ACC basketball begins in earnest this afternoon, and America’s proudest basketball conference enters a new era with 15 teams, including several imported powers from the old Big East. The league race is shaping up with the usual suspects leading the way, and some serious intrigue as to how many NCAA Tournament bids the league might achieve.
In today’s college basketball world, being interested in conference championships—in of themselves, not just a means to a better NCAA Tournament seed—has become somewhat anachronistic. In this regard, I’m proud to be a relic, because I still think finishing atop a 12-team league over the course of a 16-game regular season (or in some cases more) is a big deal for a basketball program regardless of what happens later in March. And therefore, tonight’s Duke-Florida State game (7 PM ET, ESPN) in Tallahassee is as significant a game as we’ve seen all year. TheSportsNotebook takes a deeper look at the matchup.
ACC basketball gets the ESPN stage tonight with Wake Forest-Duke (7 PM ET) followed by North Carolina-Virginia Tech (9 PM ET). Neither the Tar Heels nor the Blue Devils have looked dominant this year and that means the conference race has dark-horse potential. Today the Notebook takes a look at five possible contenders, including the […]