Best bye
posted by LW, Monday, February 22, 2010
Raise your hand if, two weeks ago, you'd have laughed at the thought of Clemson contending for a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament.
Doesn't seem so far-fetched now.
With the Tigers facing three road trips in their last four regular-season games -- and with the opposition solid in all four of their remaining dates -- it's probably premature to start assessing their chances of sitting and watching on the first day of the proceedings in Greensboro.
But it makes for good blog fodder, and I need something to write about this morning.
So here we go...
We'll go ahead and chalk up Duke (11-2) as the regular-season champ.
In second place is Maryland (9-3). Here's what the Terps' remaining schedule looks like: Clemson (Wednesday), at Virginia Tech, Duke, at Virginia.
In third is Virginia Tech (8-4). The Hokies play at Boston College, Maryland, N.C. State, and at Georgia Tech.
In fourth is Wake Forest (8-5). The Deacs play North Carolina, at Florida State, Clemson.
Tied for fifth are Clemson and Florida State with 7-5 records. The Seminoles play at North Carolina, Clemson, Wake Forest, at Miami.
Lurking in seventh is Georgia Tech (6-7). The Jackets play Boston College, at Clemson, Virginia Tech.
Excluding Duke, that's six teams for three spots.
What are Clemson's chances? Certainly not impossible, but not great.
Don't discount Georgia Tech. The Jackets are playing good basketball, and a win at Clemson would give them the tiebreaker edge over the Tigers.
Clemson can nab the tiebreakers with wins at Florida State, Maryland and Wake Forest.
Some notable numbers:
-- ACC home teams have amassed a 53-21 record this season in conference play. Clemson has contributed one of those road victories (Jan. 16 at N.C. State).
-- Clemson's only ACC road victory came against a team that's ranked outside the Top 100 in RPI. The Tigers could go a long way toward solidifying their NCAA Tournament resume with a win or two on the road. Maryland is No. 35 according to realtimerpi.com. Florida State is 40th, and Wake Forest is 21st.
-- Maryland has won four straight ACC home games. Wake Forest has won 12 straight. Given that, looks like the Tigers' best opportunity for another road victory is in Tallahassee, where Florida State has suffered losses to Maryland and N.C. State.
A few weeks ago, there were one or two (or 792) posts on the board questioning the credentials and motives of a dude named Otis Yelverton. The fact that four kids from Greensboro (including stud Keenan Allen) would sign with California raises some questions, and a lot of those questions swirl around the role and motives of Yelverton.
Ed Hardin, columnist for the Greensboro News & Record, makes Yelverton the topic of this column.
Otis Yelverton says he's not a bad guy, just someone who wants to help kids get an education. And a lot of people back him up on that.
And a lot of other people don't.
He is, by all accounts, a very good coach. He is, by other accounts, a very good street agent. Yelverton says he's no longer concerned what people think of him. He's only concerned with the well-being of those kids and their families who trust him.
David Teel of the Newport News Daily Press said Virginia Tech was impressive in keeping last night's game close at Duke.
The Blue Devils (23-4, 11-2) arrived with a 14-0 home record and a just-plain silly, 27.6-point average victory margin. No conference opponent had come closer at Cameron than Florida State, a 70-56 loser last month.
Duke shoots 29 percent and wins. That about sums up the offensively-challenged ACC this year.
Sunday's game marked the second time this season -- but the first two times since 1950 -- that Duke has won while shooting less than 30 percent.
The first one, a 68-59 victory over Connecticut in November, resulted in the NIT Season Tip-Off title.
In the wake of last week's mini-contoversy involving Ed Davis, Roy Williams said agents speaking with parents isn't uncommon.
Crazy, crazy ending in College Park on Saturday.
Maryland scribe Patrick Stevens rates it the third-best game in the Comcast Center's short history. Take a look at No. 5 on the list.
The Big Ten is interested in expansion, but Barry Alvarez says Texas ain't on the list.
What a nightmare of an offseason for Oregon's Chip Kelly.
Florida State will be a rested team when it returns to the floor Wednesday.
"It's excellent," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We're banged up a little bit. We need to back off a little bit and get our feet back under us. It could not have come at a better time."
Caulton Tudor says Wake Forest's loss at N.C. State underscored some ominous NCAA Tournament vibes for the ACC.
Last-place teams sometimes manage late-season upsets over contenders in high-profile leagues. But if you believe the oddsmakers, who normally are good at sizing up the relative strengths of teams, the Wolfpack's third league victory wasn't much of a stunner.
Wake, 18-9 overall and 8-5 in the league, was favored by all of two big points at post time over an opponent that last won a conference game a month ago and improved to only 15-13 and 3-10.
It didn't take long for the Pack to expose Deacons flaws, either. Simply by keeping playmaker Ish Smith from penetrating the lane early, State ignited an avalanche of Wake turnovers that quickly turned into a full-blown implosion.
"They took us out of everything we thought we could do," Smith said.
And we'll close with an excellent piece on Jake Nicolopulos by the AJC's excellent feature writer, Steve Hummer.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Raise your hand if, two weeks ago, you'd have laughed at the thought of Clemson contending for a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament.
Doesn't seem so far-fetched now.
With the Tigers facing three road trips in their last four regular-season games -- and with the opposition solid in all four of their remaining dates -- it's probably premature to start assessing their chances of sitting and watching on the first day of the proceedings in Greensboro.
But it makes for good blog fodder, and I need something to write about this morning.
So here we go...
We'll go ahead and chalk up Duke (11-2) as the regular-season champ.
In second place is Maryland (9-3). Here's what the Terps' remaining schedule looks like: Clemson (Wednesday), at Virginia Tech, Duke, at Virginia.
In third is Virginia Tech (8-4). The Hokies play at Boston College, Maryland, N.C. State, and at Georgia Tech.
In fourth is Wake Forest (8-5). The Deacs play North Carolina, at Florida State, Clemson.
Tied for fifth are Clemson and Florida State with 7-5 records. The Seminoles play at North Carolina, Clemson, Wake Forest, at Miami.
Lurking in seventh is Georgia Tech (6-7). The Jackets play Boston College, at Clemson, Virginia Tech.
Excluding Duke, that's six teams for three spots.
What are Clemson's chances? Certainly not impossible, but not great.
Don't discount Georgia Tech. The Jackets are playing good basketball, and a win at Clemson would give them the tiebreaker edge over the Tigers.
Clemson can nab the tiebreakers with wins at Florida State, Maryland and Wake Forest.
Some notable numbers:
-- ACC home teams have amassed a 53-21 record this season in conference play. Clemson has contributed one of those road victories (Jan. 16 at N.C. State).
-- Clemson's only ACC road victory came against a team that's ranked outside the Top 100 in RPI. The Tigers could go a long way toward solidifying their NCAA Tournament resume with a win or two on the road. Maryland is No. 35 according to realtimerpi.com. Florida State is 40th, and Wake Forest is 21st.
-- Maryland has won four straight ACC home games. Wake Forest has won 12 straight. Given that, looks like the Tigers' best opportunity for another road victory is in Tallahassee, where Florida State has suffered losses to Maryland and N.C. State.
A few weeks ago, there were one or two (or 792) posts on the board questioning the credentials and motives of a dude named Otis Yelverton. The fact that four kids from Greensboro (including stud Keenan Allen) would sign with California raises some questions, and a lot of those questions swirl around the role and motives of Yelverton.
Ed Hardin, columnist for the Greensboro News & Record, makes Yelverton the topic of this column.
Otis Yelverton says he's not a bad guy, just someone who wants to help kids get an education. And a lot of people back him up on that.
And a lot of other people don't.
He is, by all accounts, a very good coach. He is, by other accounts, a very good street agent. Yelverton says he's no longer concerned what people think of him. He's only concerned with the well-being of those kids and their families who trust him.
David Teel of the Newport News Daily Press said Virginia Tech was impressive in keeping last night's game close at Duke.
The Blue Devils (23-4, 11-2) arrived with a 14-0 home record and a just-plain silly, 27.6-point average victory margin. No conference opponent had come closer at Cameron than Florida State, a 70-56 loser last month.
Duke shoots 29 percent and wins. That about sums up the offensively-challenged ACC this year.
Sunday's game marked the second time this season -- but the first two times since 1950 -- that Duke has won while shooting less than 30 percent.
The first one, a 68-59 victory over Connecticut in November, resulted in the NIT Season Tip-Off title.
In the wake of last week's mini-contoversy involving Ed Davis, Roy Williams said agents speaking with parents isn't uncommon.
Crazy, crazy ending in College Park on Saturday.
Maryland scribe Patrick Stevens rates it the third-best game in the Comcast Center's short history. Take a look at No. 5 on the list.
The Big Ten is interested in expansion, but Barry Alvarez says Texas ain't on the list.
What a nightmare of an offseason for Oregon's Chip Kelly.
Florida State will be a rested team when it returns to the floor Wednesday.
"It's excellent," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We're banged up a little bit. We need to back off a little bit and get our feet back under us. It could not have come at a better time."
Caulton Tudor says Wake Forest's loss at N.C. State underscored some ominous NCAA Tournament vibes for the ACC.
Last-place teams sometimes manage late-season upsets over contenders in high-profile leagues. But if you believe the oddsmakers, who normally are good at sizing up the relative strengths of teams, the Wolfpack's third league victory wasn't much of a stunner.
Wake, 18-9 overall and 8-5 in the league, was favored by all of two big points at post time over an opponent that last won a conference game a month ago and improved to only 15-13 and 3-10.
It didn't take long for the Pack to expose Deacons flaws, either. Simply by keeping playmaker Ish Smith from penetrating the lane early, State ignited an avalanche of Wake turnovers that quickly turned into a full-blown implosion.
"They took us out of everything we thought we could do," Smith said.
And we'll close with an excellent piece on Jake Nicolopulos by the AJC's excellent feature writer, Steve Hummer.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.