Regular season was one of ACC's best
Mar 10, 2009
The pulsating final weeks of ACC basketball served as a reminder that this has been a regular season like few others, and the coming ACC Tournament could be just as riveting as the season hurtles toward the end.
If you judge a league by the depth of its teams, the quality of its players and the unexpected nature of the outcomes, then this has been ACC basketball at its best.
The league has had some bummer years. Only four teams made the NCAA Tournament last year and the ACC had an uninspiring performance. Duke staggered out in the second round, Miami lost in the second as well and Clemson imploded in the first round against Villanova. North Carolina reached the Final Four but suffered sticker shock and lost to Kansas.
The ACC should double its NCAA bids Sunday. The most the ACC has ever sent to the tournament is seven teams, in 2007, but only Carolina could manage two NCAA wins that year.
This year, the ACC has had the level of talent, elite teams, balance and unexpected developments to make a season special. But one critical category, postseason performance, is yet to be determined.
North Carolina, Wake Forest and Duke have all been ranked No. 1. The only other time the league had three No. 1s was 1986, when Carolina , Duke and Georgia Tech reached the top of the polls.
If you’re looking for the ACC’s greatest seasons, then 1986 stands out both for achievements and memorable events. North Carolina beat N.C. State in the last game in Carmichael Auditorium as Jim Valvano made his famous layup, and Carolina topped undefeated Duke 95-92 in the first game in the Smith Center .
Six of the league’s eight teams reached the NCAA Tournament and Duke lost to Louisville in a hard-fought NCAA final. The first three picks in the NBA Draft were UNC’s Brad Daugherty, Maryland ’s Len Bias and N.C. State ’s Chris Washburn. Duke’s Johnny Dawkins and Mark Alarie and Georgia Tech’s John Salley were also drafted in the first round.
Like 1986, this year’s league has real depth in the middle of the standings and plenty of talent throughout the league. To see Tyrese Rice, Jeff Teague and Trevor Booker on second-team all-conference tells you something about the quality of the league. In 2000, by comparison, sophomores Lonny Baxter of Maryland and Will Solomon of Clemson made first team. They’d barely draw votes in a year like this.
The ACC picked the wrong year to go to Atlanta. Fans aren’t traveling and spending and if you want to walk up and buy an ACC Tournament ticket, this is the year.
But that, in no way, is a reflection on what has been a phenomenal regular season, even by ACC standards.
