ACC Roundup - Conference Play Starts Saturday

And here we go

ACC competition starts Saturday and it’s a full slate with everyone except for Duke and Louisville playing (they’ll play on Sunday).

Syracuse plays at Notre Dame, followed by Clemson at Miami. Boston College heads down to the Joel to take on Winston-Salem while Pitt visits Virginia Tech. UNC hosts the Yellow Jackets and Virginia gets to break in SMU as an ACC team.

In the late afternoon games, Florida State takes on the Wolfpack in Raleigh while Stanford and Cal start ACC play against one another at Cal.

the ACC/SEC Challenge was deflating to say the least but conference play still goes by the ACC competitive DNA so hopefully we some good games.

We don’t know if JJ Starling will play or not - he missed the Tennessee game with a hand injury - but Markus Burton is definitely out for Notre Dame and will be for some time. We’d probably take the Irish if only because it’s in South Bend.

We don’t really understand why Miami fell off a cliff,but in ACC Logic, it would make perfect sense for Clemson to lose. But we’ll take the Tigers here, though they might be a bit giddy after beating Kentucky. Is Miami reduced to a trap game? Sad.

We’ll take Wake over BC. The Deacs are more talented and probably better coached. Hunter Sallis alone would do it but we don’t think BC has an answer to Efton Reid inside, much less Cameron Hildreth.

Virginia Tech is 3-5 and heat may be coming for Mike Young if that doesn’t turn around. We’re pulling for Jaden Schutt but it won’t be easy with Pitt. The Panthers have a lot to throw at him and surprisingly, he’s not shooting particularly well. Schutt is hitting just 38 percent on threes, 37.9 percent overall and - this is the biggest surprise - just 60 percent from the line.

Pitt also has a lot of size inside and that will hurt too. So we’ll go with the Panthers.

Who figured UNC and Georgia Tech would open ACC play at 4-4 each? UNC’s strength is in the backcourt and it should do well against Tech even though the Yellow Jackets have Naithan George, Lance Terry and a rapidly improving Jaeden Mustaf.

The key for Tech though is probably sophomore Baye Ndongo. He can expose UNC’s weaknesses inside - if he delivers.

We’re taking UNC though. Whatever the struggles, this is a proud program and they won’t be happy about the Alabama loss earlier this week.

Virginia and SMU is a total crapshoot. Who the hell knows? We have no sense of SMU whatsoever, and Bennett Ball is dead: Virginia has given up 64 to Tennessee, 80 to St. John’s and 87 to Florida.

There’s still time, but Ron Sanchez has not done a great job of preserving the tradition. If this keeps up, he’ll be out at the end of the season. This would be a good time to get a win.

We haven’t seen FSU enough to know how well the ‘Noles have recovered, but they’re 7-2, so maybe the late-career swoon has at least paused for Leonard Hamilton. Still, we like State here. They defend hard too but State is probably more coherent offensively.

Finally, Stanford plays at Cal. We’ll have to get a better sense of both to know what might happen.

Saturday’s ACC Action

• Syracuse @ Notre Dame || 12:00 || CW
• Clemson @ Miami || 12:00 || 12:00 || ESPN2
• BC @ Wake Forest || 12:00 || 12:00 || ACCN
• Pitt @ Virginia Tech || 2:00 || ESPNU
• Georgia Tech @ UNC || 2:00 || ACCN
• Virginia @ SMU || 2:15 || CW
• Florida State @ NC State || 4:00 || ESPNU
• Stanford @ Cal || 4:00 || ACCN

• Syracuse Heads To Notre Dame For ACC Opener
• Notre Dame staggers into ACC opener vs. Syracuse
• Syracuse men’s basketball: what to watch for vs Notre Dame
• Clemson rolling, Miami slumping ahead of ACC opener
• Clemson Basketball: Miami Preview
• Boston College, Wake Forest seek consistency on offense
• Hand, Boston College Eagles to visit Sallis, Wake Forest Demon Deacons
• Virginia Tech faces conference rival No. 18 Pittsburgh
• Virginia Tech to Face No. 18 Pittsburgh in ACC Opener
• Pittsburgh Basketball: 3 keys to ACC opening matchup at Virginia Tech Hokies
• The Georgia Tech-UNC Game Finds Two Teams Trying to Find Themselves
• Video: Locked On Tar Heels - Can UNC Basketball Bounce Back vs. Georgia Tech?
• Stoudamire speaks about his team, previews ACC opener at UNC Saturday
• Preview: Virginia men’s basketball faces SMU to open ACC play
• SMU feeling good heading into ACC opener against Virginia
• Preview: UVa opens ACC play at league newcomer SMU
• NC State, Florida State look to bounce back in ACC openers
• ACC Champion NC State Kicks Off the ACC Season Hosting Florida State
• NC State Wolfpack take on the Florida State Seminoles on 3-game slide
• Cal Basketball: Bears Look to Rebound From Tough Loss With ACC Opening Victory Over Stanford
• Facing Ex-School Stanford Won’t Be an Issue for Andrej Stojakovic, His Coach Says
• Stanford takes aim at Andrej Stojakovic, Cal
• Change has been good for Cal, Stanford men’s basketball teams heading into first meeting as ACC rivals