North Carolina Tarheels Vs. Notre Dame Irish: ACC Championship Game

I took a lot of ribbing last night as my beloved Duke Blue Devils trailed the Irish of Notre Dame throughout the entire semi-final game.  At the half, Duke trailed by 15 but chipped away at the huge Notre Dame lead.  Duke got within 4 but never overcame the deficit.  ND Coach Mike Brey refused to double-cover Jahlil Okafor and chose instead to foul him.  Watching him try to make a free throw at the charity stripe was painful to watch.  Last night’s loss by Duke could imperil their No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

While the “all-Tobacco Road” championship will not happen tonight, I have to root for the Tarheels against the Irish.  The Heels are riding high after defeating No.1 seed Virginia.

Tipoff is at 8:30 PM ET and the game will air on ESPN.  The Tarheels are 24-10 this season averaging 77.8 points and shooting 47.3 percent while defensively they are allowing 67.8 points.  The Irish are 28-5 averaging 78.6 points and shooting 50.9 percent.  They’re allowing their opponents to score 65.2 points.

As you can see, the stats for both teams are fairly equal, but for the very first time in Carolina’s history, the Heels defeated two higher seeds—No. 4 Louisville and No. 1 Virginia in the ACC Tournament.  During the regular season there were obvious problems on both ends of the court for Carolina in terms of finishing off teams.  I don’t want to be an ACC chest-thumper but…the ACC is one of the toughest conferences in the country.

Notre Dame, in all their years in the Big East Tournament, never made it to the final and they haven’t advanced past the first weekend in the NCAA Tournament since 2003, in fact, they haven’t even won a tournament game in four years.  So, I’m going to boldly predict a win for the team I only ever root for when Duke is not playing.  I hope Carolina ruins St. Patrick’s Day for Notre Dame’s leprechaun mascot.

Oh, and their shoes are ugly.

GO HEELS

And since no basketball post would be complete without some pom-poms, check out these lovely Tarheels cheerleaders.

Going Behind Enemy Lines

The obligatory panic over the approaching winter storm has officially begun, raising questions over whether tonight’s rivalry game between Carolina and Duke at the Dean Smith Center will be played.

As of this posting, the ACC policy on postponements states that games will be played as scheduled as long a both teams, the officials and essential game personnel can get to the game safely.

The game is scheduled to air on ESPN at 9 PM ET.  It’s a home game for the Tarheels.

I requested time off from work today and tomorrow so that I could go behind enemy lines and cheer on my beloved Blue Devils.

The plan was to travel to Chapel Hill and take a limo to the game.  The advantage, of course, is to avoid the chaos of returning to your car in an overcrowded parking lot and waiting an inordinate amount of time to exit.  It was an excellent plan.

“Snowpocalyse” has changed all that.  I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the South is about to get socked by a snowstorm of catastrophic proportions.

I have written many times that I am considered key and essential personnel and a first responder.  As such, I’ve had to cancel my already approved time off from work.

Clearly, it would be foolish for me to risk travelling the distance from my home to Chapel Hill to see the game in person.  I am, therefore, relegated to optimistically leaving work at 8:30 PM (in the midst of “Snowpocalyse”) and making it to my house in time to watch some of the game on television.

Duke is ranked 11^th in the AP Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll.  Carolina isn’t even in the Top 25.  In ACC standings Duke is 8-3 and Carolina 6-4.

Carolina is hoping to keep their winning streak alive.  I’m hoping Duke will crush their hopes.

Two schools separated by 8 miles and two shades of blue, Coach K, Tobacco Road, Cameron Crazies. The fans are passionate, the teams successful, the games almost always down to the buzzer. These are two of the four winningest teams in history, going at it twice a year (and once more in the ACC tournament if we're lucky). This is what college hoops is all about.

This game should be fantastic.  The rivalry between the two schools is legendary.  After Duke whips the Heels they should be in good shape to take on Syracuse on February 22nd and exact revenge when The Orange come to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

UPDATE 8:58 PM:  “Snowpocalypse” has forced the postponement of tonight’s game.  The make-up game will be played on February 20^th.  Perhaps because Dick Vitale was stranded at the airport was part of the reason the game was called off.

Pls be safe in Triangle area - ice /snow unreal -at TAC terminal in Raleigh - having tough time finding a ride to Dean Dome

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 12, 2014