By Sonny Jones
The real ACC basketball tournament begins today. Eight teams, seven games over three days with the championship game Saturday night.
It’s the way it’s meant to be. Not this 15-team, five-day event that’s played in front of mostly empty seats during afternoon games between the league’s bottom teams. By the way, teams that won Tuesday now are 5-19 on Wednesday with the elimination of the Techs — Georgia and Virginia — along with Boston College.
It’s like the good ol’ days with our Big Four schools all playing in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006. How great would it be if Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State won today (Thursday), making for an all-Big Four semifinal round Friday and assuring a Big Four title game Saturday? Not likely, I’ll admit, but still possible.
Today, it’s Wake Forest vs. Miami at noon, Duke vs. Pittsburgh at 2:30 p.m. North Carolina vs. Virginia at 7 p.m. and N.C. State vs. Clemson at 9:30 p.m.
• Big news Wednesday was Jim Boeheim’s time as Syracuse head coach came to an end. Based on his cryptic post-game comments and how quickly the school announced his successor it’s difficult to determine whether he chose to leave with a year left on his contract or the school decided it was best for him to leave at this time? He finished with a 1,015-441 record in 47 seasons. No one will coach at the same school for that long again.
• Yes, it’s ironic that Boeheim lost his final game as Syracuse head coach against Wake Forest on a buzzer-beater in the ACC tournament played in Greensboro. Wake Forest was among the teams Boeheim said “bought a team” with the new NIL rules. He also once said about the ACC tournament “there’s no reason to play in Greensboro.”
• North Carolina may have played its best game of the season with an 85-61 win against Boston College. Needed it to help its chances for an NCAA tournament bid. Would think Wednesday night would have done it, but we shall see Sunday.
• What about the Wolfpack? A 20-point win against Virginia Tech in a game that wasn’t that close. N.C. State is a tough team to play against with the outside shooting of Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner combined with the inside play of D.J. Burns Jr.
• Pittsburgh head coach Jeff Capel led South View High School to the 1993 4-A state championship. His father was head coach at Fayetteville State at the time.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 2013 — Liberty becomes the second 20-loss team to reach the NCAA tournament, beating Charleston Southern 87-76 to win the Big South Conference title. It joins Coppin State in 2008 as the only schools with 20 or more defeats in the field of 68.
POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
• WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: China vs. Japan, 5 a.m., FS1
• BASKETBALL: Atlantic 10 – VCU vs. Davidson, 11:30 a.m., USA
• BASKETBALL: ACC – Miami vs. Wake Forest, noon, ESPN
• BASKETBALL: Big East – Marquette vs. St. John’s, noon FS1
• PGA: Players Championship, noon, GOLF
• BASKETBALL: Big 12 – Iowa St. vs. Baylor, 12:30 p.m., ESPN2
• BASKETBALL: American – East Carolina vs. South Florida, 12:30 p.m., ESPNU
• BASKETBALL: Atlantic 10 – Saint Louis vs. George Mason, 2 p.m., USA
• BASKETBALL: ACC – Duke vs. Pittsburgh, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
• BASKETBALL: Big East – Providence vs. Connecticut, 2:30 p.m., FS1
• BASKETBALL: Mountain West – San Diego St. vs Colorado St., 3 p.m., CBSSN
• BASKETBALL: Big 12 – Kansas vs. West Virginia, 3 p.m., ESPN2
• BASKETBALL: American – SMU vs. UCF, 3 p.m., ESPNU
• MLB: United States vs. L.A. Angels, 3 p.m., MLBN
• BASKETBALL: Atlantic 10 – Dayton vs. Saint Joseph’s, 5 p.m., USA
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Southland – Lamar vs. SE Louisiana, 5 p.m., ESPNU
• BASKETBALL: Mountain West – San Jose St. vs. Nevada, 5:30 p.m., CBSSN
• BASKETBALL: ACC – Virginia vs. North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN
• BASKETBALL: Big 12 – Texas vs. Oklahoma St., 7 p.m., ESPN2
• BASKETBALL: American – Tulsa vs. Wichita St., 7 p.m., ESPNU
• BASKETBALL: Big East – Xavier vs. DePaul, 7 p.m., FS1
• NHL: Philadelphia at Carolina, 7 p.m., BALLY SOUTH
• BASKETBALL: Atlantic 10 – Fordham vs. La Salle, 7:30 p.m., USA
• NBA: Golden State at Memphis, 7:30 p.m., TNT
• BASKETBALL: Mountain West – Boise St. vs. UNLV, 9 p.m., CBSSN
• BASKETBALL: ACC – Clemson vs. N.C. State, 9:30 p.m., ESPN
• BASKETBALL: Big 12 – TCU vs. Kansas St., 9:30 p.m., ESPN2
• BASKETBALL: Big East – Creighton vs. Villanova, 9:30 p.m., FS1
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: American – Houston vs. East Carolina, 9:30 p.m., ESPNU
• NBA: New York at Sacramento, 10 p.m., TNT
• BASKETBALL: Mountain West – Utah St. vs. New Mexico, 11:30 p.m., CBSSN
• BASKETBALL: PAC-12 – Southern Cal vs. Arizona St., 11:30 p.m., ESPN
• WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: Cuba vs. Panama, 11:30 p.m., FS1
• WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: South Korea vs. Japan (Friday), 5 a.m., FS1
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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