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ACC proves to be overrated
ACC basketball - Four underachievers
N.C. STATE | 16-11 (6-8 ACC)
Staff Photo By Ethan Hyman
By CAULTON TUDOR, Staff Writer
The most enlightening moments of the ACC basketball season may have occurred Nov. 22.
Florida State, playing at home that day, lost to Texas A&M- Corpus Christi, and Georgia Tech, which got to the 2004 NCAA final, survived a game at Illinois-Chicago by one point.
The conference will wrap up its regular season this weekend, but it long ago became obvious that the ACC is a lot weaker than anyone could have imagined when the season's first Associated Press poll ranked Wake Forest No. 2, Georgia Tech No. 3, North Carolina No. 4, Duke No. 11, Maryland No. 15 and N.C. State No. 19.
Only three of those teams -- Carolina, Wake and Duke -- have locked up NCAA bids. Maryland and Georgia Tech are on the bubble, and N.C. State on the ropes.
ACC VS. OTHER LEAGUES
Here's how ACC teams have fared this season against non-conference opponents:
Atlantic 10: 8-3
Big East: 3-6
Big Ten: 8-2
Big 12: 2-2
C-USA: 3-2
Mid-American: 1-2
Pac-10: 3-1
SEC: 9-2
West Coast: 1-2
non-ACC ranked teams: 9-6
(AP, N&O RESEARCH)
THE RPI RATINGS
Here are the top 15 leagues according to the Rating Percentage Index. The NCAA uses the RPI when selecting its tournament field. This list is an independent duplication of the RPI, as of Monday.
1. Atlantic Coast .5773
2. Pacific-10 .5705
3. Big 12 .5665
4. Big East .5653
5. Southeastern .5577
6. Big Ten .5529
7. West Coast .5457
8. Missouri Valley .5378
9. Mid-American .5312
10. Conference USA .5306
11. Mountain West .5156
12. Sun Belt .5123
13. Western Athletic .5047
14. Colonial Athletic .5019
15. America East .4979
SOURCES: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL NEWS
Virginia, after mauling Arizona in its second game and rising to No. 19 in early December, has tumbled so far so fast that coach Pete Gillen probably will be fired.
What went wrong?
The decline can be only partly blamed on injuries and illnesses. Although almost every team in the league has lost at least one key player for a game or more, Big East teams have suffered their share of injuries and mishaps, too.
The Big East is 6-3 against the ACC this season -- and the better league from top to bottom, in my view, despite a lower RPI rating.
The truth is that the ACC was overrated from the start. The lofty expectations stemmed from Duke and Georgia Tech reaching the Final Four last year, plus Maryland, N.C. State, Florida State, Virginia, North Carolina and Wake Forest getting most of their starters back.
For proof that the conference was overrated, look no further than the success of expansion teams Miami and Virginia Tech. The Hurricanes went 4-12 in the Big East last season, and that was with leading scorer Darius Rice, a senior.
In their first ACC season, the Canes will finish no worse than 7-9.
Virginia Tech went 7-9 in the Big East last season but lost Bryant Matthews, who averaged 22.1 points. With one game left, the Hokies are 7-8 in the ACC, and have beaten Duke and won at Georgia Tech.
Injuries and illnesses aside, the ACC's most disappointing teams have been undermined by recurring flaws.
GEORGIA TECH: More than from B.J. Elder's injury, the Yellow Jackets have suffered from a lack of offensive improvement by Luke Schenscher, Isma'il Muhammad and Anthony McHenry. Those three seniors must have spent the summer at the driving range. They've provided no evidence they did a lot of work in the gym.
N.C. STATE: Not all of the Wolfpack's problems can be blamed on Tony Bethel's sickness. The rest of the players showed up with their "C" games against St. John's, West Virginia, Virginia and Florida State. That goes to a lack of preparation and motivation.
Had the Pack won those four games -- three of which were played in Raleigh -- it would be 20-7 overall and 8-6 in the league.
MARYLAND: Losing D.J. Strawberry hurt, but losing twice to Clemson hurt a lot more. What ever happened to the John Gilchrist who sliced through Wake, NCSU and Duke in last season's league tournament?
VIRGINIA: Elton Brown probably will wind up as the league's third-best rebounder, and he was the team's best player when injuries sidelined fellow senior Devin Smith. But since Smith's return, Brown has all but gone into an offensive shell.
Where does that leave the ACC in the race for NCAA Tournament bids? Minor adjustments in the Rating Percentage Index could make it more difficult for middle-tier teams in major conferences to get at-large bids. And any ACC team with fewer than eight regular-season conference wins doesn't have much of an argument.
Even an 8-8 mark might not be good enough for Virginia Tech, with non-conference losses to Virginia Military Institute, St. John's and Western Michigan, or NCSU, with those losses to St. John's and West Virginia.
On reputation alone, the ACC probably will receive five bids, maybe six. But once you get past the big three, it's all subjective. If the other eight just keep sloshing along, it's hard to argue that any of them really belongs in the national tournament.
Columnist Caulton Tudor can be reached at 829-8946 or ctudor@newsobserver.com
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ACC is overrated according to their hometown paper
