- Mar 19, 2006
- 38,712
- 599
- 113
- 75
Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Basketball Staff Writer
<SCRIPT language=javascript>document.write("<div id=contentcontainer style='font-size: " + currentsize + "pt;'>");</SCRIPT>
ACC tournament preview
Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg isn't ready to call the Hokies' ACC tournament first-round matchup with Miami an NCAA tournament "play-in" game.
"If you want to say that, fine," he said. "You sit there and watch TV, and every game's an NCAA tournament play-in game. If you added up the number of teams that the so-called talking heads had in the tournament, each would have about 100."
<!--Start Image--><SCRIPT language=Javascript>document.write(insertImage('/IMAGES/Coach/PHOTO/0222-VTSETHGREENBERG_250.JPG', '', 0, 300, 250, 1, 'Seth Greenberg and Virginia Tech are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament again.', 'Rivals.com', 1236816086000, '', 1014, 'Align=Left'));</SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=258 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=252>
</TD><TD width=6 rowSpan=3>
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3>
</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>Seth Greenberg and Virginia Tech are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament again.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Image-->Perhaps it's more accurate to call it a "play-out" game. Although the victor isn't assured of anything, the loser can go ahead and start planning for the NIT or one of the other smaller postseason tourneys.
Virginia Tech (17-13, 7-9 ACC) and Miami (18-11, 7-9) meet at noon Thursday at the Georgia Dome to tip off an ACC tournament that features four teams on the NCAA bubble.
? Boston College (21-10, 9-7) probably is in the best position of the four bubble teams after its 67-66 victory over Georgia Tech last weekend, but the Eagles can't afford a first-round loss to Virginia (10-17, 4-12).
? Maryland (18-12, 7-9) got back into the NCAA tournament conversation with a late-season upset of North Carolina, but the Terrapins dropped four of their last six regular-season games. Maryland can put itself back in the mix by knocking off North Carolina State (16-13, 6-10) in the first round and Wake Forest (24-5, 11-5) in the quarterfinals.
? A first-round victory probably won't be enough to get Miami or Virginia Tech in the tournament. But if the winner of that game also upsets top-seeded North Carolina (27-3, 13-3) in the second round, that team suddenly will look much more appealing to the selection committee.
"Anyone who's playing right now that didn't finish the job at the end of the regular season ? you want to continue to play," Greenberg said. "The more games you win, the more you enhance your r?sum? and the more you separate yourself from other teams."
<!--START SIDE-->
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=380 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FONT-WEIGHT: 900; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: uppercase; COLOR: #ffffff; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #464646" colSpan=4>On the bubble </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>Here's a look at the four ACC teams that enter the conference tournament on the NCAA bubble. RPIs, which are from collegerpi.com, are as of Wednesday. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff">Team</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Overall</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; TEXT-ALIGN: center">League</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; TEXT-ALIGN: right">RPI</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd">Boston College</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">21-10</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">9-7</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: right">57th</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>The good: Boston College beat North Carolina on the road and knocked off Duke.
The bad: The Eagles have lost to three teams with RPIs outside the top 100 (No. 101 N.C. State, No. 118 Saint Louis and No. 246 Harvard).
</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd">Maryland</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">18-12</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">7-9</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: right">67th</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>The good: Maryland owns impressive victories over North Carolina and Big Ten regular-season champion Michigan State.
The bad: The Terps finished below .500 in conference play, went 3-7 against RPI top-50 teams and lost at home to No. 135 Morgan State.
</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd">Miami</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">18-11</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">7-9</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: right">52nd</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>The good: The Hurricanes own a 27-point victory over Wake Forest and played just about everyone tough. Five of their nine conference losses were decided by five points or less.
The bad: Miami finished below .500 in conference games. The Hurricanes also are 2-7 against top-50 teams and 5-7 in their last 12 games.
</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd">Virginia Tech</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">17-13</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">7-9</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: right">63rd</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>The good: Virginia Tech owns road wins over Miami and NCAA tournament locks Wake Forest and Clemson. Wake was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time of its loss to Virginia Tech.
The bad: The Hokies are below .500 in conference play and have gone 2-8 against top-50 teams and 4-8 in their last 12 games.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!--END SIDE-->All four teams squandered chances to break out of the pack during the regular season.
BC followed up an upset of North Carolina by losing its next four games, including an embarrassing 82-70 setback against a Harvard team that would go on to finish sixth in the Ivy League. Maryland hurt itself by losing to Wake and Virginia by a combined total of seven points in its final two regular-season games. Miami went 2-7 during a stretch that included overtime losses to Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and Duke. Virginia Tech lost six of its last seven games.
All four struggled at times in a conference that finished the regular season ranked first among all leagues in the RPI.
"There wasn't a game [in the ACC] this year in the 16 that we played that I thought we definitely were going to win the game going into that game," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "I knew it would be a fight every game. That's what a tough league does for you, and that's what a high-RPI league especially does for you. It forces you to be at your best every night."
Of course, the strength of the ACC could benefit its bubble teams this week because it gives them a chance to pull off an attention-getting upset of North Carolina or Duke. The scenario isn't nearly as far-fetched as it seems.
Maryland proved it could compete with the ACC's top teams by beating UNC and losing by two to Wake Forest. Boston College won its most recent meeting with potential quarterfinal opponent Duke. Miami and Virginia Tech were a combined 0-3 against North Carolina this season, but the Tar Heels only won 69-65 at Miami and 86-78 at Virginia Tech.
The Miami-Virginia Tech winner has a reasonable chance of upsetting the Tar Heels in the second round, particularly since North Carolina point guard and reigning ACC player of the year Ty Lawson has a toe injury that leaves him questionable for the conference tournament.
Then again, Miami has its own injury issues. Guard Jack McClinton, a second-team All-ACC selection, has a sprained left knee and ended the regular season in a 9-of-37 shooting slump, though the Hurricanes have still won three of their past four games.
"Obviously I feel pretty good about how we're playing right now," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "There are some things we've got to get worked out with Jack in terms of his knee and getting back on track, but he played a lot better [Saturday] against NC State."
Virginia Tech is going in the opposite direction, but the schedule-makers might deserve much of the blame for the Hokies' late-season slide. Tech closed the regular season with five games against NCAA-bound teams: Florida State (twice), Clemson, Duke and North Carolina.
"I'm not sure we're playing that poorly," Greenberg said. "Obviously you're playing great teams. When you're playing the schedule that we play and when you play in the league we play ? I'm not sure how many teams that any of us would be competing with to try to earn an NCAA tournament bid would win the games in the venues [we've played in] against the teams that we've tried to beat."
The Hokies are capable of beating any of the top teams in the ACC. So are Boston College, Maryland and Miami. They all would love one more chance to face North Carolina, Duke or Wake Forest this week.
If they get that opportunity, an NCAA bid could be riding on the outcome. That's what makes this season's edition of the ACC tournament so compelling.
"It's obviously been a very interesting year for everyone involved," BC coach Al Skinner said. "There's no reason to think the tournament's not going to be the same."
Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.
Rivals.com College Basketball Staff Writer
<SCRIPT language=javascript>document.write("<div id=contentcontainer style='font-size: " + currentsize + "pt;'>");</SCRIPT>
Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg isn't ready to call the Hokies' ACC tournament first-round matchup with Miami an NCAA tournament "play-in" game.
"If you want to say that, fine," he said. "You sit there and watch TV, and every game's an NCAA tournament play-in game. If you added up the number of teams that the so-called talking heads had in the tournament, each would have about 100."
<!--Start Image--><SCRIPT language=Javascript>document.write(insertImage('/IMAGES/Coach/PHOTO/0222-VTSETHGREENBERG_250.JPG', '', 0, 300, 250, 1, 'Seth Greenberg and Virginia Tech are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament again.', 'Rivals.com', 1236816086000, '', 1014, 'Align=Left'));</SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=258 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=252>
Virginia Tech (17-13, 7-9 ACC) and Miami (18-11, 7-9) meet at noon Thursday at the Georgia Dome to tip off an ACC tournament that features four teams on the NCAA bubble.
? Boston College (21-10, 9-7) probably is in the best position of the four bubble teams after its 67-66 victory over Georgia Tech last weekend, but the Eagles can't afford a first-round loss to Virginia (10-17, 4-12).
? Maryland (18-12, 7-9) got back into the NCAA tournament conversation with a late-season upset of North Carolina, but the Terrapins dropped four of their last six regular-season games. Maryland can put itself back in the mix by knocking off North Carolina State (16-13, 6-10) in the first round and Wake Forest (24-5, 11-5) in the quarterfinals.
? A first-round victory probably won't be enough to get Miami or Virginia Tech in the tournament. But if the winner of that game also upsets top-seeded North Carolina (27-3, 13-3) in the second round, that team suddenly will look much more appealing to the selection committee.
"Anyone who's playing right now that didn't finish the job at the end of the regular season ? you want to continue to play," Greenberg said. "The more games you win, the more you enhance your r?sum? and the more you separate yourself from other teams."
<!--START SIDE-->
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=380 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; FONT-WEIGHT: 900; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: uppercase; COLOR: #ffffff; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #464646" colSpan=4>On the bubble </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>Here's a look at the four ACC teams that enter the conference tournament on the NCAA bubble. RPIs, which are from collegerpi.com, are as of Wednesday. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff">Team</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Overall</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; TEXT-ALIGN: center">League</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; TEXT-ALIGN: right">RPI</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd">Boston College</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">21-10</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">9-7</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: right">57th</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>The good: Boston College beat North Carolina on the road and knocked off Duke.
The bad: The Eagles have lost to three teams with RPIs outside the top 100 (No. 101 N.C. State, No. 118 Saint Louis and No. 246 Harvard).
</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd">Maryland</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">18-12</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">7-9</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: right">67th</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>The good: Maryland owns impressive victories over North Carolina and Big Ten regular-season champion Michigan State.
The bad: The Terps finished below .500 in conference play, went 3-7 against RPI top-50 teams and lost at home to No. 135 Morgan State.
</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd">Miami</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">18-11</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">7-9</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: right">52nd</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>The good: The Hurricanes own a 27-point victory over Wake Forest and played just about everyone tough. Five of their nine conference losses were decided by five points or less.
The bad: Miami finished below .500 in conference games. The Hurricanes also are 2-7 against top-50 teams and 5-7 in their last 12 games.
</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd">Virginia Tech</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">17-13</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: center">7-9</TD><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ddd; TEXT-ALIGN: right">63rd</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 6px; PADDING-LEFT: 6px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 6px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ddd 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff" colSpan=4>The good: Virginia Tech owns road wins over Miami and NCAA tournament locks Wake Forest and Clemson. Wake was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time of its loss to Virginia Tech.
The bad: The Hokies are below .500 in conference play and have gone 2-8 against top-50 teams and 4-8 in their last 12 games.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!--END SIDE-->All four teams squandered chances to break out of the pack during the regular season.
BC followed up an upset of North Carolina by losing its next four games, including an embarrassing 82-70 setback against a Harvard team that would go on to finish sixth in the Ivy League. Maryland hurt itself by losing to Wake and Virginia by a combined total of seven points in its final two regular-season games. Miami went 2-7 during a stretch that included overtime losses to Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and Duke. Virginia Tech lost six of its last seven games.
All four struggled at times in a conference that finished the regular season ranked first among all leagues in the RPI.
"There wasn't a game [in the ACC] this year in the 16 that we played that I thought we definitely were going to win the game going into that game," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "I knew it would be a fight every game. That's what a tough league does for you, and that's what a high-RPI league especially does for you. It forces you to be at your best every night."
Of course, the strength of the ACC could benefit its bubble teams this week because it gives them a chance to pull off an attention-getting upset of North Carolina or Duke. The scenario isn't nearly as far-fetched as it seems.
Maryland proved it could compete with the ACC's top teams by beating UNC and losing by two to Wake Forest. Boston College won its most recent meeting with potential quarterfinal opponent Duke. Miami and Virginia Tech were a combined 0-3 against North Carolina this season, but the Tar Heels only won 69-65 at Miami and 86-78 at Virginia Tech.
The Miami-Virginia Tech winner has a reasonable chance of upsetting the Tar Heels in the second round, particularly since North Carolina point guard and reigning ACC player of the year Ty Lawson has a toe injury that leaves him questionable for the conference tournament.
Then again, Miami has its own injury issues. Guard Jack McClinton, a second-team All-ACC selection, has a sprained left knee and ended the regular season in a 9-of-37 shooting slump, though the Hurricanes have still won three of their past four games.
"Obviously I feel pretty good about how we're playing right now," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "There are some things we've got to get worked out with Jack in terms of his knee and getting back on track, but he played a lot better [Saturday] against NC State."
Virginia Tech is going in the opposite direction, but the schedule-makers might deserve much of the blame for the Hokies' late-season slide. Tech closed the regular season with five games against NCAA-bound teams: Florida State (twice), Clemson, Duke and North Carolina.
"I'm not sure we're playing that poorly," Greenberg said. "Obviously you're playing great teams. When you're playing the schedule that we play and when you play in the league we play ? I'm not sure how many teams that any of us would be competing with to try to earn an NCAA tournament bid would win the games in the venues [we've played in] against the teams that we've tried to beat."
The Hokies are capable of beating any of the top teams in the ACC. So are Boston College, Maryland and Miami. They all would love one more chance to face North Carolina, Duke or Wake Forest this week.
If they get that opportunity, an NCAA bid could be riding on the outcome. That's what makes this season's edition of the ACC tournament so compelling.
"It's obviously been a very interesting year for everyone involved," BC coach Al Skinner said. "There's no reason to think the tournament's not going to be the same."
Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.
