While next year the ACC will be adding Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh from the Big East, this year was another down year for the conference. The preseason favorite, North Carolina State, failed to live up to the expectations. While Virginia Tech and Maryland, who dominated the non-conference had the wheels come off in conference. Wake Forest and Clemson did what was expected of them, while Georgia Tech and Boston College showed promise. Then there was Miami, who electrified the conference, and brought national attention with them.
Overall, it was a fun year to cover the conference due to the ever change landscape of it. But overall, it was a down year for the ACC. This continues a trend of lackluster seasons for the once billed “best basketball conference in America”. The Big East split and the disappointing tournament for the Mountain West should help the ACC to move up the conference ranks, along with the three additions. This shift in the college landscape couldn’t have come at a better time for the ACC.
Lets look back on some of the teams and see how their seasons went.
Better Than Expected
Miami – Any talk about the ACC this season needs to start with the Canes. The oldest team in the NCAA this season, and they need their experience. The expectations for Miami were to contend for the top 4. After a slow non-conference, along with suspensions and injuries, there was some worry in Coral Gables. But then sophomore point guard Shane Larkin took over the team. Miami cruised to a first place finish in conference, and an ACC Tournament win. They beat Duke and North Carolina by 20 plus, and held off the Tar Heels in the ACC Final. Coach Larranaga was rightfully named the ACC Coach of he Year, but Shane Larkin was robbed of Player of the Year for the conference. The Canes wrapped up a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but unfortunately lost in the Sweet 16 to Marquette.
North Carolina – The Tar Heels finished an odd season with a loss to Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The non-conference was a strange period for UNC, as they were attempting to find what line-ups worked. They were beat badly by Butler and Texas, but were able to knock off #19 UNLV in the Dean Dome. Conference play started with a loss at Virginia, but a couple of games later the Tar Heels took off. Coach Roy Williams switched to a 4 guard line up, which really showcased James Michael McAdoo along with Reggie Bullock. The Tar Heels went from a probably NIT team to finishing 3rd in the conference, and playing for the ACC title in Greensboro.
Boston College – Don’t be fooled by their 7-11 record in conference. the Eagles were young this season, but they were one of the toughest match-ups for everyone especially in Chestnut Hill. Boston College was on the wrong side of a lot of close contest during the year, and had chances at knocking off some of the bigger teams in conference. They did put together a great 4 game winning streak at the end of the season, and played a close game against Miami in the second round of the ACC Tournament. Just a look back at some of their games in conference show how close they were to possibly finishing at 500. Second game of the conference season was a 5 point loss to #23 North Carolina State, two games later a 3 point loss at Wake Forest, that was followed by a 1 point loss to Miami, then a 5 point loss at Maryland, later came the heart breaking one point loss to Duke, and two games later was a 3 point loss to Florida State. Like I said, they were a young team this year. Everyone is returning, and returning with a lot of experience, watch out for the Eagles next year.
Below Expectations
North Carolina State – The second team behind Miami that always needs to be mentioned in any discussion about the ACC is North Carolina State. The Wolfpack were a preseason top 5 team, they were picked to win the ACC, and they had the projected ACC Player of the Year, C.J. Leslie. Instead, they struggled throughout the year, and wrapped up the season 5th in the ACC. They made a run to the ACC Semi-Finals, before losing to Miami. They still found themselves in the NCAA Tournament, but lost in the first round to Temple. The talk in the preseason was about North Carolina State being back on the map after so many disappointing seasons, instead they failed to reach the loft preseason expectations and are now feeling the backlash of the NBA Draft.
Maryland – The Terps fall into this category because of the sub-500 record and the up and down play. Maryland was picked to finish 6th in the conference, instead they finished 7th and tied with Florida State. It wasn’t a bad season in College Park, but another missed chance at the NCAA Tournament was the final result. There were positives, beating Duke twice and beating North Carolina State, but then there were negatives like being swept by Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida State.
Virginia Tech – Not many knew how the Hokies would be with first year coach James Johnson, but then they started the season 13-0 including a win over Oklahoma State. They were running an up-tempo fast style and scoring at a rapid rate. As excitement built around the new look Hokies, so did the expectations. Once conference play started, many of the flaws were exposed. Beginning with Maryland putting up 94 points in the ACC opener. Virginia Tech struggled with their identity after this. Erick Green had an amazing season, which finished with him receiving ACC Player of the Year Honors. However, he was the only Hokie with a good season, the rest of the team was not able to find any consistency to help Green. Virginia Tech is in a re-building process, and unfortunately the expectations became too high for them to handle during the season.
