College basketball is back, ladies and gentlemen! That means it is time for the first ACC Power Poll of the season. Most of this is based on projections, theories and guess-work.
There is always one team that surprises us each year (Miami was that team last year) and one that disappoints us (NC State). Let's begin!
1-North Carolina: There hasn't been a favorite this heavy in a long, long time.
2-Duke: Remember that the Blue Devils were a game from winning the ACC last year. Gerald Henderson is my darkhorse for ACC Player of the Year.
3-Miami-FL: The Canes have a great shot at the ACC Championship and a deep run in the NCAAs.
With the fall beginning and college basketball just around the corner, it's time to look back at what our favorite teams did during their summer vacations. Some did some good things; some had a bad time. So let's look back at who did what in our How I Spent My Summer Vacation series.
Today's look is the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Roy Williams Hits Jackpot When All His Guys Return
The Tar Heels were at quite the crossroads. After a great season ended with a disappointing loss to Kansas, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all decided to take a look at the NBA Draft. Hansbrough decided to come back, but the other three entered the draft with the opportunity to come back to school if they didn't like their draft status.
If any or all left, the Heels were facing some uncertainty heading into the season. Yes, they'd still be a good team but they'd have a few holes.
In a somewhat surprising move, all three Heels decided to come back for one last hurrah. That means Ol' Roy gets everyone back from that Final Four team (sans a transferred Alex Stepheson and a graduating Quentin Thomas -- both role players). They also bring in three McDonald's All Americans.
Mascot: Tigers. Nothing special ... except for the trademarked "hook" in the logo of the tiger's paw.
Big Wins: Purdue, Mississippi State and Miami.
Notable Loss: They lost at home to Charlotte just days after taking UNC to overtime. They also had bad losses to Florida State and Georgia Tech late in the season. Player You Should Know: To me, the most important player is James Mays. When he is active in the paint ... on both ends ... he causes so much trouble. He can defend with the best of them (just ask Tyler Hansbrough) and stays active on the boards. Bookend him with bruiser Terrence Booker and the Tigers put up quite the physical front.
Outlook: With their pressing defense, it will be tough for opponents to prepare on short notice. It can be beaten by smart guard play and patience. Speaking of guard play, that will be the deciding factor on how Clemson will play in this tournament. Cliff Hammonds is playing through a broken wrist while you never know how freshman Terrence Oglesby will play from game to game.
What may bite them in the rear is their poor free throw shooting. If they could have hit their FTs, they would have beaten Carolina twice this season.
Clemson visits North Carolina on Sunday, meaning that we all have to pull out the most unbelievable stat in ACC basketball: the Tigers are 0-52 at Chapel Hill. Since their first meeting at Carolina back in 1926 (a 50-20 Tar Heel win) to the last time Clemson visited (a 16-point loss in 2006), the Tigers have gone home losers each and every time they come to Chapel Hill to play.
Does that end on Sunday? Maybe.
The Tar Heels enter the game reeling a bit. They lost to rival Duke by 11 on Wednesday and are fighting injuries and some lack of confidence. Point guard Ty Lawson has missed all but two minutes of the Heels' last two games with a high ankle sprain while his back-up, Bobby Frasor, was lost for the season with a knee injury in December. His backcourt mate, Wayne Ellington, has been struggling ... hitting just six of his last 23 shots and is just 26-of-73 (35%)over the last six games. The sweet shooting Ellington also has hit just six of his last 28 shots from behind the arc.
#19 Clemson had #1 North Carolina on the ropes all game long. They led virtually the entire way until Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and clutch shooting got the game into overtime. In OT and down 88-87, Ellington his a smooth three (among all kinds of pressure) with :00.4 seconds left to pull the game out for North Carolina, 90-88.
Ellington had a career day. Dude scored 36 points on 11-of-19 shooting ... including 5 of 8 from downtown. None was as big as the final shot, which looked as calm as a free throw despite the pass to him nearly being stolen and with a hand in his face. Ellington scored seven of the Heels' nine points in overtime.
If not for Ellington, this game was over. Tyler Hansbrough got a double-double (12 points, 15 boards) but got absolutely nothing going all game. Clemson used Trevor Booker, James Mays and Raymond Sykes to nag Psycho T into attempting just eight shots.
One year ago, UNC ... a national championship contender ranked #4 ... went into Littlejohn Coliseum at Clemson to face the 17-1 Tigers. They left with a creaming of Clemson, 77-55, and the Tigers would go on to lose 9 of 11 games. In that game, Clemson made a horrid 5-of-19 from the free throw line.
Same sort of story heading into this year's game. North Carolina enters the game at 14-0 and the #1 ranked team in the land. Clemson is 12-1 heading into their ACC opener. This will be a big game for Clemson to see if they are indeed a different team from last year and one to be reckoned with in the ACC.
UNC comes into this game lacking its usual depth. Bobby Frasor is done for the season after tearing up his knee, Quentin Thomas is recovering from a sprained ankle and Alex Stepheson has been in California tending to his sick dad. If Stepheson doesn't play, that will be big news in facing a big Clemson front line who is tenacious on the boards.
Clemson may have trouble with their patented press. Last year, they used the press to confuse a freshmanTy Lawson into a career low two points, three assists and seven turnovers. Lawson is a completely different play now, as an aggressive playmaker who has shown good range of late.
The big matchup, of course, will be Tyler Hansbrough and James Mays, two physical players who may be the best interior players in the league.
The Tar Heels lead the all-time series, ahem, 118-19.
College basketball is back, ladies and gentlemen! That means it is time for the first ACC Power Poll of the season. Most of this is based on projections, theories and guess-work. 
With the fall beginning and college basketball just around the corner, it's time to look back at what our favorite teams did during their summer vacations. Some did some good things; some had a bad time. So let's look back at who did what in our 
Conference: 
Clemson visits North Carolina on Sunday, meaning that we all have to pull out the most unbelievable stat in ACC basketball: the Tigers are 0-52 at Chapel Hill. Since their first meeting at Carolina back in 1926 (a 50-20 Tar Heel win) to the last time Clemson visited (a 16-point loss in 2006), the Tigers have gone home losers each and every time they come to Chapel Hill to play.
One year ago, UNC ... a national championship contender ranked #4 ... went into Littlejohn Coliseum at Clemson to face the 17-1 Tigers. They left with a creaming of Clemson, 77-55, and the Tigers would go on to lose 9 of 11 games. In that game, Clemson made a horrid 5-of-19 from the free throw line. 
