Basketball Heaven: ACC Quarterfinals

Retirement has it perks.  Yesterday I enjoyed the second round of games in the ACC Tournament.  I slopped up on the couch and watched the afternoon matches between Clemson and Florida State followed by North Carolina and Boston College.

I jumped in the shower after the Tarheels shellacked the Eagles, fed my little furkid and headed out to my favorite watering hole to join friends to enjoy the contest between North Carolina State and the Pitt Panthers.  I stayed through the first half of the Canes/Hokies game and then headed back to Casa de Curmudgeon and turned in for the night.

The game plan today is to watch the first two quarterfinal games and then join my posse at the same watering hole to root for my beloved Duke Blue Devils.  I’m hoping for a victory so they can advance to the semi-finals and then on to the championship game on Saturday.

ESPN will carry the 12:00 PM tipoff featuring the Virginia Cavaliers and the Florida State Seminoles.  The Cavs have one the best defensives in the country so I think FSU is going to lose this game.

At 2:30 PM Louisville is set to play the North Carolina Tarheels.  This is their first ACC Tournament since joining the conference.  I’m not sure how they’re going to react to the venue of the Greensboro Coliseum which will be filled to the rafters with fans rooting for their “home” teams.  The two teams split their regular season meetings, but I’m predicting a victory for the Heels.

My evening will be spent with friends watching the two remaining games of the quarterfinals that pit my beloved Duke Blue Devils against the Wolfpack of North Carolina State.  The Pack had a really strong game against the Pitt Panthers and they knocked the Blue Devils from the ranks of the unbeaten back in January, but Duke drew a double-bye for the tourney so they are well-rested.  This game is going to be brutal, but I think Duke is hungry to win.

The final game of the quarterfinals will see the Irish of Notre Dame go up against the Miami Hurricanes.  I can’t stand either team and could care less who wins.  Wait.  No, that’s not true.  I’m going to root for the Canes in this one.  I don’t think they can pull off the win, but that doesn’t mean I can’t root for them.

GO DUKE

And because no basketball post would be complete without some pom-poms, check out the gals of the ACC.

UPDATE 2:15 PM:  Poor FSU.  They never had a chance against the Cavs.  They threw clunker after clunker and were slow running down court to defend and wound up losing 58-44.

UPDATE 4:42 PM:  For a team that can't decide which league they want to play in, they may want to consider yet another after losing pitifully to Carolina 70-60.  'Ol googly-eyed Rick Pitino told his players not to foul with 21 seconds left in the game.  Now the Tarheels face Virginia tomorrow in the semi-finals.

FINAL UPDATE:  I couldn't contain my joy watching the Blue Devils manhandle the Wolfpack.  The final score was 77-53.  NC State fell behind by double digits early in the first half and never had a chance at recovering.  Notre Dame barely escaped against the Canes.  They ran hot and cold but managed to win 70-63.  

Basketball Heaven

In Tuesday’s first round of the ACC Tournament, Boston College defeated Georgia Tech and Wake Forest lost a heartbreaker to Virginia Tech.

Today’s Second Round match-ups, which will air on ESPN and ESPN2, has No. 8 Clemson playing No. 9 Florida State, No. 5 North Carolina vs. No. 12 Boston College, No. 7 North Carolina State playing No. 10 Pitt and No. 6 Miami goes against No. 14 Virginia Tech.

The ACC Tournament is a three-day battle on the hardwoods for the crown before the winner heads on to their NCAA dreams.

No. 1 Virginia will play the winner of the Clemson/Florida State game in Thursday’s Quarterfinals.  I believe FSU will defeat Clemson.  Louisville will be pitted against the winner of the North Carolina/Boston College game.  North Carolina will edge out the Eagles.

As a big-time Dookie, the 7 PM game between NC State and Pitt is of enormous interest as the winner will face my beloved Duke Blue Devils in the quarterfinals on Thursday.  I smell a victory for the Wolfpack due to Pitt’s weak defense.

Finally, the winner of the Miami/Virginia Tech game will meet the Irish of Notre Dame at 9 PM on Thursday.  The Hurricanes whipped the Hokies twice in the regular season and will likely emerge the winner tonight.

I am going to be in basketball heaven for the next three days watching teams that comprise the very best of men’s college hoops.  I make no secret of my love for Duke.  I know America hates them, but hey, with a 28-3 record and ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll they are indisputably a title-winning team.  The hate piles up for Duke in the same way it does for the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys; they’re worthy opponents.

And since no basketball post would be complete without some lovely cheerleaders, have a gander at these pretty young things.

UPDATE 2:32 PM:  The Noles barely defeat the Tigers 76-73 after losing a 20-point lead.

UPDATE 4:57 PM:  With 5:01 left in the game, if became apparent the Eagles could not overcome the big lead the Tarheels had.  Carolina wins 81-63.

UPDATE 9:13 PM:  The Panthers played hard, but struggled throughout the game never once taking the lead.  The Wolfpack skinned the cats 81-70.

FINAL UPDATE:  Hokie's turnovers killed their chances to win against the Canes.  Their only lead in the game came in the second half and quickly disappeared as they lost 59-49.