ACC Week 1

Miami (3-0): beat Florida Southern, Marist and Virginia Commonwealth. The Hurricanes played well in their first three games, advancing to the finals of the inaugural Puerto Rico Tip-Off. Jack McClinton has dominated the scoring for the Canes so far while Miami finds itself in the early national top 10 for both FT Rate and FT%. 27-31 from the line was the difference in a 6 point win over a quality VCU team.

Virginia (3-0): beat Vermont, Howard, and Arizona. Virginia got the conference's biggest win in the opening weeks by defeating an Arizona team on the road that had been ranked in the top 20. So far former Maryland commit Jeff Jones has shown signs of taking up some of the departed JR Reynolds scoring duties while the team has put up good showings on the glass on both ends of the court.

Boston College (2-0): beat New Hampshire and Florida Atlantic. After losing Jared Dudley and other key contributors from a team that went 10-6 in the ACC, Boston College was expected to go through a rebuilding year this season. Winning their first two bu 10 and 6 over poor competition supports that view though Tyrese Rice and Shamari Spears did miss the season opener due to a one game suspension.

Clemson (2-0): beat Furman and Mississippi State. That win over the Bulldogs could look very good on Selection Sunday. A respectable 28-38 performance on FT may have been the difference in the game. If the Tigers can sort out their woes at the charity stripe, that could be enough to finally get them over the hump.

Duke (2-0): beat North Carolina Central and New Mexico State. The Blue Devils ran up and down the court on their way to averaging over 100 points a game in their two tune ups before heading to the Maui Invitational. The Blue Devils went ten deep and could be back to their days of running and gunning after a year of half court basketball.


North Carolina (1-0): beat Davidson. The neutral site win over Davidson was a nailbiter, but even for a top team it isn't an embarrassing way to open the season. But if Stephen Curry had done just a bit better in justifying his hype, the Tar Heels could have been looking at an 0-1 start.

North Carolina State (1-0): beat William & Mary. The Wolfpack look to be one of the toughest teams to predict this season. If super recruit JJ Hickson comes anywhere close to matching his debut performance (31 points, 12-12 FG), the Wolfpack could have the inside track for second place in the conference.

Virginia Tech (1-0): beat Elon. A win is a win, but beating Elon by just 5 at home is cause for concern. Newcomer Jeff Allen will lock down what could be a good frontcourt but so far freshman Hank Thorns and Malcolm Delaney are the only two true guards to see playing time. If frehsman Dorenzo Hudson qualifies later in the year it could help the Hokies make it back to the postseason.

Wake Forest (1-0): beat Fairfield. James Johnson had a double double in his collegiate debut for the young Demon Deacons. Wake Forest is still young and is overcoming a lot of adversity after the sudden death of former coach Skip Prosser, but the team is talented enough to make some noise in the ACC. However this team is still probably another year away from seriously competing within the conference.

Florida State (3-1): beat Nicholls State, Georgia Southern, UAB; lost to Cleveland State. The loss to the Vikings in the Glenn Wilkes Classic doesn't look good for the 'Noles just days after a contract extension for coach Leonard Hamilton. A backcourt of Swann, Rich, and Douglass could be among the better guard combinations in the ACC, but the frontcourt takes an almost immeasurable downgrade with the loss of do-it-all PF Al Thornton.

Georgia Tech (2-1): beat Tennessee State, Charlotte; lost to UNC-Greensboro. The early loss to a Southern Conference team isn't good. The Yellow Jackets should be talented enough to make a run at NCAA Tournament consideration, but what Paul Hewitt can do with this group remains to be seen. Two more wins to take the Paradise Jam would be a nice way to bounce back from a bad early loss.