ACC Hoops February 2 - 3

While it looks like Duke and Carolina are going to go best two out of three to determine who gets the opening round NCAA games in Raleigh, there is a five-way tie for the fourth and final opening day bye in the ACC Tournament. Look for a little bit of separation as Maryland plays at Georgia Tech and BC travels to Clemson. State, Miami, Florida State and Virginia need to win, or start planning to Host opening round NIT games. Although Ga Tech is in that massive tie for fourth, keep in mind that going into conference play, they had a losing record which they will need to win at least ten conference games to have a shot at a NCAA bid.

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ACC Hoops is more important than anything.... period.
Don't believe me? John Edwards hinted at his true reason for dropping out of the presidential race during an interview on ESPN's broadcast when he said that there was nothing better than taking in a Carolina game. He went on to mention that had he stayed in the race, he would have been at a debate last night instead of the game... Therefore, ACC Hoops is more important than running for President of the United States.

Want more proof? During Green Night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Cameron Crazies made it quite clear that winning an ACC game was far more important than the environment. For those of you who missed it, the Duke student section was decked out in green t-shirts last night to commemorate “Focus the Nation” – a national teach-in intended to engage millions of students and citizens around global warming solutions. The Cameron Crazies were given green t-shirts emblazoned with the Green Devil and the slogan, “Bleed Blue. Live Green.” It was actually quite colorful until halftime. With the Blue Devils down by nine at the half, many of the Cameron Crazies, sensing bad karma, tossed away their green shirts. The result was a 55-26 second half that propelled Duke to a 20 point win over the Wolfpack.

Out of Nowhere?
Ga Tech senior Matt Causey seemingly came from nowhere to win a share of ACC Player of the Week honors with Duke’s DeMarcus Nelson. His 30 points off the bench against Va Tech were the third most points ever scored by a non-starter in ACC history. Prior to the Carolina game, many ACC fans had never heard of the Gainesville Georgia senior who started the season as Tech’s third-string point guard. Causey started his career at Georgetown and transferred to Division II North Georgia after the 03-04 season. In his two seasons at North Georgia, Causey averaged over 23 points per game before transferring to Tech after the 05-06 season. Causey who had to sit out last season due to his transfer, has said it was a dream just to be on the team at Tech… Tech fans need to be careful not to pinch Causey before mid-March...

Spin Doctors in Training…
OK, I’m finally smart enough to realize that Media Relations staffs aren’t the most objective group in the world. Through their magic, 5’-8” players magically become 6’-1”, and that four-game losing streak your favorite team is on is actually a good thing. I just had to laugh at this blurb on Clemson’s Website.

The Clemson men's basketball team will play host to Boston College on Saturday
night at Littlejohn Coliseum. The game between the Tigers and Eagles is
scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. tip and will be broadcast live exclusively on the
Internet via ACC Select.

Time was, a school would be embarrassed when a prime-time conference game that had some meaning in the conference standings wasn’t shown on TV… not even ESPNU, but I guess a game shown live and exclusive on the internet is better than following it on GameTracker… So far though, I haven’t seen a positive spin on the $9.99 a month it costs to catch your favorite team on the web..

Will the real Ty please stand up…
I’ll admit I am not the biggest Carolina fan in the world… Just the mere though of “Go Heels” could cause my NC State diploma at self-destruct, but it’s sad to admit that I know the Carolina Roster better than the guys getting paid to know it. During ESPN’s broadcast of the Carolina – BC game, Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes kept referring to Tyler Hansbrough as Ty Hansbrough. It’s not the first time I have heard that reference this year. I think I also heard it during Brent Musburger and Steve Lavin’s call of the Maryland. Unless I am mistaken and the Carolina Media Guide and Game Notes are wrong, there is only one Ty on Carolina… Suffice it to say the real Ty is a slightly better ball handler.