GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The preseason media poll that predicted North Carolina would share the Atlantic Coast Conference championship with Duke was still hours from being released. The national polls that picked the Tar Heels sixth (by the media) and fourth (by the coaches) were more than a week away.But Roy Williams didn't feel a need to wait to issue a disclaimer about the early exuberance over his defending national champions.
"The expectations of our young kids, and the way they were evaluated or ranked as a recruiting class, puts a lot of expectations on kids who have never done it,'' Williams said last month at the ACC's media day, on the day his team -- missing the top four players and 74 percent of the points from the group that had waxed Michigan State in the national title game -- split the voting for the conference title.
Virginia Tech needed a crucial win at home to solidify its NCAA tournament status with only two games remaining on its regular-season ACC schedule. But a Nolan Smith-less Blue Devil squad likely had a few points to prove as well.
"Chippy" is a term that's thrown out a lot these days. It refers to a sporting contest that gets a little heated without getting violent. Wake Forest, the nation's top-ranked team, and Virginia Tech, a classic "look past" opponent for the Deacs, took that adjective to an entirely different level on Wednesday night in a fantastic ACC battle.
With the ACC regular season over and done, it's time to go back and give a few awards for the season.
