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    The Dagger

    Is the ACC once again only a four-bid league?

    By Jeff Eisenberg | The Dagger – Wed, Feb 22, 2012 10:17 AM EST

    (US Presswire)

    This week, the Dagger will examine some of the most pressing questions the NCAA tournament selection committee will face. The latest installment looks at whether the ACC can get more than four teams into the field.

    For a league hoping to rebound after landing only four NCAA tournament bids last season, the ACC's at-large landscape this morning has to be a bit disappointing.

    Although the ACC's four best teams — North Carolina, Duke, Florida State and Virginia — all appear certain to make the field, the league's chances of receiving a fifth or sixth bid are looking increasingly bleak.

    North Carolina State (18-10, 7-6) and Miami (16-10, 7-6) had emerged as the ACC's best hopes of getting another team into the field, but both suffered damaging losses Tuesday night. The Wolfpack wasted its final opportunity at a marquee league win in an 86-74 home loss to rival North Carolina, while the Hurricanes fell 75-70 in a winnable road game at rebuilding Maryland.

    For North Carolina State in particular, Tuesday night's loss may be a death blow. The Wolfpack had three straight shots at a signature victory and failed to win any of them, squandering a 20-point lead at Duke and getting beat by double figures at home against Florida State and North Carolina to fall to 0-5 against teams ahead of them in the ACC.

    Although the Wolfpack can still go 10-6 in the ACC by concluding the regular season with wins over Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech, their only chance to notch a noteworthy win will come in the ACC tournament. Currently NC State's biggest two victories came against Texas and Miami, both fellow bubble teams who'd likely miss the field if the season ended today.

    "We certainly had opportunities to help ourselves, no question," NC State coach Mark Gottfried told reporters after the game. "All we can do is just continue to play really hard and do everything we possibly can and see where we end up."

    Miami's profile is almost as empty as NC State's, but at least the Hurricane can point to a season-defining win at Duke as proof they belong. They also may benefit if the selection committee takes into account that senior center Reggie Johnson missed all four of their non-conference losses due to injury.

    The other advantage Miami has over NC State is one final chance to add another quality win with Florida State visiting Coral Gables on Sunday.

    A win Sunday would restore some hope for Miami. A loss, and next Wednesday's bubble battle with NC State may become an elimination game with the loser NIT-bound and the winner still needing an ACC tournament run to help a once-proud conference avoid sending only four teams for a second straight year.

    This week, the Dagger will examine some of the most pressing questions the NCAA tournament selection committee will face. A look at what's to come:

    • Monday: Which teams will join Kentucky and Syracuse as No. 1 seeds?
    • Tuesday: Will Northwestern earn its first-ever NCAA bid?
    • Wednesday: Will the ACC get a fifth team into the NCAA tournament?
    • Thursday: How many bids will the Pac-12 receive?
    • Friday: Which league will receive the most NCAA bids?
    • Saturday: Where should Murray State be seeded?
    • Sunday: Long Beach State, Middle Tennessee State and Oral Roberts dominated their leagues. Do they need to win their conference tournaments to get in?

    Rivals.com: NCAA tournament watch

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    13 comments

    • Ben
      Ben  •  Ketchikan, Alaska  •  3 months ago
      I feel this argument could be made about the majority of the major conferences this season having more C rated teams than A teams, not just the ACC. USF is currently sitting at 4th place in the big bad Big East, this after a whopping 6-6 record in their non-conference portion of their schedule, and after watching them multiple times I'm confident in saying that they have not magically became a great team but have had the benefit of playing weak competition. Kentucky is having a magically run through the SEC, which consists of them, Florida, and a whole bunch of underachievers. The Big 12 has Kansas and Missouri, but Baylor is 6-5 in their last 11 and had multiple close calls on their way to starting 17-0. Outside of the Big 10, who has multiple A and B teams, this argument could be made about any big 6 conference other than the Pac 12 who currently has no A list teams.
    • Raj
      Raj  •  Raleigh, North Carolina  •  3 months ago
      as a state fan, it hurts to loose 3 in a row, however comparing to last yr and previous coaching staff..........things are looking up. last yr same players would have lost by 30 or more....next yr almost same players and a nice incoming class should keep this program in the top 4 of ACC and a better than average chance at top 2 in ACC....new coach is a solid coach/recruiter.....
      i am 36 so in my lifetime state may not even the records vs UNC in basketball/football...but i see a nice dent getting ready to occur in the next 10-15 yrs under these coaches......football is at 5 in a row now.... so pride of the pack.....
      • William
        William 3 months ago
        I can see State returning to relevancy in the next couple of years. That would make Tobacco Road even more interesting!
    • BW
      BW  •  Virginia Beach, Virginia  •  3 months ago
      and the ACC's four bids will outlast the Big East's 15.
      • William
        William 3 months ago
        Who's the Big East team that doesn't get in?
      • T
        T 2 months ago
        Coming from an Irish fan, there should only be 6 bids in the Big East: Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville, Cincinatti (maybe Seton Hall)
      • Philnormous
        Philnormous 2 months ago
        And USF if they can win 2 of their last 3.
    • mike m
      mike m  •  Newark, New Jersey  •  3 months ago
      Lots of bad teams out there. Maybe instead of rewarding all the mid-pack Big Six conference teams like NC State, Miami, Texas, Iowa State, UConn, Alabama, etc. who had their chances (usually multiple) at marquee wins (and more to come in their tournaments), take some of the smaller conference teams that get upset in their qualifying tourneys or finish with great records (with lots of road wins). Butler has shown you don't need to be a Big Six team to compete in the NCAAs.
      • William
        William 3 months ago
        Out of the teams you listed, ISU is the most deserving, and thet should get in. I would take Oral Roberts, Iona, Mid Tennessee, Drexel, VCU, George Mason, and even Loyola Marymount over the rest of them.
    • John
      John  •  Raleigh, North Carolina  •  3 months ago
      Miami will to to FSU, then State will beat them in Raleigh. Wow, they beat Duke 1 game. If State beats Miami twice, head to head, what does that say about who the better team is.
      • Joey H
        Joey H 2 months ago
        Not much, according to the committee. Remember last year when Alabama beat Georgia twice in a week, and all that happened was Georgia made it as a 10-seed and Bama didn't make it at all? I don't think the committee values head-to-head as much as they should.
    • Raj
      Raj  •  2 months ago
      NCSU has a very good chance to run the rest of the schedule and possibly a win or 2 in acc tournament....only team they can't match up with is UNC......everyone else depends on the day.....don't count them out of ncaa just yet....clemson on road and va tech on road are tough but winnable...maimi is home and state matches up ..........

      acc has a real chance at the 6 bids as miami can beat fsu and will beat BC...so a 9-7 finish..
      duke, unc, fsu, uva are in....but state can pass uva for 4th in acc...due to uva tough finish with unc/fsu/md
    • DREW G
      DREW G  •  Columbia, South Carolina  •  2 months ago
      So, basically you cant count Virginia as an automatic 4th seed. They still have North Carolina and Florida State next. If State wins out and Virginia loses those two, State wiil be the fourth seed in the conference, so what then? ACC takes 3 or takes a team that is 5th seed over a fourth? I mean I like Virginia and all, but you cant just say they are an automatic fourth seed. They have a tough schedule ahead of them.
    • scott
      scott  •  Los Angeles, California  •  2 months ago
      And now the ACC gets two more teams that can play Basketball and Football. Easily the best COnference in sports when this happens. Get UCONN to go next and its a homerun
    • Ben
      Ben  •  Greenville, South Carolina  •  2 months ago
      Stephen earlier made the only argument that matters---5 out of the last 11 titles belong to the ACC. Thats the goal, the title, not how many you get in
    • mike m
      mike m  •  Newark, New Jersey  •  3 months ago
      Unless you are from the Horizon conference (10-2 the last two years), you can't really fault the ACC's performance, particularly recently. The ACC has gone 17-9 the last two NCAAs compared to the Big East (21-18, despite 10 teams seeded #1-4), Big Ten (16-12), Big 12 (14-12), SEC (13-9) and Pac-12 (8-6).
    • abe_froman
      abe_froman  •  3 months ago
      Is this really the only thing to write about from last night's game? There wasn't a player who did what no other player in college has done in at least 15 years like scoring 20 points, dishing 13 assists with no turnovers? NC State won't make the tournament unless they have a run in the ACCT, which can only happen if they get decent officiating against Duke if they play again. So: snowball's chance in heII, basically. Miami will still get in, because they'll beat Florida State. Virginia is still there, and may also knock off Florida State, which writers would cry about if not for the defeat FSU is about to hand to Duke tomorrow night.
      • William
        William 3 months ago
        I think the league as of right now has four. But as of now, I think that State would get in before Miami because: 1) They will beat the Hurricanes, and 2) State should get at least one marquee win in the Tourney; most likely over FSU.
      • abe_froman
        abe_froman 2 months ago
        Miami will beat FSU on Sunday, which is a much bigger win than NC State sweeping Miami. NC State won't be beating FSU this year. As NC State fans are fond of saying, "Maybe next year."
      • Razors Edge
        Razors Edge 2 months ago
        Abe you dont have a clue what is going to happen in any of these games! Any team can be beat on any given night or day. You are predicting what you think will happen or what you want to happen. Play the games first then comment. Bet you had UNC beating Duke at chapel hill also didnt you?
    • AJ
      AJ  •  3 months ago
      More reason why Duke deserves a 3 seed at best not a 1 or 2. They play in a garbage league.
    • Mike
      Mike  •  Raleigh, North Carolina  •  3 months ago
      Haters... Do you not realize that Duke has wins against 4 top 15 teams?? UNC, Kansas, Mich St, Michigan.. and 5 if you count top 25 teams (Temple). Best wins of any of the contenders.
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