If you wanted to play a parlay on Miami and Clemson road-grading Duke and Wake Forest the kind of clubbings usually reserved for the Knicks or Andy Kennedy's cab rides, you probably would've had to look far, far down your betting slip.
Long ago, this stopped being merely a streak.
What a day of college basketball! Especially in the ACC. The three remaining unbeaten teams in ACC play all took the court on Saturday. Only one survived.
One of the teams that didn't was top-ranked North Carolina who saw their trouble spots all hit a perfect storm today against Maryland. They weren't hitting from the perimeter (they missed 18 of their 25 three-point attempts) and weren't tight with their defensive assignments. It hurt them against Clemson and Ga Tech, but they left both places with wins mainly because their outside shots were hitting. Today, they weren't. It was like watching the Georgetown game all over again.
On another point of the Triangle, Gavin Grant stole an inbounds pass and scored a layup with two seconds remaining to give NC State a 79-77 victory over #24 Miami. The win was the first in conference play for the Wolfpack who looked horrific in their first two ACC games and gives the Canes a two-game losing skid.
With a few weeks before full-blown ACC play, the conference is taking a little bit of shape. Here is my power rankings with some notes about their week:
1-North Carolina: After a month on the road, the Heels came home and sluggishly beat Nicholls State. After coach Roy Williams promised to practice the team until they all threw up ... they pounded UCSB this Saturday. The classic moment was Tyler Hansbrough's breakaway 360-dunk.
2-Miami: How are they here? Well, they (unlike two teams below) made it through the week undefeated. They blitzed NC A&T with a 17-0 run to open the game and then cruised to a 31-pt win. Frank Haith is doing a masterful job this year.
3-Duke: The problem with the Blue Devils reared its ugly head against Pitt. The lack of a serviceable front line hurt them as they were outrebounded 49-31 and gave up 15 offensive boards. Plus, if Duke's perimeter shots stop falling, they can be in trouble.
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