Duke reigned supreme at last year’s ACC tourney

By Bud L. Ellis

As the first weekend in February dawns, the Duke Blue Devils find themselves on top of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

That’s where the Devils sat after last year’s ACC tournament at the Georgia Dome.

Duke won last year’s tournament, downing Florida State in the title game 79-69 to capture its eighth conference championship in the past 11 years.

Georgia Tech opened the tournament with an upset of No. 17 ranked and fifth-seed Clemson on opening day, 86-81. The Seminoles would end Tech’s run in the quarterfinals, but Maryland was the story on day two of the tourney, upending second-seed and eighth-ranked Wake Forest, 75-64.

The other three top seeded teams – top-ranked North Carolina, Duke and Florida State – joined the Terps in the semifinals. FSU pulled the biggest upset of all, knocking off the Tar Heels 73-70 in the semis. Duke held off Maryland to set the stage for the championship game.

The Devils put three players on the all-tournament team: MVP Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson.

This year’s ACC tournament will be at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., March 11-14.

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Friday, February 5, 2010 at 10:09 pm by bud

Tags: Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Gerald Henderson, Greensboro Coliseum, Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, Maryland, North Carolina, Wake Forest

Tightly bunched field promises competitive race to Greensboro

By Bud L. Ellis

With more than a month to go before the ACC tournament, there isn’t a clear-cut favorite.

In fact, when you look at the conference standings, it’s easy to deduct the conference games coming up the next five weeks will determine the seeding and the order of the tournament because, quite frankly, there isn’t a whole lot of separation between the top and the bottom.

Maryland leads the conference standings entering the weekend with a 4-1 ACC record. Miami is 1-5 overall, but just 3 ½ games out of first and two games out of the middle of the pack.

It’s been a very competitive year in the conference. Defending national champion North Carolina finds itself in next to last, but is only three games out of first. Five of the Tar Heels’ eight defeats have come in conference play.

The top seven teams in the league are separated by just 1 ½ games. While the Big East may boast more ranked teams, the ACC has been the most competitive and evenly matched league in the nation this season.

That will make the weeks leading up to Greensboro Coliseum and tourney time all the more interesting.

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Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 1:09 pm by bud

Tags: Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Greensboro Coliseum, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina