How Things Have Changed
Filed under: ACC, NCAA, college basketball, following the locals, sports
Last year at this time, Gary Williams was feeling the heat from the media and fans alike regarding the state of the Maryland Terrapins basketball team. The team had gone through a terrible stretch where they had lost five of seven games, including a loss to Morgan State at home. The Washington Post had written a series that focused on the Terrapins failure to land recruits from within the state (Part 1/Part 2/Part 3). To top things off, there was a war of words between the assistant athletic director and Williams about how one recruit ended up not going to Maryland. While some fans stuck by the coach, others mused out loud that it was time for Williams to go; that he had done all he could and since he wasn’t getting the top recruits anymore, Maryland basketball would never ascend the heights it had back in 2001-2002, when the Terps made the Final Four in consecutive years, winning the title in 2002.
Fast forward to one year later, and you can find hardly any dissent about the job Williams is doing as coach of the Terrapins. His team currently resides in second place in the conference with a 6-2 record at the halfway point of the conference season. The team is not mired in a funk; in fact in the last game the Terrapins routed North Carolina by 21 points. This week sets up to be a big one for the Terrapins with three games in five days. Saturday they take on the first-place Duke Blue Devils in Durham, then Monday play the make-up game with Virginia at home (which was postponed by the blizzard) and two days later face a trip to Raleigh to play North Carolina State’s Wolfpack. While no game is a gimme in the ACC, given how the Terrapins have played so far each of these games are winnable, though the game at Duke certainly will be tough. With the Blue Devils undefeated at home, it will take a team effort for the Terrapins to get a victory there. If they don’t win that game, there wouldn’t be any shame in losing to the conference’s first-place team on its home floor; but it makes the next two games more important.
All in all, the Terps are looking pretty good for a team picked to finish fifth in the conference. It’s nice to see that the status of Gary Williams is not topic A in any discussion of his basketball team. In fact, I can’t say that I have heard any dissent with Williams, the team’s performance or his recruiting ability. What a difference a year makes. But I wonder if this team somehow falters down the stretch, or the season ends in a fashion that fans find unacceptable, will the barking and sniping return.
Maryland Terrapins: Time To Pay Attention
Filed under: ACC, NCAA, basketball, college basketball, following the locals, sports
With football about to go on hiatus (the games, not the business), the time has come for me to begin paying attention to college and pro hoops. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been kinda keeping an eye on both of them (the NBA due to the Arenas mess and the fantasy basketball league I’m in), but this post will be about ACC hoops in general and the Maryland Terrapins in particular.
Almost every year without fail, the ACC is generally acknowledged as one of, if not the best, college hoops conference. Football in the ACC is a secondary thought-the joke is that the ACC is a basketball conference that dabbles in football. That perception is primarily borne on the success of the two unquestioned powerhouses in conference-Duke and North Carolina. Year after year, these two programs are the marquee features in the league, with successful season after successful season. Their success is often a given in the league-almost every year one or the other is expected to win the league and claim its automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. This year was expected to be no different. However, this year the conference race is wide open. Duke, while still good, is still beatable with the same flaws that have shown up in recent years. North Carolina is suffering a hangover no one really expected, as their young players haven’t quite gotten up to speed with life in the ACC. Everyone else is up and down depending on the opponent.
As it stands right now, Duke is in front, with a one game lead over a surprising Maryland Terrapins squad that is tied with Duke in the loss column. If the Terps can beat North Carolina today, they will finish the first half of their conference schedule with a 6-2 record, which actually wouldn’t be too shabby. The two conference games the Terps lost could hardly be considered shocking: a 2-point overtime loss to an athletic Wake Forest team and a loss to Clemson, both on the road. The Clemson loss may represent the worst game the Terps have played in conference so far. The second half of their conference schedule features two games with Duke and Virginia, the conference’s other surprise team, as well as dates with Clemson, Virginia Tech, NC State and Georgia Tech. A 5-4 finish would get the Terps to 20 wins with 10 losses, and a 10-6 conference record. Granted, as a fan of the Terps you would want them to do better than that down the stretch, but that finish coupled with one win in the ACC tournament should be enough to get the Terps into the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive season. This time last year, Gary Williams was coming under fire for losing games and clashing with the administration, and yet this year, I’ve heard nothing about coaching, or problems.
So from this point forward, I’ll be giving college hoops greater attention between now and the NCAA championship game.
Local Hoops Notes
Filed under: NBA, NCAA, basketball, college basketball, sports
A few words about the upcoming hoops season (college and pro):
The 2009-2010 college hoop season began this past Friday-did anyone really notice? Like college football, there is opening day, but it’s scattered as teams play all over the weekend, not to mention a few exhibitions aimed at getting the team into a rhythm to start the season. ESPN, of course has a made-for-the-network gimmick in place that it debuted last season. Opening day for college hoops, ESPN style begins at midnight on Tuesday with a game featuring Cal State Fullerton taking on UCLA. From there, games will be played live for 24 hours straight. Now of course, I won’t be able to catch them all, but if you want a schedule of the games to be played throughout the day, look here.
As for the local angle, yours truly will be looking toward the flagship hoops school, the Maryland Terrapins. Maryland’s season began on Friday, with an easy 89-51 win over the Charleston Southern Buccaneers. The Terps return four starters from a team that was heavily criticized, yet rebounded well enough to make a trip to the NCAA tournament and beat California before falling to Memphis in round 2. Leading this year’s team are seniors Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes, with Landon Milbourne and Sean Mosley expected to be key contributors. One of last year’s team’s major deficiencies was a lack of size up front; this year that has been addressed with the addition of freshmen Jordan Williams and James Padgett. Both played well in their first games at the college level, though the competition will get tougher once the team gets into ACC play. For me, it will be interesting to see what Vasquez and Hayes do in their senior seasons. Vasquez has many talents, but can be erratic; it was great to see him look to set his teammates up when his shots were not falling. Hayes scored a quiet 10 points in the opener, but hit three three-pointers. At the end of last season, it was great to see Hayes look for his offense; he practically carried the Terps in the ACC tournament run that got them into the big dance.
The Washington Wizards have begun the 2009-2010 season as well with some of the same issues as last season: injuries and losses. Before the season began, Antawn Jamison was injured, he has yet to play. While the Wizards won over Dallas on opening night, they have gone 1-6 since and have seen new acquisitions Mike Miller and Randy Foye injured as well. Gilbert Arenas though, is back and is healthy (except for a calf injury which threatened to scratch him from a game last week). Arenas, in a interesting change, has decided to let his play do the talking this season, going so far as getting himself and the team fined in preseason for not being available to the media. With a new coach in Flip Saunders, the return of Brendan Haywood from injury and also a new addition in Fabricio Oberto, it looks to be taking some time to get the team on the same page. The Wizards are expected to make a run to the playoffs after only winning 19 games the previous season.
It looks to be another exciting season, both college and pro…can’t wait to get my fill of games of both, and to see some questions answered. Can the Lakers repeat? Will the Celtics bounce back? Who looks to be the team to beat in the NCAA’s? Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina? What teams look to surprise in both the NBA and NCAA? Time will tell.
ACC: Looking Like Georgia Tech and Clemson
Filed under: ACC, NCAA Football, college football, football, sports
With the ACC football season coming down to its final weeks, we can say with certainty that the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have emerged as the best team in the conference. With a spot in the ACC championship game clinched by Saturday’s blowout of Duke, the Yellow Jackets have a chance to play for a spot in the BCS, likely in the Orange Bowl. With only one loss in conference to a Miami Hurricanes team that has fallen from its somewhat lofty perch from earlier in the season, there can be little doubt that they have been the ACC’s best team. With only the annual rivalry game left on the schedule against Georgia following a bye week, the Yellow Jackets can get ready for the conference championship game, while waiting to see who their opponent will be.
That opponent looks to be the Clemson Tigers. The Tigers, aside from a victory over Miami in overtime, have been quietly going about their business ever since the loss to Maryland. With a win over fading Virginia on Saturday, Clemson will clinch a spot in the conference championship game to face the Yellow Jackets. Clemson did what they needed to do in a victory over N.C. State. The matchup will be a rematch of an exciting game that took place way back in week 2 on a Thursday night in Atlanta. In a back and forth affair, Tech edged Clemson by 3 with a late field goal being the difference. If the championship game is as exciting as that game was (provided Clemson makes it there), fans will not be disappointed.
Elsewhere, the conference has four other bowl-eligible teams: Boston College, Virginia Tech, Miami and North Carolina. Florida State and Duke have chances to become bowl eligible with one more win. The road appears to be easier for the Seminoles than it does for the Blue Devils. Florida State has a date with Maryland before ending the season in the annual matchup with the #1 Florida Gators. Duke has a trip to Miami followed by a home date with Wake Forest. Neither game appears to be easy; Miami despite its recent inconsistency, has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, and the Demon Deacons will be plenty motivated to finish their season on a high note.
ACC: Onward…Clemson?!?
Filed under: ACC, NCAA Football, college football, following the locals, football, sports
Last week in my weekly ACC post, I pointed out that if the conference championship game were to be played at the time of writing, that game would feature Boston College and Virginia. In yet another season where anyone can almost beat anyone else in the ACC, you just knew that the status of those two teams as division frontrunners was not going to last very long. So of course, it lasted for one week. Though the Eagles have no blame for what happened on Saturday (BC played Notre Dame and lost in an out of conference game), the Cavaliers were not as fortunate. Georgia Tech, which may be at the moment the conference’s best team, beat Virginia in Charlottesville 34-9. The win put Georgia Tech at the top of the Coastal Division standings with two conference games against Wake Forest and Duke standing between it and the conference championship game. If the Yellow Jackets can win those games, they are in, without any shadow of a doubt. But of course, this is the ACC. Anything can happen between now and the end of the conference season.
In the Atlantic Division where it seems no one wants to lead, this week’s leader is…Clemson? Yes, Clemson. The Tigers had the biggest win of their season on Saturday, beating the Miami Hurricanes on the road in overtime, 40-37. That win put Clemson in the driver’s seat in the Atlantic Division. Although currently tied with Boston College in wins and losses (both are 3-2 in conference), Clemson holds the head-to-head tiebreaker by virture of beating BC earlier in the season. Both teams cling to a slim half-game lead over Wake Forest, but Clemson holds the edge over the Demon Deacons as well by virture of a 38-3 victory ten days ago. However, Clemson has three conference games remaining-and lest anyone forget, the Tigers did lose to Maryland-so I wouldn’t celebrate just yet. They get the suddenly off the mat Florida State Seminoles at home, as well as the Cavaliers, and have to make a trip to North Carolina State, who along with North Carolina are the only winless teams in conference play.
In other game news, the Seminoles finally won a conference game, roaring from behind to beat North Carolina last Thursday night. It remains to be seen if this is the win that jump-starts Florida State’s season. With four conference games remaining, certainly the Seminoles can make some noise as to who does what in conference. They certainly can put a dent in Clemson’s title hopes on November 7th. Wake Forest went up to Annapolis and lost to a Navy team that did not throw a single pass the entire game. Navy seems to have one game a year where they don’t throw the ball and still come out on top. This makes the second time in three games in two years that the Midshipmen have beaten the Demon Deacons. Maryland suffered yet another loss, this time at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils. It has to be abundantly clear now that Duke is no longer the worst team in the ACC. Maryland just might be. The Terps must now win out to have any shot at a bowl game. Anyone willing to take that bet?
So write it in-Clemson vs. Georgia Tech-but in pencil only.
ACC: Dreams Die In Atlanta
Filed under: ACC, BCS, NCAA Football, college football, sports
Prior to Saturday’s loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Virginia Tech Hokies would have had you believe that they deserved to be in the “conversation.” That the one loss they had suffered in the opening game of the season to the Alabama Crimson Tide was looking better and better by the week. That when the BCS standings came out on Sunday, as the best one-loss team in the nation, they would be in the thick of things, clinging to hope that the field would come back to them and they would be in the mix to play for college football’s national championship.
Saturday the Hokies returned to Atlanta, the city of their opening game loss, to take on Georgia Tech. And while the Hokies fought valiantly, their woes on the road in general, and in Atlanta this season specifically, caught up to them in a 28-23 loss, that all but effectively ended the Hokies chances to get in the national championship mix. The big dog is no more. You could say, why not Miami or Georgia Tech? Shouldn’t they get national championship consideration? Well Miami would, except for their loss to Virginia Tech, who now will drift down in the polls, plus the fact that their best wins have come over a Florida State team that currently sits at 0-3 in conference play and an Oklahoma team that just suffered its third loss Saturday against Texas. Miami will have to win out, and with some style to play in a BCS game, not necessarily the national championship game. The path for Georgia Tech is even more daunting; because they started so low in the polls, there’s almost no way they can move up high enough to be rated in the top two in the BCS, and they have a loss to Miami on their record.
Elsewhere in the conference, if you can tell me right now who will be playing in the conference’s championship game, let me know. As of right now, that game would feature Boston College against Virginia. That would be the Eagles, who hung 52 points on NC State over the weekend, but couldn’t do hardly anything offensively against Clemson or Virginia Tech-and the Cavaliers, who were left for dead in Setpember, but haven’t lost a conference game as yet. Natrually, I don’t expect that to last. For one thing, anyone can win the Atlantic Division, even bottom-dweller Florida State, which faces an important game against fellow winless-in-conference North Carolina on Thursday night. I can’t see Virginia holding on either; the Yellow Jackets come calling in Charlottesville on Saturday, and Virginia Tech and Miami lie in wait.
So, it looks like another season where the teams in the conference will beat each other up, but no shot at national championship glory. Enjoy the conference races, maybe even enjoy the conference title game. It will be interesting to see who represents the conference in the BCS and what team they will match up against, but that is a long way down the road.
ACC: Playing For Bobby
Filed under: ACC, NCAA Football, college football, football
The big story in ACC football last week had nothing to do with any of the games played on Saturday. The week’s big story concerned the dean of coaches in the conference, Bobby Bowden at Florida State. Thanks to Jim Smith, the chairman of the university’s board of trustees, this quote made Bowden the center of attention all last week:
“My hope is frankly that we’ll go ahead, and if we have to, let the world know that this year will be the end of the Bowden era… I do appreciate what he’s done for us, what he’s done for the program, what he’s done really for the state of Florida.
“I think the record will show that the Seminole Nation has been more than patient. We have been in a decline not for a year or two or three but I think we’re coming up on seven or eight. I think enough is enough.”
With that quote about Bowden, whether it was whether or not he should resign, whether Jimbo Fisher (the coach-in-waiting), was ready to assume the mantle, how much money it would take to get Fisher signed, or to release him if Bowden is kept on past 2010, overshadowed any discussion of the upcoming game against Georgia Tech. While there are still fans who support Bowden, media and a now more vocal contingent is beginning to believe that it is time for the man who put Florida State football on the map to ride off into the sunset. Bowden will turn 80 years old on November 8, and for some time now, folks believe that age, and a fall from the standard he set in building the program prove that it’s time for a different voice as football coach.
Those that would criticize Bowden are using this season as an example. Except for a through domination of BYU in the third game of the season, Florida State has not lived up to expectations. An opening game near-miss against Miami was followed by a sleepwalking victory against Jacksonville State. Following the BYU game, the Seminoles have lost three consecutive games; two of those at home. First to South Florida starting a freshman at quarterback at home; then to Boston College on the road, to a team that in games against Clemson and Virginia Tech, had offensive troubles. Despite the crowd’s support for Bowden, and his players playing for him, the team came up short on Saturday. With Saturday’s loss to Georgia Tech 49-44, the Seminoles now have a three game losing streak, and are still looking for their first conference win. The Seminoles are in a place that they are not accustomed to being in: the bottom of the conference’s Atlantic Division standings. At 0-3 in conference, and 2-4 overall at the halfway point of the season, everyone is looking for the team to pick it up, and soon. A big game looms on October 22 against North Carolina, also winless in conference play. If Florida State loses that game, the cries for Bowden to leave will grow even louder.
Elsewhere in the conference, Virginia Tech is proving to be the class of the conference, and with a few breaks, may establish itself as a national championship contender. With only the loss against Alabama on the ledger, if the Hokies continue to win through the ACC championship game, and the teams above it suffer losses, who knows? Miami continued its winning ways, establishing itself as the second-best team in the conference and Georgia Tech’s win over Florida State would make it a solid third choice. Tech’s defensive issues though, may catch up with them before long. Everyone else, did what they did. Maryland fell back to earth after the Clemson win by getting drilled by Wake Forest. Virginia, once left for dead at the beginning of the season, now has won two games in a row with a 40-point win over Indiana of the Big Ten. Thaddeus Lewis threw for 459 yards in a Duke (Duke?) win over N.C. State. Finally North Carolina got a win over Georgia Southern.
ACC: Ain’t No Tellin’
Filed under: ACC, NCAA Football, SEC, college football, football, sports
Another college football weekend in the books, another unpredictable set of games for ACC conference teams. Like the title says, ain’t no tellin’ what you’re gonna get from week to week.
Start with what, until Saturday, were universally assumed to be the conference doormats. Virginia, which hadn’t won a game all season, and had lost its opening game against William & Mary, went down to North Carolina and beat the Tar Heels, giving them their second conference loss in a row. That win puts the Cavaliers at 1-0 in conference, making them and Virginia Tech unbeaten in the conference’s Coastal Division. And Maryland, giving away games faster than people give out Halloween candy, held on with a defensive effort not seen all season to beat Clemson 24-21. Can’t believe anyone could have seen that one coming (I know I didn’t). That win makes Maryland the only unbeaten team in the conference’s Atlantic division. How is this possible? Ain’t no tellin’.
Follow that up witih Miami’s Hurricanes, last seen being overmatched in the rain against the Hokies, bouncing back to beat Oklahoma, 21-20. Say what you want about the Sooners missing Sam Bradford, Jermaine Gresham and Ryan Broyles, Miami scored their points against the Sooner defense, which to my knowledge is still acknowledged as a pretty talented group of players. I’m not sure if that win brings Miami back into the national championship conversation, but anything can happen in college football, and the ‘Canes, just like the Hokies, only have one loss. If Florida, Texas and Alabama suffer losses in the coming weeks, do those two teams get back in the conversation? Ain’t no tellin’.
Elsewhere, Florida State…which team is this? Played Miami down to the wire, came out flat against Jacksonville State, destroyed BYU (which beat Oklahoma) in Utah, now losing to South Florida and Boston College (which lost to Clemson). Saturday’s loss to the Eagles means that the Seminoles are now 0-2 in conference, but you can’t really count them out of the Atlantic Division. I don’t think Maryland sitting on top of the division is any reason to panic, but the Seminoles have got to start playing better ball if they want to be a part of that conversation. Virginia Tech, which looked like world-beaters against Miami last week, held on to defeat Duke, and Wake Forest defeated a N.C. State team that just hung a loss on Pittsburgh of the Big East last week. Georgia Tech stepped out of conference and beat Mississippi State of the SEC, giving them a two-game winning streak. So, it looks like another conference season where the teams will beat up on each other…or will there be a “big dog” with a shot at, at this time, an unlikely national championship?
You got it: ain’t no tellin’.
ACC: Uhhh, Never Mind
Filed under: ACC, Big East, NCAA Football, college football, following the locals, football, sports
One of the wonderful things about writing a sports blog is that you can get your opinion out among the masses. Your voice can be heard among the din. It allows you an avenue of personal expression. In sports, we write about teams, players and games and the issues that arise from them. Often times, we write about what we believe perception to be among or about teams, players and games. So posts like this one, are par for the course for sports blogging. The idea being, you want to get your ideas out before the game begins. At the time I wrote it, hype for the Miami Hurricanes was at a fever pitch. I got it posted just a couple hours before game time.
Then they played the game.
In a Saturday that was just about as bad as the opening weekend, the ACC which was looking at some national respect had the Hurricanes won, now have no real chance at being a factor in the national conversation…unless the field comes back to them. Even then, it will probably be a hard sell to talk up an ACC team that has a shot at a national championship. After yesterday, the conference’s best hope is Virginia Tech, and they’ve already suffered a takedown by Alabama, and a near miss by Nebraska. Not exactly dominance we have here, is it? But for one day, Virginia Tech looked like world beaters, and Miami gave them all the help they needed. Despite all the hype, the game proved that Miami, while talented, is still young. They aren’t back…not yet anyways.
As for the rest of the conference-when your best win on the day is a comeback win against Pittsburgh-not to take anything away from the Panthers, but the ACC played the Big East in three games yesterday, with home field advantage in each, and went 1-2-that’s not saying anything. It certainly doesn’t raise the national profile. If you want something else that’s positive-Duke beat an FCS team rather easily. Other than that, not much. Maryland was done in by turnovers and was crushed by Rutgers, Florida State lost to a South Florida team starting a freshman QB at home. So, if you follow the Almost Competition Conference, you can look forward to a great conference race (witness Georgia Tech bouncing back from last week’s loss to Miami by beating North Carolina), but nothing in the way of a title contender. Again.
ACC: Better, But…
Filed under: ACC, NCAA Football, college football, following the locals, football, sports
Week 2 of the college football season is in the books. Following my last ACC post, the conference had two great conference games which certainly had to lift the spirits of the membership. In an instant classic on Labor Day, Miami’s Hurricanes and Florida State’s Seminoles put on quite a show that the ‘Canes went on to win 38-34, but only after surviving an official’s review of the last play of the game. If the play is ruled a touchdown, Florida State would have won the game instead. Then three days later, Clemson and Georgia Tech played yet another great game that started out as a blowout for the Yellow Jackets, as they ran out to a 24-point lead. Clemson battled back in the second half to take a 27-24 lead, before Tech rallied with two late field goals to win it 30-27.
With those two successes in the rear view, the conference set up for another weekend of games. As far as wins and losses, it was a good Saturday, with only Virginia taking a loss. The Cavalier’s loss, however was expected, as they were playing the #16 TCU Horned Frogs. Nevertheless, that loss, and particularly last week’s loss to William & Mary, have only served to turn up the heat under the seat of one Al Groh, the Virginia head coach. Elsewhere, Maryland, last seen getting shook by California out west, came home to take on another FCS team from the Colonial Athletic Conference, the James Madison Dukes. JMU gave the Terps all they wanted, but the Terps prevailed in OT 38-35. Perhaps the Terps should have had a far easier time, except that James Madison is a very good team, no matter what division it plays in.
Wake Forest, Duke and North Carolina all struggled early before rallying to win their games. Wake and Carolina both won games over teams in BCS conferences, with their victories over Stanford (Pac-10) and Connecticut (Big East). While those will go in the positive side of the ledger in terms of interconference victories, no one will be proclaiming the conference in a more positive light than they did the week before, based on how the games were won. Boston College rolled for the second week in a row, and North Carolina State, last seen scoring 3 points in a loss to South Carolina, rolled up 65 in a laugher against Murray State. Virginia Tech bounced back well from its opening game loss to Alabama with an easy win over Marshall. Finally, Florida State seemed to be a little flat in its victory over Jacksonville State.
With no blockbuster matchups on the schedule, only minimal ground was gained. However, if the two conference games that have been played are any indication, it will be a fun race to see who will play in the conference championship game. It just may not have any real effect on the national championship picture.
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