ACC, Day 2

Not much drama yesterday. Florida State, Miami, and Georgia Tech all won rather easily, and Maryland couldn't come back against Boston College to save their slim hope of a tournament bid. NC State completed a crap-tastic season with a brick-fest against Miami, and Virginia decided to not bother playing defense against the Yellow Jackets, who shot 60.6% from 2 and 54.2% from 3.

Florida State v. UNC
All of a sudden, very, very quietly, FSU is saying "don't forget about us" in the at large picture. They absolutely, positively, no questions asked must beat UNC to even have a chance (and even then I'm not sure their work would be done). Luckily for them, they have a decent shot. Toney Douglas has played two absolutely terrible games against UNC, and it's unlikely he'll play as poorly the third time around. Also, the Noles have a knack for injuring Ty Lawson, so there's that.

Miami v. Virginia Tech
For the Hokies, it's a play-in game, and a chance to show they can beat a top team, which, um, they haven't done this year. The optimist in me says it's win-and-in for Virginia Tech, especially with all the bubble teams losing all around them, but I know their resume is less than desirable. As a somewhat related aside, the ACC tournament managed to place all the chippy teams on one side of the bracket - FSU, Virginia Tech, Miami. If I'm a Tar Heel fan , I'm really not excited about my team having to face two of those three teams in back-to-back games. Maybe it's a good reason for Roy to fold up the tents and bow out in round 1 =).

Georgia Tech v. Duke
The Devils are in serious trouble if Georgia Tech shoots 33-57. Then again, that kind of performance is almost certainly not sustainable, even for two games. Duke played its best defensive game of the last month against the Yellow Jackets in Cameron, and Tech still hasn't shown they can hang onto the ball against an aggressive defense. Virginia, which rarely forces steals and turnovers, was a good matchup for the Jackets. Duke, which leads the conference in forcing turnovers, is not.

Boston College v. Clemson
The Ty Rice show continues for one more game, and barring injury, foul trouble, or blowout, he'll be out there for another 40 minutes. Rice has sat fewer than 40 combined minutes in 17 ACC games. Clemson is in the unfamiliar position of playing for seeding - they're very safely in the tournament (particularly with all the aforementioned losing going on around them), and could end up as high as a 5 if they win out. Beat BC, and they're looking at no worse than a 7.