last season with a series sweep and still finished last in the ACC. And 2 of these 3 wins were anything but easy. Putt had to come from behind to win on Friday and Saturday before winning the weekend with a 17-2 rout highlighted by a 5-RBI performance by third baseman Ryan Zuckerman.

13. Cal (3-1)

The Bears made their ACC debut by winning 3 of 4 against Nevada, punctuated by an 8-0 shutout on Monday that saw pitchers Ethan Foley, Jake Guardiancic and Cole Tremain combine for a 3-hitter. Junior third baseman Cade Campbell was the hitting star with a pair of dingers and 8 RBI. The only blemish on an otherwise successful weekend was a 10-1 loss on Sunday that saw Cal manage only 4 hits. Two of them by Campbell.

12. Virginia Tech (3-1)

The Hokies brought out the lumber against Bucknell, scoring 19 runs in Friday’s opener before setting an ACC-era school record by exploding for 27 runs in a Sunday finale that might have been even more lopsided had the game not been halted after 7 innings by the run rule. Thirteen Tech players had at least 1 hit in the game with 11 recording RBI. Senior outfielder Sam Tackett led the way by hitting a pair of homers and driving home 6 runs. The Hokies continued their hot hitting to avoid the midweek jinx in an 8-6 win against ETSU on Tuesday.

11. Duke (2-2)

It’s a long season, so a disappointing opening weekend is nothing to panic about. Especially in a series against a power conference opponent. Still, losing 2 of 3 to Cincinnati at home isn’t exactly how Duke coach Chris Pollard drew things up for his preseason No. 11-ranked team. The Blue Devils lost 8-3 on opening night and got hammered 19-5 on Sunday. The only thing that saved them from being swept was a walkoff 12th-inning home run by shortstop Wallace Clark. Tuesday’s bounce-back 8-4 win against a good UNC Wilmington team helped salvage something from a disappointing start.

10. Miami (3-1)

Even though the Hurricanes scored 10 or more runs in each of their 3 wins against Niagara last weekend, the highlight of the opening series was their pitching. Their staff allowed only 3 runs combined, highlighted by a 10-0, 1-hit shutout on Saturday in which Cincinnati transfer Griffin Hugus struck out 11 and walked only 1 in 6 innings. The pitching stayed strong even in Tuesday’s loss at Florida Atlantic, a 2-1 setback in which 7 Miami hurlers combined to strike out 12 while allowing only 2 runs on 7 hits.

9. Louisville (2-1)

The Cardinals missed the NCAA Tournament in each of the past 2 seasons. But they served notice that they’re ready to return to ACC contention by going 2-1 in 3 games against ranked opponents at the Shriner’s Children’s College Classic. In addition to beating Texas, they also put a 13-1 hurting on No. 12 Arizona while also dropping a 12-3 decision to No. 12 Oklahoma State. Louisville showed off a deep lineup in a competitive event, with 9 players driving in at least 1 run. Ace Patrick Forbes was dominant in an opening-day win by striking out 11 Longhorns in 5 innings of work.

8. Stanford (4-0)

The Cardinal took to the diamond for the first time as an ACC team, but their opening weekend opponent was a traditional one. This marks the fourth straight year and 12th time since 2000 that Stanford has begun the season playing Cal State Fullerton. Although it took a 4-run ninth-inning rally to finish it off, the Cardinal swept the 4-game series by scoring 42 runs on 55 hits. Sophomore lefty Christian Lim was the star on the mound, throwing 6 innings of no-hit ball in Game 2 on Saturday’s doubleheader. Freshman sensation Rintaro Sasaki had a successful debut by driving home a team-leading 8 runs in the 4 games.

7. Georgia Tech (4-0)

Drew Burress did what Drew Burress does by hitting a walk-off grand slam that keyed a 7-run ninth to beat Old Dominion in the season opener. But other than that, the Yellow Jackets’ bats have been quiet thus far. But because their pitching staff has posted a collective 2.75 earned run average, they’re still undefeated into this weekend’s 4-game series against Marshall.

6. NC State (3-1)

A 1-run weekday loss to a good Liberty team is nothing to be concerned about. And yet … with stud reliever Jacob Dudan coughing up a 3-run lead in the ninth and closer Derrick Smith out with an undisclosed injury maybe a little concern is warranted. There’s definitely no worries about the Wolfpack’s bats. Fueled by newcomers Justin DeCriscio, Chris McHugh and Brayden Fraasman, State has averaged 12 runs per game and are hitting .364 as a group through the first 4 games. We’ll get a better read on the Wolfpack this weekend in Jacksonville against Ohio State, Alabama and Coastal Carolina.

5. Wake Forest (4-1)

The Deacons put on an offensive show in their opening week bombardment of LIU and Marist. Their rebuilt lineup pounded out 63 runs on 56 hits with 8 homers and 19 doubles. It was an impressive display. But after getting shut out on just 2 hits by neighboring rival UNC Greensboro on Tuesday, you have to wonder if Wake’s bats are as potent as they looked over the weekend or if their stats were fattened up by weak competition.

4. Clemson (2-1)

The Tigers beat a pair of ranked opponents at the Shriner’s Children’s College Classic in Arlington, Tex., last weekend with a 1-run decision against Oklahoma State and a 16-5 rout of Arizona. Even though Erik Bakich’s team lost on Sunday to unranked Ole Miss, they still might have been higher in these rankings had they put up more of a fight. But getting run-ruled raises questions about their pitching depth.

3. Virginia (2-1)

Let’s not get carried away with the Cavaliers’ opening day loss to unranked Michigan. It was a 5-4 setback in 11 innings. One run either way and UVA would be undefeated and no one would think twice about it. What’s important is that Brian O’Connor’s team bounced right back to beat Villanova and Rice to close out the multi-team event in Puerto Rico. The Cavaliers were picked to win the ACC in the league’s preseason poll and nothing that happened last weekend has changed those expectations.

2. North Carolina (4-0)

The Tar Heels are off to an impressive start with a 3-game sweep of Texas Tech and a Tuesday win against another Big 12 opponent, Kansas State. Ace starter Jason DeCaro and bullpen workhouse Matthew Matthijs have picked up right where they left off a year ago and Liberty transfer Kane Kepley has been as good as advertised both at the plate (5-of–16, 6 runs, 3 stolen bases) and defensively in center field.

1. Florida State  (4-0)

The Seminoles lost a lot of firepower from last year’s College World Series team. But the opening week showed that they still have plenty left. Holdovers Alex Lodise and Drew Faurot are a combined 15-for-35 (.429) with 3 homers and 10 RBI in a sweep of James Madison and Tuesday’s win at South Florida. With ace Jamie Arnold looking unhittable in his debut and a bullpen that has allowed only 2 runs in 14.2 innings, coach Link Jarrett couldn’t have drawn up a better start.

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But even he had to be worn out by the roller coaster of emotion his team put him through last week.

Within the span of 7 days and 6 time zones, the Deacons went from being among the last 4 teams in the field of 68 to one of the first 4 out. Then right back onto the good side of the bubble. With 2 long travel nightmares along the way.

The saga began with a 10-point win at Cal on Feb. 8 that completed a 2-game sweep of Wake’s trip to the ACC’s Western frontier and improved its record to 18-6 (10-3 in conference play).

Four days later, after a lengthy flight delay that required a private plane to be sent to rescue Forbes and some of his players, the Deacons appeared to be on their way toward building on the momentum. But they let a 16-point lead against Florida State slip away in the final 8½ minutes to suffer what Forbes called “probably the worst loss in my tenure here.”

It was a Quad 3 setback that might have been a killing blow to a team at odds with the metrics that weigh heavily in the NCAA selection process, despite a solid record and an early-season win against Michigan to boost its résumé, had it not been for Saturday’s bounce-back 77-66 victory at SMU.

The Quad 1 win, earned without the services of second-leading scorer Cam Hildreth, not only repaired the damage caused by the Florida State meltdown — it catapulted the Deacons up to No. 58 in the NCAA’s NET rankings.

Eight spots higher than they started the week.

Wake can finally get its coach off the bubble and into the Dance by avoiding another bad loss in its remaining home games against Virginia, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, and hang onto its top-4 seed in next month’s ACC Tournament.

Not that Forbes is thinking that far ahead.

“It’s still early for that conversation,” he said during Monday’s conference coaches’ Zoom call. “Our biggest focus right now is securing the double bye in the ACC Tournament. That’s the most important thing for us and we will address those conversations when we reach the end.”

While Saturday’s win in Dallas provided a major boost to the Deacons’ NCAA hopes, it had the opposite effect on SMU’s postseason prospects. The Mustangs (19-6, 10-4) might be 18 spots better off than Wake in the NET. But without a Quad 1 win in a conference unlikely to get more than 4 teams into the bracket, they’ve got their work cut out for themselves between now and Selection Sunday.

They’re not the only team jockeying for position on or near the bubble as the season heads into its home stretch. 

Here’s a look at where some of the other hopefuls stand with 4 weeks remaining until the Madness begins:

• ACC: Wake Forest (19-7, 11-4, 58 NET), SMU (19-7, 10-4, 40 NET), North Carolina (15-11, 8-6, 47 NET). The best thing the Tar Heels have going for them right now is the name on the front of their jerseys. Beyond its name brand, Hubert Davis’s team will need a win against Duke in its regular-season finale and at least a win or 2 in the ACC Tournament to stand a realistic shot at avoiding a second missed NCAA in the past 3 years.
• Big Ten: UCLA (19-7, 10-5, 23 NET), Nebraska (17-9, 7-8, 46 NET), Oregon (18-8, 7-8, 32 NET). The Bruins helped their case by winning at Indiana on Friday, their first victory in 7 tries outside the Pacific Time Zone this season. The Cornhuskers avoided disaster by roaring back from a 15-point halftime deficit to win at Northwestern while the Ducks held serve at home against Rutgers on Sunday.
• Big 12: BYU (17-8, 8-6, 36 NET), West Virginia (15-10, 6-8, 44 NET). The Cougars are in good shape for now. But with a brutal remaining schedule that includes ranked opponents Iowa State, Kansas and Arizona, they’re still not safe. As for the Mountaineers, their record might not be that impressive at face value, but they do have 5 Quad 1 wins to their credit. They missed an opportunity to add another one on Saturday by losing in overtime at Baylor. TCU (14-11, 7-7, 76 NET) and Utah (14-11, 6-8, 72 NET) are also still within hailing distance of the bubble, but have a lot of work to do over the final 4 weeks to play themselves into serious NCAA contention.
• Big East:  Xavier (16-10, 8-7, 54 NET); Villanova (15-11, 8-7, 53 NET). The Musketeers are either one of the last 4 in or the first 4 out depending on which bracket projection you prefer. Either way, their margin for error is slim. They’ve got a Quad 2 opportunity coming up against Creighton. But the rest of their games are against Big East bottom-feeders Butler (twice), Providence and Seton Hall. The Wildcats, meanwhile, wasted their upset of No. 9 St. John’s by turning right around and losing to 12-14 Providence.
• SEC: Texas (16-10, 5-8, 31 NET), Vanderbilt (17-8, 5-7, 41 NET), Georgia (16-10, 4-9, 39 NET), Arkansas (15-10, 4-8, 42 NET), Oklahoma (16-9, 3-9, 52 NET). The SEC is unquestionably the best conference in the country, but it’s still unclear how much weight that will carry with the selection committee when it comes to teams buried deep in the 16-team standings. Outside the league’s 9 ranked teams, Texas is in the best shape. Especially after Saturday’s win against No. 17 Kentucky. Arkansas has 3 Quad 1 wins and John Calipari while Vandy has 2 top-5 wins against Tennessee and Kentucky. Georgia, which has lost 8 of its last 10, and Oklahoma, which has dropped 4 straight with a high NET, are the most likely candidates to be the odd teams out of the NCAA equation.
• Mid-majors: UC San Diego (22-4, 12-2 Big West, 43 NET), UC Irvine (22-4, 12-2 Big West, 62 NET), Boise State (17-8, 9-5 Mountain West, 48 NET), San Diego State (17-6, 10-4 Mountain West, 50 NET), Liberty (21-5, 9-4 CUSA, 68 NET), Bradley (21-6, 12-6 Missouri Valley, 79 NET). Either UCSD or UC Irvine figure to get in on their league’s auto bid, assuming they win the conference tournament. Of the 2, the Tritons would stand the better chance to sneak in as an at-large if everything broke right. San Diego State should be in good shape considering its NCAA history. But the Mountain West isn’t nearly as deep or as strong as it was a year ago. Everyone else will need a prayer to end up on the right side of the bubble. At least Liberty has that going for it.

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Florida State, North Carolina and NC State opened the season with sweeps while Virginia bounced back from a walk-off extra-inning loss to Michigan at a multi-team event in Puerto Rico by winning the next 2.

In all, 9 of the league’s 16 teams made it through the first weekend undefeated while only one, 11th-ranked Duke, posted a losing record.

Opening week takeaways

The journey to Omaha is a long one with plenty of twists and turns to be negotiated. But you can’t get to the destination until you get started.

So now that the season is off and running, here are a few first impressions from around the ACC:

Reloaded Deacons

Wake Forest lost 6 players to the MLB Draft last summer including first-round picks Nick Kurtz, Seaver King and the bulk of its offensive firepower. But if the opening weekend results are an indication, coach Tom Walter has retooled his lineup with an even more potent collection of bats.

Through their first 4 wins (2 each against LIU and Marist), the Deacons have scored 62 runs, hit .412 and had 6 players hit at least 1 home run.

While the onslaught was led by a holdover – shortstop Marek Houston, who went 10-of-14 with 3 homers, 13 RBIs and 11 runs scored – a bulk of the damage was done by newcomers. Marist transfer Ethan Conrad (8-of-15, 10 RBIs), Butler transfer Kade Lewis (.583) and redshirt freshman Ryan Preisano (4-of-8) also hit for slow-pitch softball batting averages.

The competition was well below what Wake will face as the season progresses, but it’s still a promising start.

Aces are wild

Several of the ACC’s top pitchers showed why over the weekend.

Florida State’s Jamie Arnold backed up his selection as conference Pitcher of the Year by throwing 6 innings of 1-hit shutout ball with 8 strikeouts and no walks in a 6-0 opening day win against James Madison. His performance set the tone for a weekend sweep in which FSU allowed only 2 runs in its first 3 games.

North Carolina’s Jason DeCaro picked up where he left off during his breakout freshman season with 5 strong innings. He also allowed only 1 hit and no runs to go with 5 strikeouts in a 5-1 Tar Heels victory.

Louisville’s Patrick Forbes was also dominant. Although he gave up 2 runs in 5 innings of his opening day outing, he struck out 11 and picked up the victory in a 4-3 upset of No. 7 Texas at the Shriner’s Children’s College Showdown in Arlington, Texas.

High-flying Cardinals

Forbes wasn’t the only Louisville player who enjoyed an encouraging opening weekend. 

The Cardinals missed the NCAA Tournament in each of the past 2 seasons. But they served notice that they’re ready to return to ACC contention by going 2-1 in 3 games against ranked opponents. In addition to beating Texas, they also put a 13-1 hurting on No. 12 Arizona while also dropping a 12-3 decision to No. 12 Oklahoma State.

Louisville showed off a deep lineup in a competitive event, held at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field, with 9 players driving in at least 1 run. Sophomore Zion Rose led the way by going 6-of-13 (.462) while fellow returners Matt Klein and Lucas Moore both batted better than .400 with 2 RBIs each.

Clemson also went 2-1 at the Shriner’s Children’s College Showdown, with a 6-5 win against Oklahoma State and a 16-5 rout of Arizona before getting run-ruled in a 7-inning 15-5 loss to Ole Miss.

Rintaro Sasaki’s debut

No freshman arrived with more advanced hype than Stanford’s Rintaro Sasaki, who became a national phenomenon in his home country by launching 140 home runs at the same high school that produced Shohei Ohtani.

While he didn’t hit any home runs in his much-anticipated debut with the Cardinal, he did come out swinging. The left-handed hitting first baseman had 6 hits in his first 14 college at-bats (.429) with 2 doubles and 8 runs batted in while helping the Cardinal to a 3-game sweep of Cal State-Fullerton.

Vance Honeycutt 2.0?

It would be unfair to ask Kyle Kepley to duplicate the production North Carolina got from Vance Honeycutt, the player he was recruited to replace in center field and at the top of the Tar Heels’ batting order.

And yet, he sure looked like a reasonable facsimile of the Baltimore Orioles’ first-round draft pick in his first weekend wearing Carolina blue.

The transfer from Liberty was UNC’s best hitter in its 3-game sweep of Texas Tech. Not only did he go 5-for-13 with a double, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases, he also took a page out of Honeycutt’s book defensively by stealing a home run from the Red Raiders’ Kyler Thompson with a leaping catch in center field during Friday’s 5-1 win.

Bedeviled by the Bearcats

It’s a long season, so a disappointing opening weekend is nothing to panic about. Especially in a series against a power conference opponent. Still, losing 2 of 3 to Cincinnati at home isn’t exactly how Duke coach Chris Pollard drew things up for his preseason No. 11-ranked team.

The Blue Devils lost 8-3 on opening night and got hammered 19-5 on a cold rainy Sunday night in a game that saw the Bearcats score at least 1 run in every inning after the top of the first. The only thing that saved them from being swept was a walkoff 12th-inning home run by shortstop Wallace Clark, who went 4-for-5 and drove home 3 of his team’s 6 runs in a 6-5 win Saturday.

Duke is the only ACC team to start the season with a losing record in its opening series.

The post ACC takeaways from college baseball’s opening weekend appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Or even taken in a high round.

But it certainly can’t hurt his chances.

The event, also known as the Underwear Olympics, is an opportunity to show off for representatives of all 32 NFL teams both on the field in individual drills and in interviews. This year’s Combine is scheduled for Feb. 24-March 3 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Of the 329 players invited to participate, 58 of them played the 2024 season at ACC schools. At least 2 other high-profile invitees, quarterback Riley Leonard and receiver Beau Collins of Notre Dame, played the majority of their college careers in the conference.

Surprises

While most of the ACC representatives were expected to be included, led by projected 1st rounders Cam Ward of Miami and Barrett Carter of Clemson, some of those earning invitations were a surprise.

Let’s take a look at 3 of those players:

Jackson Hawes, TE, Georgia Tech

A graduate transfer who played his first 4 seasons in the Ivy League at Yale, Hawes caught only 16 passes for 195 yards without a touchdown in his only season with the Yellow Jackets. His receiving ability, however, isn’t why he was invited to the Senior Bowl and now, the Combine.

At 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, he’s a physical, fundamentally sound blocker who can be used either as a tight end or in the backfield as an H-Back. The fact that he has good hands and catches the ball when it’s thrown to him is a plus.

Still, he’s the kind of player that flies under the radar. But he’s managed to catch the eye of the NFL scouts, first with his jump to the power conference level and even more with a strong performance against elite competition during the week of Senior Bowl practices.

Cam Horsley, DT, Boston College

Horsley is a run-stuffing nose tackle who recorded a career-high 42 tackles for the Eagles as a senior this season. He’s projected as a late third-day pick, at best, because of his limited skill set. But he’s got good size at 6-4, 306 and the strength to fight off blockers at the point of attack, giving him the potential to be a valuable rotational player at the next level.

He made a positive impression at the East-West Shrine Bowl with a surprising quickness that allowed him get past blockers and into the backfield. He built on a strong week of practice with a pair of quarterback hurries in the game in a performance that went a long way toward earning him his ticket to Indy.

Tyler Baron, Edge, Miami

Baron has the size and length at 6-5, 260 to look the part of an NFL edge rusher. But those assets are offset by a lack of natural quickness and a lower body strength that allows opposing blockers to gain leverage against him. 

It also doesn’t help that as a 24-year-old who spent time on the roster of 4 different programs – Tennessee, Ole Miss and Louisville before landing at Miami this season, he’s “old” for an NFL rookie. But he’s experienced and he did record 5.5 sacks for a team that came within a game of playing for the ACC championship. 

And he does look the part. That in itself is worth the extra look he’ll get at the Combine.

Snubs

These 3 ACC players weren’t invited to the Combine, even though they probably should have been:

Willie Lampkin, OG, North Carolina

Size might not matter in most aspects of life. But it still matters a lot when you’re an offensive line prospect who doesn’t fit the profile of an NFL offensive lineman. So even with an overall grade of 84.8 by Pro Football Focus that ranked him No. 1 overall among power conference guards and a strong performance at the Senior Bowl last month, Lampkin was left uninvited from the Combine.

Why?

Because at just 5-10, 270 pounds, he is shorter and lighter than an NFL offensive lineman is supposed to look. While participating at the Combine wouldn’t have changed those measurables, it would have provided him with another shot at convincing at least 1 team that his strength and quickness are more important than his size. Or lack of it.

Davin Vann, Edge, NC State

Vann wasn’t just a leader on the Wolfpack’s defense because of his sacks (6.5) and forced fumbles (6). It was also because of his presence both on the field and in the locker room. He was honored by coach Dave Doeren with the No. 1 jersey given to the NC State player who shows the best work ethic and leadership. 

A versatile defensive lineman who has played both inside and outside effectively, Vann returned for a fifth college season in hopes of improving his draft stock. But it turned out to be a tactical mistake. Not because his skills diminished or because he didn’t improve enough. Rather, because this is such a strong class for edge rushers. Thirty-three players were invited to the Combine at that position, 8 more than a year ago, and Vann would apparently have been 1 too many.

Justin Barron, LB, Syracuse

A versatile athlete who started his career as a wide receiver, moved to safety and finished as a linebacker, Barron is a 2-time All-ACC performer who amassed 294 tackles, 2 interceptions and 14 pass breakups for the Orange.

He earned a Senior Bowl invitation after leading the Orange with 93 tackles while adding 9.5 TFLs, 2 sacks and an interception. But despite impressing the NFL scouts with his ability to play a hybrid role, his athleticism and a high level of skill in pass coverage, his physicality against the run during the week of practice for the all-star game left something to be desired and probably cost him a trip to Indy for the Combine.

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Statistically, there wasn’t a lot of difference between Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud. They both scored 19 points and they both had a similar number of rebounds (Raynaud 7, Flagg 5). 

But that’s where any comparison starts and ends.

The Blue Devils’ star freshman got his 19 points on 8 fewer shots and dominated every other statistical category by filling the score sheet with 6 assists, a pair of steals and no turnovers in Duke’s 106-70 demolition of the Cardinal.

To be fair, though, neither the game itself nor the 1-on-1 battle between the only 2 realistic candidates for ACC Player of the Year was a fair fight.

While Raynaud is very good at scoring and rebounding – he’s the only player in the conference averaging a double-double – Flagg is exceptional at everything.

And that’s not even the thing that most sets him apart from virtually everyone else in the college game this season.

As coach Jon Scheyer tells it, it doesn’t matter if Flagg scores 19 points or none. Or whether he leads the team in rebounds, assists or anything else.

He’s all about the numbers on the scoreboard.

“When your best player literally does not care about statistics, how can everybody else care about statistics? And Cooper does not care,” Scheyer said after his third-ranked team won for the 18th time in its last 19 games. “He cares about winning and I think that’s contagious.”

The unselfishness was definitely catching on Saturday.

The Blue Devils had 23 assists on 40 baskets against the Cardinal, including multiple lobs into the post that resulted in dunks for 7-foot-2 freshman Khaman Maluach and seamless ball movement that led to open 3-point looks for Tyrese Proctor and others. They also shot 62.5% from the floor (going 14-of-29 from 3-point range) while committing only 5 turnovers.

Besides Flagg, 4 other players scored in double figures in one of Duke’s most complete efforts of the season.

“One of our biggest strengths is that we have talent all over the floor and one of the ways we play well is by getting the talent the ball,” senior guard Sion James said. “The game is really simple when we let it be. And today was one of those days we let it be.”

That might have something to do with the competition. While Stanford is hardly the worst team in the ACC at 16-10 (8-7), it’s not as if the matchup was anything close to what No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Auburn were facing when they went up against each other around the same time on Saturday.

But the near-flawless performance was still significant in that it came just 1 week after a loss at Clemson that at least planted some seeds of doubt about the Blue Devils’ legitimacy as a national championship favorite.

It’s not so much that Duke lost the game. The Tigers went to the Elite Eight last season, are ranked 23rd this year and were playing at home before a rabid sell-out crowd. And the game ended up going down to the next-to-last possession.

It’s the way the Blue Devils lost that caused the concern.

Duke came into that game ranked second in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rating. But Clemson essentially had its way with the Blue Devils, especially around the rim, while becoming the first team this season to shoot better than 50% from the floor against Duke.

Scheyer challenged his team after the game, saying that the Blue Devils needed to make the loss “mean something” by learning from it.

Saturday’s performance, in which they held Stanford to just 38% shooting and outscored the Cardinal 42-16 in the paint, suggests that Flagg and his teammates have turned the setback from a negative to a positive by answering their coach’s challenge and growing from it.

This isn’t the first time the Blue Devils have risen to the occasion at a crossroads in their season. They also did it earlier in the year after close losses to Kentucky and Kansas.

“The fact that our team has always responded, which they have at a high level, has allowed us to get better and make a jump,” Scheyer said. “I could talk about the character of the guys all day. I think that’s what’s allowed this to happen with the growth and our team’s development.”

It’s a trait that should come in handy down the road in March, when every team is faced with adversity and no safety net to catch it if it should fall. Even those with designs on replacing their 1-and-done Flagg with another banner to hang permanently from the rafters at Cameron.

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Tony Bennett began the upheaval by retiring less than a month before Virginia’s first game. 

Miami’s Jim Larrañaga was next to call it quits. He slipped into retirement just before New Year’s, citing frustration over the changing landscape of college athletics.

Then earlier this month, Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton announced his decision to step down at the end of the season amid a drop-off in his program and a lawsuit filed against him by 6 of his former players over unfulfilled NIL promises.

That’s already a significant turnover for a league struggling to maintain its status among the nation’s best. But the carnage may only have just begun.

ACC coaching hot seat index

There’s a legitimate possibility that several more jobs could come open once the season ends. So with that in mind, it’s time to take a temperature check to see which ACC coaches are staying cool and which might be starting to feel the heat.

Absolutely chilling

Duke’s Jon Scheyer has his team at No. 3 in the national polls with a legitimate shot at the national championship this year, with the nation’s top recruiting class set to arrive for next season. 

Louisville’s Pat Kelsey has won nearly twice as many games in his first season with the Cardinals than his predecessor Kenny Payne did in his 2 seasons on the job. And there’s still a month to go.

Brad Brownell has been at Clemson for 15 seasons now and is the league’s longest-tenured coach. With 3 consecutive 20-win seasons, sellout crowds at Littlejohn and an Elite Eight to his credit, he has never been more secure in his position.

Andy Enfield and Kyle Smith are both in the process of making good first impressions in their debuts at SMU and Stanford, respectively. And Cal’s Mark Madsen has a realistic shot at finishing over .500 in his second year – something the Bears haven’t done since 2017 – despite the travel challenges of being a West Coast team in an Atlantic Coast Conference.

Getting warmer, but still no sweat

Georgia Tech’s Damon Stoudamire and Notre Dame’s Micah Shrewsberry are in their second seasons at their schools and have yet to find a winning formula. But both have shown signs of promise. 

Stoudamire, in particular, has given hints of promise with wins against Duke and North Carolina last year, and both Louisville and Clemson in consecutive games just last week. It took him 3 seasons to post his first winning record at his previous stop, Pacific. So he has time to turn around the Yellow Jackets.

So does Shrewsberry with the Irish, who are still likely to finish below .500 but are on pace to surpass last season’s total of 13 wins and should make the ACC Tournament.

Meanwhile at Virginia Tech, Mike Young isn’t going anywhere even though his Hokies are about to miss out on the NCAA Tournament or NIT for the first time since 2014-15 (not including the COVID season). Not only does he still have plenty of goodwill from winning the 2022 ACC Tournament, but he’s handicapped by an antiquated arena and an athletic department that is far more focused on football than his basketball program.

Starting to feel the heat

Jeff Capel seemed to have weathered the storm after getting Pitt to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and winning 21 games with a team that should have gotten into the 68-team field last season. But after getting off to a 12-2 start and gaining a No. 18 ranking with wins against Ohio State, LSU and West Virginia, dark clouds have begun to gather again.

Since a 30-point beatdown at the hands of Capel’s alma mater Duke, his Panthers have lost 8 of their past 10 to fall onto the wrong side of the NCAA bubble. While the 7th-year coach isn’t in any immediate danger, the temperature beneath his seat is increasing rapidly.

Especially with a new athletic director on the job.

The chain of command isn’t the problem for Steve Forbes at Wake Forest. Getting into the NCAA Tournament is. Twice in the past 3 seasons, his teams have won 20-plus games. But all the Deacons have to show for it are a pair of NIT appearances.

This year’s team was on target to break that pattern until a second-half meltdown that saw it squander an 18-point lead in a brutal home loss to Florida State on Wednesday. The Quad 3 setback won’t doom Wake’s NCAA chances. But it made the task of getting into the field significantly more difficult.

Forbes has done an outstanding job cleaning up the mess made over the past decade by past coaches Jeff Bzdelik and Danny Manning. But he was already starting to generate negative chatter among the Deacons’ fan base on social media for his inability to get the program over the hump and back among the ACC’s elite. Wednesday’s debacle has only intensified the dissatisfaction.

The 5th-year coach could potentially be replaced by someone more capable of getting Wake to the next level if his team falls short again this season. But it’s more likely that another near miss will make 2025-26 a win-or-else proposition.

Insulated by a Teflon coating

Under normal circumstances, NC State’s Kevin Keatts would probably be getting his resume in order. His team has lost 9 straight and at 2-11 in the conference is almost certain to be 1 of the 3 teams left out of next month’s 15-team ACC Tournament bracket.

But because he had the good timing to pull off the best month of his career with the Wolfpack last March, he’s insulated himself in coaching bubble wrap for at least the next year or 2.

Keatts received an automatic 1-year extension to his contract by winning 5 games in 5 days for State’s first conference tournament championship in 37 years. He then added a second 1-year extension – with the obligatory pay increase – by winning 4 more times to get to the Final Four.

He’s now on the books until April 2030 with a prohibitive buyout for an athletic program that won’t want to divert resources away from football now that its rival North Carolina has upped the ante with the hiring of Bill Belichick.

Reaching a boiling point

If Earl Grant, Adrian Autry and Hubert Davis haven’t kicked up the AC to high yet, now might be the time. Because they all should be feeling some degree of heat.

Of the 3, Grant figures to be in the most precarious situation.

He managed only 1 winning record in his 3 previous seasons at Boston College. That was a 20-16 mark a year ago that included an NIT bid. But the Eagles have slumped to 10-14 overall this year and are tied for last in the ACC at 2-11. They likely won’t qualify for the ACC Tournament. With a .472 winning percentage (.347 in conference games) and general apathy for his program on BC’s campus, he’s the odds-on favorite to be the next coach out the door.

Autry would figure to have more of a grace period since he’s only in Year 2 as the hand-picked successor to Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. But there’s a certain standard that is expected at a brand-name program such as the Orange. And if it’s not maintained, the damage can be irreparable.

Just ask Indiana.

So with this year’s team struggling at 11-14 (5-9 ACC) after Tuesday’s ugly loss to downtrodden Miami, If things get worse over the final 6 regular-season games, the folks at Syracuse could follow the lead of Louisville with Kenny Payne and cut their losses sooner rather than later.

And that brings us to Davis, a beloved and loyal Tar Heel.

Under most circumstances, a first-time head coach who has been to a national championship game and a Sweet 16 team in his first 4 seasons on the job would be in the “comfortable” section of this index. 

But North Carolina is anything but “most circumstances.” It’s the bluest of blue bloods. And missing the NCAA Tournament twice in a 3-year span is simply unacceptable. Barring a miracle recovery, that’s where Davis’ Tar Heels are headed.

Does that mean Davis is coaching for his job over these next few weeks? Maybe. Maybe not.

Either way, he’ll be sweating it out.

The post ACC basketball hot seat index: Which coaches are feeling the heat? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The Wolfpack’s hole got considerably deeper Wednesday with a 91-66 pounding from Louisville. State is 2.5 games behind Syracuse and Cal for the final spot in the conference’s new 15-team bracket. Notre Dame, Pitt and Virginia are 3 games ahead of the Pack.

With only 7 games remaining.

It’s a dire situation, especially for a team that has lost 9 straight and is coming off by far the worst performance of its rapidly deteriorating season.

And yet, it’s more than just the predictable coachspeak when Kevin Keatts says he’s not ready to give up on either his Wolfpack or their chances of getting to Charlotte for a shot at pulling another rabbit out of their hat.

If Keatts learned anything from the lightning State caught in a bottle last March, a month-long joyride that gave new meaning to Jimmy V’s mantra of “don’t give up, don’t ever give up,” it’s that nothing is impossible.

Until it actually is.

“If you get playing basketball at the right time, anything can happen,” Keatts said. “We’ve just got to start the right time now. It’s a little bit different.”

In some respects, the task facing Keatts and his team isn’t as daunting as the one they faced a year ago. It took 5 wins in as many days to cut down the nets for the first time in 37 years and earn the opportunity to go on an even more improbable 4-game run to the Final Four.

This year’s team will at least have some time between games to go back to the practice floor and work on correcting some of the mistakes that have been haunting them since the start of the new year. But even that might not help. 

Because at 2-11 in the conference (9-15 overall), State no longer controls its fate. It could conceivably win out and still not avoid the indignity of being 1 of the first 3 teams left uninvited to the ACC’s annual postseason party.

It’s a reality senior guard Breon Pass has already begun coming to grips with.

“I’m definitely worried,” he said after scoring 12 points in his team’s latest losing effort. “Seeing where we stand in the rankings, you definitely get to worrying in your head. But you gotta control what you can control.”

That’s no easy task when everything seems to be spiraling out of control. As it is for the Wolfpack right now.

Pass said he could feel it during the team’s pregame shootaround Wednesday.

Maybe it was lingering jet lag from last weekend’s trip to California. Or perhaps the grind of the losing streak is beginning to wear the team down. Whatever it was, State’s longest-tenured player was concerned that his teammates “weren’t as locked in as we usually are going into a game,” adding that “I just felt like today wasn’t our day.”

And it wasn’t.

State turned the ball over 12 times, 3 more than its season average. And it shot just 36% from the floor. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The defense that has served to keep most of its games close during the slump – 6 of the 9 losses have been by 6 points or fewer – was nowhere to be found, allowing Louisville to make 64% of its field goal attempts. Including 11-of-19 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Things got so bad that the biggest cheer of the night from the sparse gathering at Lenovo Center came when last season’s postseason hero DJ Horne was shown on the Jumbotron watching from the stands.

When Horne asked Keatts if he could talk to the team before the game, the coach said absolutely, before only half-jokingly asking his former player if he could put on a jersey and play, as well.

Horne’s presence in the building only served to call attention to the Wolfpack’s biggest problem.

While their roster has a nice set of complementary parts, there’s no go-to guy who can take over when things start going sideways the way Horne and that other DJ – super-sized big man DJ Burns – did for last year’s team.

That’s led to a situation similar to Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get from one game to the next.

Last week at Cal, Marcus Hill led the way with 20 points. Saturday at Stanford, Dontrez Styles had a big game with 19 and on Wednesday, it was freshmen Trey Parker and Paul McNeil with 13 and 12, respectively.

Figuring out a way to get all of them playing well at the same time is a mystery Keatts has yet to solve.

“We can throw a dart and see who played well in each game,” the Wolfpack coach said. “That’s been our major issue thus far. We don’t have consistent play from anybody.”

And they’re running out of time to find it.

Still, Keatts remains optimistic. If there’s any solace, the only 2 of the 7 teams remaining on the schedule have a winning record in the ACC. Boston College and Miami are 2-11 in league play; Syracuse is 5-9, Pitt is 5-8 and Georgia Tech is 6-8. The schedule at least allows the possibility for a late run.

“Anything can happen,” he said, “if we can push the right buttons.”

Nobody knows that better than Keatts. Then again, he also understands that hoping for miracles is never a sustainable strategy. Even for a program that has made them its trademark.

The post NC State needs another miracle just to get into the ACC Tournament … and time is running out appeared first on Saturday Down South.

At least the ACC still has baseball to look forward to.

The conference tied a College World Series record and matched the SEC by sending 4 teams to Omaha last year. And it promises to be just as competitive and even deeper this season with the return of several potential first-round MLB Draft picks and the addition of West Coast schools Stanford and Cal. 

As we count down the hours until the first pitch is thrown, let’s take a look at what to expect.

2025 ACC baseball power rankings

Virginia, North Carolina, Florida State and NC State all made it to Omaha in 2024 and they’re among the favorites to return again this year. SMU is the only ACC team that doesn’t play baseball.

Here’s how the ACC shakes out heading into Friday’s season-openers:

16. Boston College

Todd Interdonato led Wofford to 8 30-win seasons in 9 years before coming to BC last year. But he found the going much tougher in the ACC. His Eagles finished last in the league with an 8-22 record. And the outlook isn’t much better for the coming season. They were picked to finish at the bottom of the league again in the ACC’s preseason poll. The best thing BC has going for it is the return of DH Kyle Wolff (.315, 44 RBIs), left fielder Adam Magpoc (.289) and first baseman Nick Wang (.280, 11 HR, 44 RBIs) – 3 of their top 4 hitters.

15. Notre Dame

Pitching will be the key to whatever comeback the Irish hope to make after going just 9-21 in the ACC a year ago.The rotation is anchored by right-handers Jack Radel, who compiled a 4-3 record with a 4.58 ERA in 10 starts as a freshman, and Rory Fox while the bullpen is loaded with veteran arms. The offense is much more of a question mark, Junior shortstop Estevan Moreno hit 17 homers, 13 doubles and drove in 40 runs last season. But newcomers will be counted on heavily to improve a lineup that hit just .268 in 2024. 

14. Pittsburgh

The Panthers finished last in ACC Coastal last season, thanks to an offense that hit .246 and delivered 68 extra-base hits. The good news is that their best power hitter, catcher Jayden Melendez, returns after hitting 16 homers. And on-base percentage leader Luke Cantwell is also back after hitting .333 a year ago. The outlook isn’t as bright for a pitching staff that carried Pitt in 2024. With all 3 weekend starters gone, Pitt’s hopes will rest with the arms of transfers Patrick Gardner (Fairleigh Dickinson), Drew Lafferty (Kentucky) and Noah Czajkowski (St. Bonaventure).

13. Cal

The Bears went 36-19 (17-13 Pac-12) last season, but were decimated by graduation, the draft and transfers. Of the 11 pitchers who threw more than 15 innings in 2024, only junior right-hander Austin Turkington is back. The retention rate among position players is only slightly better, though second baseman Jarren Advincula and shortstop PJ Moutzouridis are a solid duo around which to build. Advincula hit .325 out of the leadoff spot as a freshman last season while his classmate Moutzouridis hit .299 with 6 homers and 15 doubles.

12. Virginia Tech

The Hokies have fallen off since hosting a Super Regional and falling just 1 win short of a trip to Omaha in 2022. But coach John Szefc has a reason for optimism this spring. His returning core includes 17 members of last year’s freshman class, including budding ace Brett Renfrow, graduate outfielder Ben Watson and first baseman Garrett Michel, who hit .339 with 11 homers 2 seasons ago before missing all but 9 games with a wrist injury in 2024.

11. Miami

JD Arteaga’s rookie season at his alma mater didn’t go well. The Hurricanes went 27-30 while finishing 6th in the ACC’s 7-team Coastal Division. In an effort to prevent a similar disappointment in his second season, the Miami coach has almost completely retooled his roster around first-team All-ACC third baseman Daniel Cuvet. The additions include 15 transfers and a highly-rated recruiting class highlighted by right-hander Lazaro Collera, whose fastball has topped out at 98 MPH and who turned down a $500,000 offer after being drafted in the fifth round by the Phillies last summer.

10. Louisville

The Cardinals are flying under the radar after missing the past 2 NCAA Tournaments. But coach Dan McDonnell has the makings of a team that could get back to the postseason this year. Especially if Friday night ace Patrick Forbes can stay healthy, something he wasn’t able to do in 2024. At the plate, Louisville returns 5 hitters from a lineup that hit .311 and averaged 8 runs per game, including outfielders Eddie King Jr. (.332, 14 HR, 43 RBIs) and Zion Rose (.380, 5 HR, 32 RBIs).

9. Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets have the ACC’s best hitter in first-team All-American Drew Burress, the D1Baseball Freshman of the Year who hit .381 with 25 homers last season, and a solid lineup that’s good enough to get them back to the NCAA Tournament. The question is whether they have enough consistent pitching to complement all that offensive firepower. Right-hander Tate McKee is being counted on to build off a promising freshman season and become an effective Friday night starter while Citadel transfer Sam Swygert will add a veteran arm to a rotation that is very much a work in progress. 

8. Stanford

The Cardinal are looking forward to a fresh start in their ACC debut after a disappointing final Pac-12 season that saw them go 22-33 after 3 straight CWS appearances. Not only do they return 7 of the 9 players in their everyday lineup, but they’ve added the nation’s most heralded freshman in Japanese slugger Rintaro Sasaki, who hit 140 home runs for the same high school that produced Shohei Ohtani. On the mound, Stanford features a trio of power arms in projected first-round pick Matt Scott, Freshman All-American Christian Lim and hard-throwing Joey Volchko.

7. NC State

The Wolfpack will go as far as their arms will take them this season. It’s a group bolstered by the return of Matt Willadsen, an ace-worthy right-hander who missed all last season with an injury, and returning left-handed starters Dominic Fritton and Ryan Marhon. But the strength of the staff is its bullpen – particularly the back end manned by hard-throwing Jacob Dudan and closer Derrick Smith. The batting order is almost completely new other than sophomore Alex Sosa, who moves to his natural position behind the place after DHing a year ago, and second baseman Luke Nixon.

6. Wake Forest

The Deacons lost 6 players to the MLB Draft, including ACC Pitcher of the Year Chase Burns and 2 other first-rounders. While there is still some returning talent on hand, including shortstop Marek Houston and bullpen workhorse Will Ray, Wake’s ability to stay at or near the top of the ACC standings will depend on the quality of reinforcements coach Tom Walter has brought in to replenish the roster. He’s attracted a pair of former SEC arms in Missouri’s Logan Lunceford and Tennessee’s Matthew Dallas while Marist transfer Ethan Conrad is the top offensive addition.

5. Duke

The Blue Devils have won 2 ACC Tournament championships over the past 4 seasons, including last year. But they have yet to get over the hump and return to Omaha for the first time since 1961. Chris Pollard’s team will be knocking on the door again this spring with a potent lineup centered around All-ACC slugger AJ Gracia, third baseman Ben Miller and an influx of grad transfers. The big question is the pitching staff, which will need 2-way star Kyle Johnson, Andrew Healy or someone else to step up and become a reliable ace at the top of the rotation.

4. Florida State

The Seminoles missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977 2 seasons ago but bounced back last year to earn a trip to Omaha. Their ability to get back will depend on several variables, including the availability of rehabbing right-hander Cam Leiter. If healthy, he’ll team with ace lefty Jamie Arnold to form one of the best 1-2 punches in the country. The other question mark is how well coach Link Jarrett recruited to replace a majority of his starting lineup. Including ACC Player of the Year James Tibbs III. 

3. Clemson

The Tigers are poised to make a strong run at their first CWS appearance since 2010 after winning 44 games, earning a No. 6 national seed and falling 1 game short of the goal a year ago. Coach Erik Bakich has bolstered an already potent batting order headlined by Golden Spikes Award candidate Cam Cannarella with a strong transfer class that includes 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Luke Gaffney from Purdue. The pitching staff, anchored by Freshman All-American Aidan Knaak, is also formidable.

2. North Carolina

The Tar Heels made it to Omaha last season despite losing 2 key starting pitchers to injury. With the healthy return of Jake Knapp and Folger Boaz, along with sophomore ace Jason DeCaro, they head into 2025 with arguably the best weekend rotation in the ACC. That’s in addition to a deep, talented bullpen that includes right-hander Matthew Matthijs, who won 12 games in relief. The offense is in need of a rebuild. But power-hitting catcher Luke Stevenson, a projected first-round MLB pick, is a good place to start. 

1. Virginia

Brian O’Connor has built one of the nation’s best, most consistent programs with 7 trips to the College World Series and a championship over the past 15 seasons. So even though the the Cavaliers lost MLB Draft picks Griff O’Ferrall, Ethan Anderson and Casey Saucke, they have more than enough offensive firepower in the person of potential first-rounders Henry Ford and Henry Godbout, to go along with the pitching of ace Evan Blanco and Jay Woolfolk, to return to Omaha for the third straight year.

The post ACC baseball power rankings heading into the 2025 season appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Just not the shiny kind fitted onto a ring, a necklace or earrings.

Friday won’t just be a day for lovers. It’s a day for lovers of Division I college baseball as the boys of spring return to their grassy diamonds to begin a new season.

Anticipation is especially high around the ACC, which should be just as competitive as it was a year ago when it tied a College World Series record by sending 4 teams to Omaha.

And even deeper with the addition of Stanford and Cal.

So while we wait for the umpire to shout  “Play Ball” and for the first pitch to be thrown, here are 20 names from around the league you need to know in 2025:

20 names to know for ACC baseball

The ACC sent a record-tying 4 teams to the College World Series last year and should be just as deep and competitive this season. Here are the best of the best.

1. Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State

Arnold enjoyed a breakout season that was exceeded statistically only by Wake Forest’s first-round draft pick Chase Burns. He went 11-3 with a 2.98 ERA and 159 strikeouts in pitching the Seminoles to the College World Series and earning first-team All-American honors. Arnold showed off his dominant best by striking out 17 against Pitt in mid-May, the most by an FSU pitcher since 1987. With 3 plus pitches, including a nasty slider that produced one of the highest whiff rates in the country last season (41%), he’s projected to be a top-5 pick in this year’s MLB Draft — and is a candidate to go No. 1 overall.

2. Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech

Burress arrived at Tech with a reputation for having one of the most explosive bats in last year’s freshman class. And he wasted no time in backing it up. The compactly built 5-9, 180-pound slugger hit 2 homers in his college debut against Radford, then doubled that output by going deep 4 times later against Georgia State later in February. He finished the season leading the Yellow Jackets with a .381 average, 25 homers and 67 RBIs while also stealing 8 bases and setting a school record with 10 assists by an outfielder. Burress led all Division I freshmen in 6 statistical categories. It’s a performance that sends him into his sophomore year as the preseason ACC Player of the Year favorite.

3. Cam Cannarella, OF, Clemson

After winning the ACC’s Rookie of the Year award in 2023, Cannarella put together another strong season last year despite playing through a shoulder injury. A left-handed line-drive hitter, he earned first-team All-ACC honors for the second time by hitting .337 with 11 homers and 60 RBIs as a sophomore. As outstanding as he has been with the bat during his 2 seasons with the Tigers, he’s been even better defensively in center field. He’s ranked the No. 1 defensive outfielder in the nation by Baseball America, a title he validated with a spectacular, game-saving catch against Florida in the NCAA Super Regionals last spring. He’s also ranked as the No. 2 fastest runner, a talent he’ll have a better chance to use this season now that he’s 100% healthy again. MLB.com ranked Cannarella the No. 15 prospect in this year’s draft class.

4. Hunter Carns, C, Florida State

The physical, power-hitting catcher was taken in by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 20th round last summer but would have gone much higher had he not advertised his intention to play college ball for the Seminoles. Carns gave a preview of his ability to drive the ball to all fields by hitting 5 home runs during the fall, including 1 in a scrimmage against Alabama. He also showed advanced defensive skills for a freshman. Although he’ll start the season as a backup to veteran catcher Jaxson West, coach Link Jarrett will find a spot for him somewhere in the lineup – whether as the DH or in the outfield – from Day 1.

5. Daniel Cuvet, 3B, Miami

One of the nation’s top prospects coming out of high school a year ago, the local product from Fort Lauderdale was a major bright spot in an otherwise miserable 2024 for the Hurricanes, who were just 27-30 (11-19 ACC) in their first season under JD Arteaga. He led all Division I freshmen with 75 RBIs while hitting .351 and setting a school record with 24 homers. A right-handed hitter whose power is generated by a pure 6-3, 235-pound stroke, Cuvet was named recently by D1Baseball.com as the nation’s top third baseman heading into the new season.

6. Jason DeCaro, RHP, North Carolina

DeCaro was thrust into the Friday night starter’s role as a 17-year-old freshman after teammates Jake Knapp and Folger Boaz suffered season-ending injuries. And he rose to the occasion by compiling a 6-1 record in a team-leading 18 starts to go along with a 3.81 ERA and 78 strikeouts. He has 4 pitches he can throw for strikes, including a fastball clocked in the mid-90s and a curve whose 2.957 average spin rate was higher than all but 12 major league pitchers last season.

7. Jacob Dudan, RHP, NC State

The hard-throwing right-hander was the Wolfpack’s ace in the hole out of the bullpen last season. He earned Freshman All-American honors by recording a 4-2 record with 6 saves and 56 strikeouts in just 48 innings. And he did it with a flair for the dramatic. That was best illustrated in the game that sent State to the College World Series. Entering with the bases loaded and 1 out in the bottom of the 5th inning against Georgia, Dudan struck out Bulldogs slugger Charlie Condon on 4 pitches, then got out of the jam without allowing a run. With closer Derrick Smith back, it’s uncertain whether coach Elliott Avent will continue to use him in relief or as a starter. Either way, he’ll be the most important arm in the Wolfpack’s arsenal.

8. Jacob Ference, C, Virginia

Ference had no problem adjusting to the higher level of competition after transferring to UVa from Division III Salisbury State last season. He stepped right into a starting role behind the plate and in addition to a solid backstop for one of the nation’s best pitching staffs, he displayed a combination of power and surprising speed for a catcher by hitting .350 with 17 homers and 12 stolen bases. A redshirt senior, he’s one of the most experienced players in college baseball and a key element for the Cavaliers offensively and defensively.

9. Patrick Forbes, RHP, Louisville

Forbes will stick to pitching this season after missing a month last year with a hand injury, suffered when he was hit by a pitch. The injury limited him to only 29 innings on the mound. But he showed no ill effects upon his return. Flashing a fastball that tops out at 98 MPH, he allowed only 4 runs with 21 strikeouts and 11 hits allowed in 17 2/3 innings over his final 8 appearances. He followed that up with a strong summer in the Cape Cod League that has set him up to be one of the top pitchers in the ACC in 2025. MLB.com ranked him No. 62 among draft prospects this season.

10. Henry Ford, OF, Virginia

Like Burress, Ford made an immediate splash by hitting a walk-off double in his first game with the Cavaliers last season. He also had a 3-homer game, including a grand slam in a come-from-behind win against North Carolina. He finished with a freshman school-record 17 homers and a team-leading 69 RBIs while batting .336, earning an invitation to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp last summer. Ford will be moving from first base to right field this season. But he’ll continue to be a major force in the middle of the Cavaliers’ batting order as they look to make a return trip to Omaha.

11. Luke Gaffney, 1B, Clemson

Tigers coach Erik Bakich returned to his Big Ten roots by grabbing Gaffney off the transfer portal from Purdue. The 6-2, 215-pound first baseman was the B1G Freshman of the Year in 2024 after hitting .359 for the Boilermakers while setting school records for home runs (13), RBIs (64), total bases (135) and runs (62). Not only will Gaffney add a big bat into the middle of Clemson’s lineup, but he also brings added value with his ability to play behind the plate if necessary. He was Kentucky’s No. 3-rated catcher in the 2022 recruiting Class by PerfectGame.com.

12. Henry Godbout, 2B, Virginia

A classic pull hitter who makes solid contact and rarely strikes out, Godbout is coming off a sophomore season in which he led the Cavaliers with a .372 average while recording career-high totals in doubles (18), homers (9) and RBIs (47) and an OPS of 1.117. Besides his consistency at the plate, Godbout is also an outstanding fielder who made only 4 errors on 224 chances in 2024. He’s rated by D1Baseball.com as the nation’s top returning second baseman and is projected to join his infield mate Griff O’Ferrall as a first-round draft pick this summer. 

13. AJ Gracia, OF, Duke

It took Gracia awhile to finally get to Duke after committing to coach Chris Pollard as an 8th-grader. But once he arrived last season, he wasted no time making his mark with the Blue Devils.  He set school freshman records by hitting 14 homers and driving in 58 runs, surpassing the latter mark on the same day the former holder of the record, Joey Loperfido, was called up to the majors by the Houston Astros. In addition to his quick left-handed swing, which produced a .559 slugging percentage, Gracia also showed an advanced knowledge of the strike zone that helped him lead the team with 48 walks.

14. Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest

Houston has always been a standout fielder for the Deacons. He’s Baseball America’s preseason choice as the nation’s best defensive infielder with the best infield arm. But last season, he added a potent offensive element to his repertoire by improving his average more than 100 points from .220 as a freshman to a team-leading .326. He also recorded 16 doubles, 8 homers and 39 RBIs while also walking 38 times and scoring 57 runs in the leadoff spot to serve as an effective table-setter for Wake’s potent offense.

15. Kyle Johnson, LHP/OF, Duke

Johnson is poised to become one of the ACC’s breakout stars this season after showing a glimpse of his well-rounded skill in becoming the first 2-way player to earn Freshman All-American honors in a utility role since former Blue Devil and current Major Leaguer Marcus Stroman. In 15 games on the mound (including 10 starts), the lefty compiled a 4-1 record with 53 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings with a fastball that was clocked as high as 96 MPH. As a right-handed hitting outfielder, he batted .253 with 3 homers, a .480 slugging percentage and a .398 on-base percentage in 75 at-bats. He capped his promising debut season with a 2-run double in Duke’s ACC Tournament championship victory against Florida State.

16. Kane Kepley, OF, North Carolina

The Tar Heels got more than just a pitching coach when they hired Scott Jackson from Liberty. They also got a productive, experienced player capable of filling some of the void left by the departure of all 3 starting outfielders. Kepley came along with Jackson from Liberty, where he hit .332 with 9 homers, 53 walks and 25 stolen bases for the Flames as a sophomore last season. “He’s got a chance to be special,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said of Kepley in an interview with Inside Carolina last fall. “We’re lucky we got him.” MLB.com ranked Kepley the No. 40 prospect in this summer’s draft class.

17. Aidan Knaak, RHP, Clemson

Knaak quickly emerged as the ace of Clemson’s staff by going 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 15 starts in his first college season. He held opponents to a .221 batting average while striking out 108 and walking only 29 in 83 1/3 innings to become the first Tigers freshman pitcher to earn first-team All-ACC selection since Ryan Mottl in 1997. The hard-throwing right-hander has a fastball that hovers in the mid-90s, a solid curveball and a swing-and-miss changeup that’s his out pitch. He enters 2025 as a first-team preseason All-American, according to D1Baseball.com.

18. Rintaro Sasaki, 1B, Stanford

Sasaki could have become a star back home in Japan after becoming a national phenomenon by launching 140 home runs at the same high school that produced Shohei Ohtani. But instead of entering the Nippon Professional Baseball League draft, where he was projected to be the No. 1 pick, he chose to come to America and play college ball at Stanford. He strikes an imposing presence in the left-handed batter’s box at 6-0, 275 pounds. “He boasts thunderous bat speed, as well as pitch recognition skills,” Baseball America’s Peter Flaherty wrote in naming Sasaki the No. 1 player in the incoming freshman class. “Sasaki projects to hit in the middle of Stanford’s lineup this spring and has ACC Freshman of the Year upside.”

19. Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina

Another member of the ACC’s star-studded 2024 freshman class, Stevenson stepped in and caught 63 of the Tar Heels’ 64 games on the way to the College World Series, earning praise for his strong arm and maturity behind the plate in handling a pitching staff that was decimated by injuries. He also put together a solid season at the plate, hitting .284 with 14 homers and 58 RBIs. He also led the team with 48 walks. He followed that up with selection to the USA Baseball Summer Tour team. As a draft-eligible sophomore, he has a chance to play his way into the early first round of this summer with another productive season.

20. Max Williams, CF, Florida State

A transfer from Alabama, Williams fit right into the leadoff spot and helped take FSU all the way to Omaha by hitting .311 with 14 homers and 46 RBIs while also anchoring an outfield alongside MLB Draft picks James Tibbs and Jaime Ferrer. With Tibbs and Ferrer gone, Williams will move down in the batting order, where his left-handed bat – which has produced some of the team’s highest exit velocities – will be expected to carry an even bigger portion of the offensive load.

The post ACC baseball preview: 20 names to know in 2025 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It’s only appropriate that in the aftermath of Saturday’s 1-point escape against Pittsburgh, the embattled Tar Heels coach suggested that his team needs to play with “a sense of emergency” rather than a sense of urgency as it enters the season’s home stretch.

After Monday night’s 85-65 beatdown at Clemson, it might be time to call 911.

UNC is a 4-alarm inferno with 5 losses in its past 7 games, including embarrassingly lopsided defeats against the ACC’s 2 best teams that helped drop its record to 14-11 (7-6 in the conference).

With the Tar Heels trending in the wrong direction at the wrong time and Davis trending on social media for all the wrong reasons, more than just the season might be on the verge of going up in smoke. 

It doesn’t matter that the UNC System has suspended some of the athletic oversight from the Board of Trustees at its flagship campus to prevent a situation similar to the one that bullied athletic director Bubba Cunningham into hiring Bill Belichick as its new football coach.

The pressure on Cunningham to part ways with his 4th-year basketball coach has begun to intensify. And it will only get worse the closer the Tar Heels miss the NCAA Tournament for the 2nd time in 3 years. Unless Davis does everyone including himself and the school he loves so much a favor by reading the room and bowing out gracefully on his own.

Davis is a Tar Heel legend. The sharpshooter helped UNC win the ACC Tournament twice and reach the 1991 Final Four. He was the hand-picked successor to Hall of Famer Roy Williams. As difficult as the decision to move on from him would be, the next necessary step in the rebuilding process might be even more painful.

It wouldn’t just entail cutting ties with a former star player who bleeds Carolina blue. It would also signal a clean break from the history and tradition those in the courtside seats at Smith Center – and many others – hold dear.

The branch on the college basketball coaching tree that connects UNC directly to Dr. James Naismith. The guy with the peach baskets who invented the game.

Naismith served as a mentor to Kansas coaching legend Phog Allen, who passed his knowledge on to a young Jayhawk point guard named Dean Smith. 

Smith then carved out his own niche in college basketball history by winning 879 games at UNC, more than any coach in history at the time of his retirement in 1997, before handing the job off to a succession of former assistants and players – Bill Guthridge, Matt Doherty, Williams and now Davis.

That family affair, however, is on its last legs.

With Jerod Haase having been fired at Stanford last year, Wes Miller not exactly lighting it up at Cincinnati and MJ content to play golf and just be MJ, there aren’t any viable heirs capable of continuing the dynasty. That means whenever the UNC job comes open – whether it’s next month or somewhere in the less immediate future – the hire will have to come from outside the “family.”

It’s way too early to start throwing out names since there’s still more than a month’s worth of games left to try and turn things around this season, And it’s still not certain that the Tar Heels will be in the market once it’s over.

If and when the time does come, though, the list of interested candidates will be impressive and long. Even in its current state, UNC is still a top-5 job.

The Tar Heel basketball brand is strong enough that it shouldn’t have to resort to an outside-the-box hire as extreme as the Belichick gamble to catch the attention of the national media. And more important, top-tier talent. The kind of first-round NBA Draft talent that’s more concerned with the “transactional” side of the game than the dusty banners hanging from the rafters of the arena they play in.

But it’s a problem that can’t be solved simply by throwing money at it. Assuming, of course, that there’s any money left to throw around after the bundle being promised to football.

UNC needs a basketball overhaul that goes beyond the recently addressed and long-overdue addition of a general manager to oversee the program. A change that better aligns it with the realities of the transfer portal and NIL, and helps to prevent it from falling into a similar malaise to the one that’s devalued Indiana from college basketball royalty to just another team in the Big Ten.

It’s a transition whose implementation requires a sense of urgency.

Before it becomes an emergency.

The post If Hubert Davis is on his way out, UNC will need to go outside ‘the family’ for its next basketball coach appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Regardless of the order, Ward will be the first ACC quarterback off the board.

It will mark the 4th time in the past 5 years and the 7th time in the past 9 that the ACC has had a passer taken in the opening round. North Carolina’s Drake Maye (No. 3 overall in 2024), Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett (20th, 2022), Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence (1st, 2021), Duke’s Daniel Jones (6th, 2019), Louisville’s Lamar Jackson (32nd, 2018) and UNC’s Mitchell Trubisky (2nd, 2017) are the others.

It’s a trend that has a good chance of continuing next season with the arrival of several high-profile transfers to an already strong class of returning quarterbacks.

As we turn the page on one season and start to look ahead to the next, here are the leading candidates to be the first ACC quarterback drafted in 2026:

Cade Klubnik, Clemson

Klubnik might have been a first-round pick in this year’s quarterback-thin Draft had he decided to turn pro after his breakthrough 2024 season. But even with a more crowded 2026 QB class, he could still be first off the board if he’s able to put up similar numbers.

The early Heisman Trophy front-runner put together a season that ranks among the top 5 in Clemson history in passing yardage (3,639), completion percentage (.634) and touchdowns (36) while earning ACC Championship Game MVP honors for the second time in 3 years. His stats were comparable to those put up by first-round NFL Draft picks Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson. Even though Clemson lost its opening-round Playoff game to Texas, Klubnik distinguished himself by throwing for 3 touchdowns against a Longhorns secondary that had allowed only 4 touchdown passes in its 13 games combined.

It took 2 full seasons and an upgrade in the Tigers’ receiving corps for the former No. 1 ranked quarterback prospect in the country to finally begin reaching his potential. But now that it has happened, with the return of top targets Bryant Wesco Jr., TJ Moore and Antonio Williams, Klubnik is poised to finish his college career on a high note.

Carson Beck, Miami

Beck won’t produce as many highlight-reel plays as his predecessor Ward. He’s more of a rhythm passer than a downfield bomber.

 But he’s a winner.

After spending his first 2 seasons as an understudy to Stetson Bennett on Georgia’s back-to-back national championship teams, he went 24-3 with a pair of trips to the SEC Championship Game in his 2 seasons as a starter. He might have accomplished even more had he not suffered an elbow injury that kept him out of this season’s Playoff.

Beck threw for 3,485 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2024. Although his completion percentage was down from the previous year (from 72.4% to 64.7%) and his interceptions were up (from 6 to 12), there’s no reason he shouldn’t make a smooth transition into Shannon Dawson’s high-powered offensive scheme if his elbow is fully recovered from the surgery he underwent in December.

Miller Moss, Louisville

Jeff Brohm is well on the way to replacing Southern Cal’s Lincoln Riley as college football’s resident quarterback whisperer. So it’s only fitting that his latest transfer project comes to Louisville courtesy of Riley, who benched Moss in favor of  Jayden Maiava for the final 3 games last season. 

Moss threw for 2,555 yards and 18 touchdowns with 9 interceptions in the 9 games he started for the Trojans. And he has a 4-star pedigree.

After sending Aidan O’Connell to the NFL during his time at Purdue and turning reclamation projects Jack Plummer and Tyler Shough into success stories in his first 2 seasons at Louisville, there’s no telling what Brohm and Moss – a blue-chip passer who was once groomed to be the heir apparent to Heisman winner Caleb Williams – will be able to accomplish together. 

Haynes King, Georgia Tech

King is a dynamic playmaker who led the ACC in touchdown passes 2 seasons ago and set a single-season school record by completing 72.9% of his passes in 2024 while leading the Yellow Jackets to their second straight winning season.

Those raw numbers, however, don’t paint the full picture of just how impressive a leader he has been for Brent Key’s team since arriving as a transfer from Texas A&M. Despite being hampered by a shoulder injury that limited his ability to throw downfield, King still found ways to help his team win with his legs, rushing for 597 yards and 11 touchdowns. 

His grit and determination were on full display in the regular-season finale when he accounted for 413 yards of total offense and 5 touchdowns in almost single-handedly taking Georgia to 8 overtimes.

Max Johnson, North Carolina

OK, this is a stretch. A big stretch, because there’s a 50-50 chance Johnson won’t even be on UNC’s roster after the spring transfer window. But if he does stay and wins the starting job in 2025, it will be intriguing to see what the son of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Brad Johnson could do under the tutelage of 6-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick.

Johnson started his college career at LSU and threw for 27 touchdowns in 2021 before transferring to Texas A&M. He played just over a half for the Tar Heels last season, going 12-of-19 with 71 yards and an interception to go along with a rushing touchdown before suffering a season-ending leg injury that required multiple surgeries to repair.

The post Looking ahead: Who will be the first ACC quarterback drafted in 2026? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

That’s been the ACC’s postseason basketball formula for the past few seasons. 

The league might be down and getting fewer NCAA Tournament bids than any of the 3 other power conferences or Big East. But the teams that are getting into the field of 68 are making the most of their opportunities.

Last year, 4 of the league’s 5 teams made it to the second week of the tournament; 3 reached the Elite Eight and NC State advanced to the Final Four. The league’s 9 Final Four teams since 2015 are more than any conference, and its 111 overall wins are 28 more than anyone else over that same stretch.

This year is setting up to be more of the same.

While the ACC has only 3 NCAA locks heading into the final month of the regular season and will likely only get 1 – maybe 2 – additional bids beyond that, there’s a realistic possibility of multiple teams making deep runs into March.

And maybe even April.

As we head into the home stretch of the 2024-25 campaign, here’s a look at the realistic postseason ceiling for each team that should be participating in March Madness. And a few of those that still hold out at least realistic hope:

Duke

Record: 20-3 (12-1 ACC). NET: 2.

Don’t let Saturday’s loss at Clemson cast doubt about the Blue Devils. They were beaten on the road by the 2nd-best team in their conference in a game that might have gone to overtime had the kid with the mop at Littlejohn Coliseum done a better job of drying the floor near the Duke basket with 14 seconds to go. Jon Scheyer’s team is long, athletic, versatile and deep. It plays lights-out defense (most of the time) and can beat teams from around the rim and behind the 3-point arc. The Blue Devils have already shown they can stand up to top competition by winning at Arizona and beating recent No. 1 Auburn at home. And, oh yeah, they also have the guy who will be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft this summer.

Ceiling: National championship.

Louisville

Record: 18-6 (11-2). NET: 28.

After winning only 12 games in the past 2 seasons combined under Kenny Payne, the Cardinals have won 18 so far this season, including 12 of the past 13. Because of a rash of early injuries that have left them thin inside, Pat Kelsey’s team relies as heavily on the 3-point shot as anyone in the country. The Cardinals have the shooters to make it work. Reyne Smith leads the ACC with 91 3-pointers while teammates Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards have 81 more between them. But because they also lack depth and play an aggressive style of defense, they’re susceptible to a tightly-officiated game. That makes Louisville the kind of team that could lose in the opening round as easily as it could make a deep run.

Ceiling: Sweet 16.

Clemson

19-5 (11-2). NET: 30.

Brad Brownell provided the best description of his team’s postseason chances in his postgame press conference following the win that will likely get the Tigers back into the national polls. “When we’re locked in and playing at a high level, doing the things we need to do and preparing the right way,” he said Saturday, “we can play with just about anybody in the country.” They’ve proven that in wins against Duke and Kentucky while 3 of their 5 losses have come in overtime. With an experienced rotation that features 8 juniors, seniors or graduates among the top 9 – including a first-team All-ACC point guard in Chase Hunter and several others that helped take Clemson to the Elite Eight a year ago – the Tigers will be a tough out again this March.

Ceiling: Elite Eight.

SMU

18-5 (9-3). NET: 39.

The Mustangs have quietly played their way into NCAA contention in their first season under coach Andy Enfield and in the ACC. They play a high-intensity, up-tempo style that has produced the highest-scoring team in the league at 82.8 points per game. While they don’t shoot as many 3s as Louisville, they make them with greater frequency. Their 38.9 percentage is the ACC’s best. But while they score a lot, they also allow a lot. They’re only 11th in the conference in scoring defense at 71.5 ppg allowed. SMU still has work to do just to get onto the right side of the bubble with an 0-4 Quad 1 record and only 4 Quad 2 victories.

Ceiling: First round.

North Carolina

Record: 14-10 (7-5) NET: 45.

The best thing the Tar Heels have going for them right now is the words North and Carolina stitched across the front of their jerseys. That and the fact that they have some really good losses. They’re 1-9 in Quad 1 opportunities, with the only victory coming against UCLA at Madison Square Garden in December. They’ll have at least 2 more chances to add to that total at Clemson on Monday and at home against Duke in the regular-season finale. If UNC manages to sneak into the field of 68, its stay there will be determined entirely upon its draw. Hubert Davis’ team has talent in the backcourt to give a higher seed trouble, but it doesn’t have the low-post presence to hold its own against a bigger opponent with a strong inside game.

Ceiling: Second round.

Pittsburgh 

Record: 14-9 (5-7). NET: 47.

The Panthers looked like an NCAA lock back in mid-January. But they haven’t been the same since getting blown out by Duke by 30. They’ve lost 6 of 8 since and are only still within hailing distance of the bubble because of a high NET, inflated by nonconference wins against West Virginia, LSU and Ohio State. Jeff Capel’s team might have to win the ACC Tournament – or at least get to the final – to get in. And the task got even tougher with news that Damian Dunn will miss the rest of the season with a fractured elbow. Even if the Panthers do sneak in, they don’t figure to stick around long.

Ceiling: First Four.

Wake Forest 

Record: 18-6 (10-3). NET: 60.

The Deacons have a better record than UNC or Pitt. And just as many Quad 1 wins (against No.2 4 Michigan). But despite what should be a solid NCAA Tournament resume, the analytics just don’t like Steve Forbes’ team. Maybe it’s because it only beat USC Upstate by 5 instead of 25. Or maybe it’s because they’re “Little Wake Forest.” Whatever the reason, the Deacons are a team no one will want to see on their line of the bracket if they do manage to finally end up on the right side of the bubble after 2 near-misses in the past 3 seasons. They have star power in Hunter Sallis, size and grit throughout the lineup. They defend like crazy, which makes them a handful when their shots are falling.

Ceiling: Second round.

The post Postseason ceilings for ACC basketball teams with realistic NCAA Tournament hopes appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Yawn.

Unless you’re a fan of either team or sports bettor (the Chiefs are favored by 1.5 points, per FanDuel), your excitement level for Super Bowl LIX probably ranks somewhere between standing in line at the DMV and doing your taxes.

It’s such an unpopular matchup that given the choice between Kansas City, Philly and a meteor colliding with Earth, a majority of respondents to a recent social media poll said they’d be pulling for the meteor.

But if you’re an ACC fan, there’s at least one other alternative that doesn’t involve a celestial disaster.

There are a baker’s dozen players (8 for the Eagles, 5 for the Chiefs) with connections to the conference on the active rosters of the participating teams. 

Not all of them will get as much TV time as Taylor Swift. But some, including these 5 players, could have an impact on who wins and who loses the Lombardi Trophy:

If the game is on the line, bet on Butker

No kicker has ever been named a Super Bowl MVP. But if it’s ever going to happen, this might be the year. And Harrison Butker is the kicker. 

The controversial former Georgia Tech kicker has played a major role in deciding the outcome each of the past 2 years. His 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining provided the winning margin in the Chiefs’ 38-35 victory in 2023, the last time they met the Eagles in the big game. Then last year against the San Francisco 49ers, he hit a 29-yarder with 3 seconds left to send the game into overtime, setting up his team’s 25-22 win.

Butker missed 4 weeks in November after undergoing surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee. But he appears to be healthy and back in top form. After missing his first field goal attempt upon his return, against Cleveland on Dec. 15, he’s made 7-of-8 since. Including all 4 in the postseason.

If you feel like taking a flier on a longshot, Butker could be your man. He’s +20000 to be the Super Bowl MVP, according to DraftKings sportsbook. If you’re looking for a safer bet, he’s -164 to make 2-plus field goals.

If anyone can make Patrick Mahomes Sweat, it’s Josh

Eagles edge rusher Josh Sweat restructured his contract and took a pay cut last offseason to remain with the Eagles so he could get another shot at getting the Super Bowl victory that barely eluded him and his teammates 2 seasons ago.

The former 4th-round pick from Florida State was a nonfactor in that first matchup against Kansas City, recording only 1 tackle and 1 hit on Mahomes. He’s using that disappointing performance as motivation in Round 2 against the Chiefs and their star quarterback.  

Sweat, who will become a free agent after Sunday’s game, went 11 games without a sack earlier in the season. But he’s hit his stride at just the right time and is back to his Pro Bowl form heading into Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch. He has recorded 5 sacks, 7 quarterback hits and 12 tackles over the past 5 games. His 8 total sacks and 16 pressures lead the Eagles.

One for Joe Thuney’s thumb

It will take something highly unusual for Thuney’s name to appear in the boxscore on Sunday. But that doesn’t diminish the role he will play for the Chiefs. The All-Pro left guard will be one of those trying to keep Sweat and others on the Eagles’ defense out of the backfield and out of Mahomes’ face.

Like Sweat, the former NC State star also has an incentive to play well. He was forced to watch last year’s Super Bowl victory against the 49ers from the sideline after suffering a pectoral injury earlier in the playoffs. 

Even though he didn’t get to play in that game, he did earn a Super Bowl ring. It was his second as a member of the Chiefs, to go with the 2 he won earlier while he was with the New England Patriots.

If the Chiefs win Sunday, Thuney will become only the 3rd player in NFL history to earn 5 Super Bowl rings. Hall of Fame defensive end Charles Haley also has 5 (3 with Dallas, 2 with the 49ers) while Tom Brady has 7 (6 with the Patriots, 1 with Tampa Bay).

Jeremiah Trotter, Andy Reid deja vu … sort of 

Twenty years ago, a linebacker named Jeremiah Trotter played for the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX. His coach that day in Jacksonville was Andy Reid.

Sunday in Las Vegas, another Jeremiah Trotter will be playing linebacker for Philadelphia. And Reid will also be there. Only this time, he’ll be coaching the opposing team as the Trotters join a select group of fathers and sons to both play on the NFL’s biggest stage.

“Jeremiah, his father, was one of my favorite players,” Reid told George Stockburger of Yahoo! Sports earlier in the week. “That’s a great deal for the family.”

The original Jeremiah Trotter, who spent 8 seasons with the Eagles and is a member of the team’s Hall of Fame, had a team-leading 8 tackles against the New England Patriots in 2005. But it wasn’t enough to prevent a 24-21 defeat. 

Trotter Jr., a rookie from Clemson, is still trying to find his niche as a professional. He has started only 1 game, recording 25 tackles and a half-sack in limited action. However, because starting linebacker Nakobe Dean is sidelined with a knee injury, Trotter Jr. could find himself playing a more prominent role against the Chiefs.

A Super ending to DeAndre Hopkins’ journey from rock bottom

The veteran wide receiver from Clemson admits that he was “almost losing the love for this game” as he languished in the negativity surrounding the rebuilding Tennessee Titans earlier this season. But only a few days after hitting rock bottom during a 34-10 loss to Buffalo on Oct. 20, Hopkins’ mood – and his football fortunes – took an abrupt turn for the better when he was traded to the Chiefs.

Hopkins is a 5-time All-Pro selection with the Houston Texas and Arizona Cardinals who was once considered to be among the top tier or elite NFL receivers. Now 32, those days are behind him. But he’s proven to be a valuable addition to Kansas City’s offense as a secondary threat alongside talented rookie Xavier Worthy. In 10 games with the Chiefs, Hopkins has made 41 catches for 437 yards and 4 touchdowns.

This will be his first Super Bowl appearance. He’s so appreciative of the opportunity after 12½ seasons with non-contending teams that he made it a point to thank his former organization for making it possible during Monday’s Super Bowl media day circus.

“It meant a lot for the Titans to trade me to the Chiefs,” Hopkins said, via a video posted by  Nick Suss of The Tennessean. “Without them I wouldn’t be in this situation. So I’ve got to give Nashville and (the Titans’ management) thanks.

The other guys

Besides Butker, Sweat, Thuney, Trotter Jr. and Hopkins, the other players with ACC ties in Super Bowl LIX are:

Chiefs: Starting S Chamarri Conner (Virginia Tech), backup TE Noah Gray (Duke).

Eagles: OG Mekhi Becton (Louisville), CB Avonte Maddox (Pittsburgh), TE EJ Jenkins (Georgia Tech), backup QB Kenny Pickett (Pittsburgh), RB Will Shipley (Clemson) and WR Johnny Wilson (Florida State).

The post These former ACC players could have an impact in deciding Super Bowl LIX appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It just won’t happen on Monday when the new polls come out.

The door was cracked ajar for the second-ranked Blue Devils to jump into the top spot for the first time since November 2021 after No. 1 Auburn was beaten by Florida earlier in the day Saturday. 

But Clemson had other ideas. 

The Tigers slammed the door shut with a second-half surge that halted Duke’s 16-game winning streak and ended its chances of becoming the first ACC team to go 20-0 in the conference. Even though their 77-71 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum will officially go into the books as an upset, it was hardly a surprise.

If the Blue Devils were going to lose to a conference opponent. This was probably going to be it.

You could almost see it coming from as far away as the end of the line of Clemson students who began gathering outside the arena before dawn in anticipation of the 6:30 p.m. showdown.

An amped-up sellout crowd just itching to storm the court. Which it did.

A home team still smarting from a 3-overtime loss to Georgia Tech in a trap game 2 days earlier and desperate to enhance its NCAA Tournament resume.

Duke star Cooper Flagg admittedly under the weather.

Throw in the return of Dickie V. after a 2-year absence and the fact that the Tigers have now won 5 straight games against top-5 ranked opponents. 

It was a great college basketball game in a great atmosphere. But if you’re looking for absolutes to take away from the result, there aren’t many other than that Duke isn’t unbeatable and Flagg is mortal. 

Sort of. 

And that Clemson, which has to do this all over in less than 48 hours when North Carolina comes to town for another important game on Monday, is a lot better than a majority of poll voters are giving it credit for.

“When we’re locked in and playing at a high level, doing the things we need to do and preparing the right way,” coach Brad Brownell said, “we can play with just about anybody in the country.”

The Tigers certainly looked the part on Saturday.

They became the first team all season to shoot better than 50% against a Blue Devils defense that began the day ranked second nationally according to KenPom’s efficiency ratings, going 30-of-51 from the floor. They outrebounded Duke 36-23 and held Flagg to 4 points on 2-of-11 shooting over the first 35 minutes.

Even with all that, it still took Flagg losing his footing on a slippery floor as he drove for the tying basket in the final seconds for Clemson to pull it off.

A big reason for that is the Blue Devils’ freshman star. 

Despite not being at his best physically and visibly struggling against a tall, physical Clemson front line, Flagg still had enough gas in his tank to flip the switch and nearly get his team across the finish line. He scored 14 of his 18 points in the final 5 minutes making 4 straight shots – including 3 3-pointers – to carry Duke back from a 7-point deficit into a late lead.

“Cooper was being Cooper there,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said. “He just has a special will.” 

Scheyer said he was convinced his team would win right up until the time Flagg hit a wet spot likely caused by the humidity in the packed building, crashed to the ground and was called for traveling with 14 seconds remaining.

While the result said more about Clemson’s potential than Duke’s shortcomings, the fact that the Blue Devils still nearly pulled out the victory in the face of all that went wrong should tell you all you need to know about how good the Blue Devils are when they are locked in and playing at a high level, doing the things we need to do and preparing the right way,”

The job of reaching that goal only intensifies now that at least a few chinks in their armor have been exposed.

“This loss hurts because I think this group is on the verge of doing something special,” Scheyer said. “I just told them afterward that this game has got to mean something … Losing sucks. I hate it. Our team hates it. So I know we’ll have a group that responds and really gets us to a place we need to be.”

Just in case the door to being the best team in college basketball swings open again.

The post It may have been an upset, but Clemson’s win against Duke wasn’t all that surprising appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Even when it’s shouting at the top of its lungs.

That’s the reason Dick Vitale’s return to the airwaves after a 2-year battle with vocal cord cancer is such a big deal for college basketball.

You might even say it’s Awesome, Baybeeeeeee!

Because even as things change and evolve, not always for the better, hearing the iconic ESPN analyst describe the action with his familiar over-the-top style reminds us that the game is still all about the PTPers and Diaper Dandies of the world. 

And that it’s still fun. 

No matter how many times they transfer, how much NIL money they’re raking in or how geographically ridiculous it is that the Atlantic Coast Conference now has 2 members in the Pacific Time Zone. 

Barring another mishap like the one that postponed his planned comeback date 2 weeks ago, Dickie V will make his first broadcast appearance since 2023 on Saturday. He’ll join play-by-play man Dave O’Brien and fellow analyst Cory Alexander on the call of the Clemson-Duke game at Littlejohn Coliseum.

It’s only appropriate that the Blue Devils will be there to help welcome Vitale back.

The 85-year-old Hall of Famer is sometimes referred to as “Dukie V” by his detractors because of his propensity for gushing over Mike Krzyzewski and the team everyone other than Duke fans love to hate.

But here’s a little secret. He doesn’t just do it for the Blue Devils. As a perennial championship contender, Duke simply appears on ESPN’s national broadcasts more than almost everyone else.

He gushes that way over everybody.

Nobody loves college basketball or cares more about its players, its coaches, its traditions and those of us who cover it than Dick Vitale.

My first encounter with him came before a game at North Carolina’s Smith Center in the mid-1990s. I was doing a weekly ACC freelance column for Basketball Times in addition to my regular duties as a beat writer for the Fayetteville (NC) Observer back then. Vitale also had a regular feature that ran in BT.

I’d never formally met him. But he must have recognized me from the photo that ran with my column because he came up to me, introduced himself and told me that he liked my work.

It was the moment I felt I had “made it” as a sports journalist.

No doubt he’s left a similar impression on others. And not just those associated with basketball, broadcasting or even sports.

Vitale has been a tireless crusader in the battle to raise awareness and money for cancer research since his good friend Jim Valvano succumbed to the disease in 1993. He’s helped raise upwards of $100 million for the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund, with much of it coming by way of the star-studded gala he’s hosted every spring for the past 20 years.

Even as he’s fought his own painful battle over the past 2 years, he’s remained as focused on others as he has been himself. 

He’s a genuinely good guy. 

More important, he’s genuine.

Those nicknames, the hyper-drive delivery, the upbeat personality can easily be confused for shtick. And it often is. But that’s just who he is.

Almost every conversation I’ve had with him over the years has followed a similar pattern. They start calmly, in a normal tone of voice. But as his passion for the subject starts to kick in, the volume rises, the hands start gesturing and he’s off to the races.

One of the few exceptions is a text exchange I had with him shortly before he was supposed to return for the Duke-Wake Forest game on Jan. 25.

He apologized for not speaking with me directly. He’s under doctor’s orders to limit the strain on his battered vocal cords by doing as few interviews as possible. But you could tell something was different by the tone of his responses. 

“Nervous and emotional,” he wrote when asked about coming back after such a long time away, adding “I keep wondering what is going to happen.” 

I get the emotional part. We’ve seen it on the air as he’s thanked his fans and support staff throughout his battle with cancer. He’s likely to shed a joyful tear or two upon his return Saturday.

As for the nervousness, that’s understandable, too.

But he need not worry about what will happen once the red light comes on, the mic goes live and the game begins. As long as his voice holds out, the passion will kick and Dickie V will take over.

 And it will be awesome, baybeeeeee!

The post Dickie V is back on the air … and it’s awesome, baby, for college basketball appeared first on Saturday Down South.

Doing it on a consistent basis is even more difficult. Especially given the uncertainties of transfer portal turnover and NIL poaching.

No one knows that better than Florida State.

The Seminoles appeared to be on the fast track toward regaining their status as a top-tier national program by going undefeated during the 2023 regular season and winning the ACC championship. All it took was a few portal whiffs and some other stumbles to send them tumbling back down to the bottom of the mountain.

FSU won 11 fewer games in 2024 than in 2023. That’s how fast it can happen.

While the Seminoles’ case was extreme, they’re not the only ones who suffered a drop-off this season. NC State, which was picked to finish 4th in the ACC’s preseason poll, slipped from 9 wins to 6 and finished tied for 10th in a 17-team pack.

Who are the most likely ACC candidates to suffer a setback and win at least 3 fewer games in 2025?

Here are 3 teams to watch:

Syracuse

2024 record: 10-3

Like a winter squall rolling off Lake Ontario, Fran Brown stormed into Syracuse and announced his presence with authority. The former Georgia assistant injected an immediate jolt of energy into a perpetually stagnant program with his infectious enthusiasm and vision. 

And he didn’t just talk a good game. The new coach backed up his swagger by attracting a stellar transfer class, highlighted by franchise quarterback Kyle McCord, then parlayed all that talent into a 10-3 record that included wins against ranked opponents UNLV and Miami.

Now comes the hard part. Doing it again.

Brown won’t have McCord, who entered the NFL Draft after setting school records for completions, passing yardage and touchdowns. Nor will he have leading rusher LeQuint Allen, 1,000-yard receiver Jackson Meeks and leading tackler Justin Barron, among others. The Orange will also be tested by a much more challenging schedule that starts with a neutral site game against Tennessee in Atlanta and includes road tests at Clemson, SMU, Miami and Notre Dame.

A drop-off seems almost inevitable. The only question is how much.

SMU

2024 record: 11-3

Like the Orange, Rhett Lashlee’s Mustangs are going to have a tough time topping the success they achieved in their ACC debut. They went 8-0 in league play, battled Clemson even until the final seconds of the conference championship game and earned an at-large bid to the College Football Playoff. 

But even though star quarterback Kevin Jennings is back, most of the offensive weapons surrounding him have moved on. It’s a list that includes running back Brashard Smith and SMU’s top 5 receivers. And the attrition is almost as rampant on defense, with edge rushers Elijah Roberts and Jahfari Harvey, and linebackers Kobe Wilson and Ahmad Walker also gone.

Lashlee has already made strides toward replenishing the ranks by putting together a top-30 recruiting class. But he still has work to do in the transfer portal to add more immediate help.

And while the schedule isn’t quite as favorable in 2025, it’s also not as challenging as the one facing Syracuse. Besides a trip to Clemson on Oct. 18, their 2 toughest games – against Miami on Nov. 1 and Louisville on Nov. 22 – are at home. While a drop-off from 11 wins to 8 will seem like a lot, it would still make for a successful season.

Duke

2024 record: 9-4

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Manny Diaz has spared no expense in an attempt to build on his successful first season. The collective supporting his program shelled out a reported $8 million for a 2-year commitment from Tulane’s Darian Mensah, the top-rated quarterback on the transfer portal.

Mensah’s arrival is part of an offensive overhaul precipitated by the departure of last year’s record-setting quarterback, Maalik Murphy, who is now at Oregon State. The team also lost top receivers Jordan Moore and Eli Pancol and leading rusher Star Thomas.

Diaz picked up where his predecessor Mike Elko left off by winning 9 games in 2024. It was Duke’s 3rd straight winning season. The Blue Devils haven’t had 4 consecutive winning seasons since the early 1960s. In order to extend that streak to 4, the Blue Devils will have to do it against an upgraded nonconference schedule that replaces Northwestern with a more formidable Big Ten opponent, Illinois, and includes a trip to New Orleans to take on Mensah’s old team, Tulane, to go along with ACC road tests at Clemson, North Carolina and Syracuse.

With the addition of Mensah and 6 other transfers, Diaz is making positive strides toward meeting the challenge and maintaining his program’s recent success. But like happiness, money can’t buy wins.

Those still have to be earned.

The post These 3 ACC football teams at risk of winning 3 fewer games in 2025 appeared first on Saturday Down South.

It doesn’t sound like a lot in the context of at least a 12-game college football season. But it’s a quarter of the regular season. And that makes improving by at least 3 victories from 1 year to the next a lot more difficult than it might seem.

Still, it’s not impossible.

Even though Pitt probably considers 2024 a disappointment after losing its final 6 games, the Panthers were actually one of the nation’s most improved teams. By starting the year with 7 straight victories, they were 4 wins better than they were in 2023 when they went 3-9.

Syracuse also made a 4-win jump by going 10-4 in coach Fran Brown’s first season.

While those at the bottom of the standings have a better opportunity to make a dramatic improvement, that’s not the only way to do it. Miami improved from 7 wins to double-digits by going 10-3 thanks to the arrival of Heisman finalist quarterback Cam Ward.

So who are the most likely ACC candidates to improve by 3 wins in 2025?

Here are 3 teams to watch:

Florida State

2024 record: 2-10

It’s unlikely that the Seminoles will make a quantum leap back to the top of the ACC standings after last season’s crash and burn. But with the bar set so low, along with the additions of 2 new coordinators and another large class of incoming transfers, you’d think Mike Norvell’s team could almost get to 5 wins by accident.

Even with a challenging opener against Alabama in Tallahassee, FSU has an opportunity to match its 2024 win total by Week 4 with East Texas A&M and Kent State – a team that went 0-12 last season – up next. And the rest of the schedule is manageable, even with a trip to Clemson and rivalry games against Miami and Florida. Obviously, their odds to win the ACC championship are better this year than last year.

How much (if any) the Seminoles improve in 2025 will likely depend on how well offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and his new quarterback, Boston College transfer Thomas Castellanos, work together. And how quickly they’re able to mesh.

If there’s 1 thing going in their favor, they can’t be much worse than OC Alex Atkins and QB DJ Uiagalelei were a year ago.

North Carolina

2024 record: 6-7

The Tar Heels certainly made a splash by hiring 6-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick as their new coach. They figure to be as much a curiosity item nationally as Colorado was in Year 1 under Coach Prime.

But let’s not get carried away.

Belichick was a great NFL coach, maybe even the best ever. But he’s 72 and this is the first time he’ll have worked with college kids. And Tom Brady won’t be playing quarterback for him.

Belichick will have the benefit of a schedule that lends itself to a 4-0 start with an opening stretch against TCU, Charlotte, Richmond and UCF. After a challenging ACC opener against Clemson in Chapel Hill on Oct. 4, the rest of the conference slate is anything but intimidating.

While I’m not ready to subscribe to the Belichick bump and proclaim UNC an immediate contender for the ACC championship, the opportunity for at least a 3-game improvement to the 9-win mark is a realistic goal depending on how much the new coach and his staff deepen the talent pool during the spring transfer window.

Virginia

2024 record: 5-7

The Cavaliers saved coach Tony Elliott’s job by improving from 3 wins to 5 in 2024. But after losing the season finale to rival Virginia Tech and falling short of bowl eligibility, it might just be a reprieve if they don’t build on the momentum and make an even bigger jump in 2025.

There are some major obstacles to overcome in order for that to happen, not the least of which is finding replacements for quarterback Anthony Colandrea, leading receiver Malachi Fields and 2-time All-ACC safety Jonas Sanker. But Elliott and his staff have been aggressive on the portal to fill those voids. The most notable addition has been quarterback Chandler Morris from North Texas (by way of Oklahoma and TCU), whose father Chad once worked with Elliott while on Dabo Swinney’s staff at Clemson.

The biggest reason for optimism heading into 2025, beyond last season’s improvement, is a schedule similar to the one that helped Syracuse make its jump up the ACC standings a year ago.

The Cavaliers don’t play Clemson. Or SMU. Or Syracuse. Assuming Florida State doesn’t make a miraculous recovery, their toughest conference game is at Louisville. All the others – Stanford, FSU, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech at home, UNC, Cal and Duke on the road – are reasonably winnable 50-50 games. Throw in a nonconference quartet of Coastal Carolina, William & Mary, Washington State and NC State (no, that’s not a typo), and 8 wins – maybe more – are absolutely within reach.

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Actually, Parrish is easy to find. He’s still a columnist and college basketball analyst for CBSSports.com. It’s just his old weekly feature, titled “Poll Attacks,” that has gone MIA. 

He stopped doing the column a few years ago. And man, is it sorely missed.

To refresh the memory of those who don’t recall or are only casual observers of the college game, Parrish would scour through the ballots of every voter on the Associated Press Poll each week to see if there were any glaring anomalies in their selections.

If a blue blood was ranked too high or a mid-major too low (or not at all), he’d call the voter out on it.

He didn’t do it to be confrontational or to embarrass anyone. The intent was simply to make the polling process as transparent as possible and to hold voters accountable for their picks.

Judging from the newest Top-25 that came out on Monday, Parrish would be a busy man if “Poll Attacks” was still a thing. Because while most of the teams in the top half of the rankings are no-brainers, some of those near the bottom make you wonder if voters are actually watching games or if they’re simply making their picks based on the NCAA’s flawed NET metric.

According to CollegePollTracker.com, Clemson was listed on 32 of the 62 ballots cast this week, with Brice Cherry of the Waco (Texas) Tribune-Herald slotting it as high as No. 8. But that means 30 other voters left the Tigers off completely.

Since Parrish isn’t in a position to ask anymore, I’ll do it for him.

How in the world did you not rank Clemson?

The Tigers are now in their second week inside the Coaches’ poll, moving up 4 spots from No. 25 to No. 21 after double-digit road wins at Virginia Tech and NC State. But at 18-4, on a 6-game winning streak that’s just 1 off the school record, they’re still on the outside looking in on the AP Top-25.

They didn’t miss by much. Two more points and they would have tied Ole Miss for the 25th and final spot. But truth be told, it shouldn’t have even been that close a call.

Nor should Louisville’s drop out of the poll after being at No. 21 last week because of a road loss at Georgia Tech, its first setback since Dec. 14. Eleven games ago.

Yes, I’m aware of the whole “everyone in the ACC other than Duke is garbage” narrative. And I know Clemson has played only 1 team that was ranked at the time they met and is still languishing at No. 30 in the NET (and only slightly higher at No. 27, according to KenPom).

But didn’t you voters learn anything from football?

While conference affiliation and strength of schedule are factors that should be considered, they’re not the be-all and end-all of evaluation tools. Contrary to what Kirk Herbstreit tried to sell us in December, the object of the game is still winning.

So teams should be rewarded for winning their games, regardless of who they’re against, as much, if not more, than teams losing to “good” opponents.

And it’s not as if Clemson has been playing a junior varsity schedule. 

The Tigers are 2-2 in Quad 1 games and 6-2 against Quad 2. They beat Kentucky, which is currently ranked 14th, and Penn State while half of their 4 losses have come in overtime. One of which was to No. 17 Memphis.

While No. 25 Ole Miss has dropped 4 of its past 5 to fall to 16-6 and No. 23 Illinois is 15-7 after going 3-4 in its previous 7, Brad Brownell’s team was 7-1 in January, the first time since 1951 that it went through an entire month with only a single setback.

Though Clemson isn’t the brand name in basketball that it is in football, the Tigers did make it to the Elite Eight a year ago. Most of the core from that team is back, including point guard Chase Hunter and Swiss Army Knife forward Ian Schieffelin. And the Tigers have put together a solid resume. One that might already have them in the poll if they played in any other power conference (or the Big East) other than the ACC.

This is not to suggest that there’s an organized bias toward the conference on the part of the voters. It’s been a historically bad year for the ACC, with half of its 18 members at .500 or below as the season’s final full month begins. But that doesn’t mean Clemson and to a lesser extent Louisville deserve to be devalued because of the perception of their conference.

The Tigers were in the polls for 2 weeks earlier this season after beating Kentucky and they stand a good chance at making it back next week thanks to a date against Duke at home on Saturday. A win against Cooper Flagg and his No. 2-ranked Blue Devils should certainly earn them a spot on all 62 ballots.

If it doesn’t, we might have to enlist Gary Parrish to resurrect his “Poll Attacks” column to find out why.

The post Hello, AP Poll voters … how is Clemson still not ranked? appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The news comes on the heels of a 4-game losing streak, punctuated by an embarrassing setback at Boston College on Saturday in which the Seminoles coughed up a 4-point lead in the final 7 seconds.

The timing, however, is only coincidental.

Already in the final year of an expiring contract, the last few grains of sand have been trickling from the hourglass of Hamilton’s 23-year tenure since last month when 6 of his former players sued him over promised name, image and likeness payments they say they never received.

At that point, it became more a matter of when, not if, the 76-year-old coach would either retire or be fired.

Hamilton won’t be made available to comment on his decision – or even if it was his decision – until after Tuesday night’s game against Notre Dame. 

Even then, there’s not much more he can say than the canned quote included in Monday’s release: That he’s “blessed beyond words for the opportunity and the experience” he’s had in Tallahassee and that he walks away “with no regrets.”

Well, maybe at least one regret.

While Hamilton leaves after having won 3 ACC Coach of the Year awards, FSU’s first-ever conference tournament championship in 2012, its first regular-season title 8 years later and more victories than anyone in school history, he was never able to lead his team to a Final Four.

His best chance of getting there, with a Seminoles team that went 26-5 and was poised to make a deep postseason run in 2020, was spoiled by the COVID pandemic that led to the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament.

That disappointment triggered a steady downhill slide during which Hamilton, like fellow old-school ACC coaches Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, Tony Bennett and Jim Larrañaga, struggled to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics.

After bottoming out at 9-23 three seasons ago, he tried to embrace the new realities of the transfer portal and NIL. But if the allegations of former Seminoles Darin Green Jr., Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears, Cam’Ron Fletcher, De’Ante Green and Jalen Warley that he made financial promises he couldn’t keep are true, he went about it a little too hard.

Only time will tell how much of a stain the lawsuit and the recent dropoff will leave on a Hall of Fame-worthy career that has seen him break the college coaching color barrier, spend time in the NBA and earn 656 victories. His 434 wins at FSU, including 13 this season, are the fifth-most in ACC history behind only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Dean Smith and Roy Williams and Maryland’s Gary Williams.

For better or for worse, Hamilton’s departure marks the end of an era.

He’s the last man standing from a golden generation of ACC coaches that included Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, Tony Bennett, Mike Brey and Larrañaga – all of whom have left since 2021. Brad Brownell, with 282 wins in 15 seasons at Clemson, is now the conference’s longest-tenured coach.

The vacuum created by their absence has been a major contributing factor to the league’s recent decline. Exactly half of the ACC’s 18 current teams are at .500 or below this season and the league’s .652 nonconference winning percentage (129-69) is its worst since 1968-69.

But even amid the gloom and doom accompanying the ACC’s dramatic fall, there is legitimate reason for optimism.

The high-profile openings at FSU and Miami, and perhaps 1 or 2 others once the season is done, give the conference an opportunity to replenish its coaching ranks and begin the climb back up the college basketball food chain. There’s already been an upgrade with Louisville’s hiring Pat Kelsey and Andy Enfield arriving with SMU’s entry into the league.

Both have their teams in line for NCAA Tournament bids.

But the momentum will only continue if the Seminoles and Hurricanes are serious about restoring their basketball programs, and the ACC along with them, back to prominence.

That means avoiding the mistakes of rivals Louisville, Syracuse and North Carolina, each of whom stayed within their respective “families” by gambling on untested first-timers, and diverting at least some funds away from football to attract experienced coaches with a track record for success and a firm handle on how programs are built and maintained in the 2020s.

The post Leonard Hamilton’s departure is more than the end of an era. It’s a chance for the ACC to start anew appeared first on Saturday Down South.

While the race for the league’s regular season championship and the battle to get on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble is just beginning, it can be argued that the league’s 3 most important postseason awards have already been decided.

It should come as no surprise that runaway frontrunners for Player, Rookie and Coach of the Year come from Duke and Louisville, the ACC’s best and most surprising team through the first half of the 2024-25 campaign.

Here’s a look at their credentials, along with the midseason leaders for the conference’s other major honors, Sixth Man of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year:

Player of the Year

Cooper Flagg, Duke: The hype began before the nation’s top-ranked recruit stepped foot on campus. And it was fueled by none other than LeBron James, who after facing the then 17-year-old freshman at a camp preparing Team USA for last summer’s Olympics, proclaimed that “Cooper Flagg (is) going to be a big-time player.”

Although Flagg is a different kind of talent than another former Duke phenom, Zion Williamson, the expectations were just as high. It’s hard to imagine anyone living up to that standard. 

But somehow, Flagg has exceeded them.

His numbers are impressive enough on their own merit. He leads the Blue Devils and ranks among the top 10 in the ACC in scoring (20.0 ppg), rebounds (8.0), assists (4.2), steals (32), blocked shots (26) and field-goal percentage (.484).

The 6-9 wing has the ability to produce SportsCenter highlights, as he did with a vicious tomahawk dunk against Pitt, and take over games as he did in setting an ACC freshman record with 42 points (on 11-of-14 shooting, 4-of-6 3-pointers and 16-of-17 free throws) in an 86-78 win against Notre Dame.

But he’s also remarkably unselfish, with an innate knack for knowing what his team needs him to do and when it needs him to do it.

As impressive as his ability to stuff a stat sheet might be, and it is impressive, that’s not even close to being the most meaningful contribution to Duke’s quest to win its first NCAA Tournament title since 2015.

It’s the fire with which he plays.

“There are a lot of attributes he has. But to me, the most unique one is how competitive he is,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel, a former Blue Devil, said of Flagg. “You rarely see that, especially from a young guy. In my opinion, that’s what makes this Duke team different from last year’s. When your best player is like that, it permeates through the whole team.”

Coach of the Year

Pat Kelsey, Louisville: It doesn’t matter what happens the rest of the way, Even if Jon Scheyer and Duke run the table and become the first ACC team to go 20-0 in the conference. Or if Brad Brownell and Clemson set a program record for wins in a season (the Tigers are 18-4; the 1989-90 Tigers won a record 26 games).

Kelsey has already locked up the award for the remarkable job he’s done in cleaning up the mess left for him by his predecessor Kenny Payne.

He’s done more than just return the Cardinals to respectability. He has them back in the national rankings. And while they had their 10-game winning streak snapped by Georgia Tech on Saturday, he has them on track for their first return to the NCAA Tournament since 2019.

With 16 wins already, he’s earned 4 more victories in his first 3 months than Payne did in his 2 full seasons.

But as if building a roster from scratch with 12 transfers wasn’t enough, the job he’s done is even more noteworthy considering that he was forced to reinvent his team on the fly after an early injury epidemic left it undersized and undermanned.

“It took a little bit for it to get our footing back and to figure out our new way,” Kelsey said. “But I really feel like our guys adapted well and we have some good momentum going right now.”

Rookie of the Year

Flagg: This is even a bigger no-brainer than Player of the Year.

The Duke star has won or shared the ACC’s Freshman of the Week award 8 times in 12 weeks so far this season, including the past 4 straight. He’s also won Player of the Week 3 times, making him the first player to sweep both weekly awards that many times in a season. And he still has half the league schedule to go.

Flagg is in position to become the 4th ACC freshmen to sweep POY and Rookie of the Year honors. The previous 3 were Duke players as well: Jahlil Okafor (2014-15), Marvin Bagley (2017-18) and Williamson (2018-19).

Sixth Man of the Year

Chuck Harris, SMU: Harris started all 32 games as the Mustangs’ point guard last season. But with the arrival of new coach Andy Enfield and Wake Forest transfer Boopie Miller to lead the transition from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC, Harris was asked to take on a new role coming off the bench.

It’s a change a lot of veteran players wouldn’t have accepted. But Harris did. And it’s paid off for both the player and his team. Even though he’s started only 6 times in 22 games thus far, the 6-4 senior is still SMU’s 2nd-leading scorer. Just as he was a year ago. He’s scoring at nearly the same clip (12.3 ppg compared to 13.4 in 2023-24) while shooting 3s at a significantly higher percentage (45.3 compared to 40.7) for a team that’s tied for 4th in the conference at 8-3 and on pace to make the NCAA Tournament at 17-5 overall.

Defensive Player of the Year

Chucky Hepburn, Louisville: Kelsey has referred to Hepburn as “kind of the straw that stirs the drink for us.” But it’s not just because of the spark the 6-2 Wisconsin transfer provides on offense by leading the team in scoring and the ACC in assists. Equally important to the Cardinals’ surprise success this season has been his work as a tone-setter on the defensive end of the court.

Hepburn leads the ACC in steals with 53 (2.4 per game). But it’s his relentless on-the-ball pressure and anticipation that earned him a spot on the Big Ten’s All-Defensive team last season and made him such a disruptive force to opposing offenses in the ACC this year.

All-Conference Team

Flagg: 20.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 4.2 apg, 26 blocks, 48.4 FG%

Maxime Raynaud, Stanford: 20.4 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 48.1 FG%

Hepburn: 15.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 6.4 apg, 2.4 spg, 33.3 3PT%

Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest: 18.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.5 apg, 47.5 FG%

Chase Hunter, Clemson: 17.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 49.6 FG%, 44.8 3PT%

The post Cooper Flagg, Duke, Louisville dominate the ACC’s midseason awards appeared first on Saturday Down South.