ACC Tournament: UNC’s chances
By Matt Allred
Guys, on the bright side, it is a new week for the Heels and their basketball team. We could play Duke on Saturday if we both win on Friday and I have nearly gotten over the debacle that was our effort against Duke last Saturday night. It was nearly torturous to watch the entirety of the game (and our hope of Andrew Wiggins fly out the window like a behind-the-back dunk with a 360 spin), as I always do win or lose, and to go home with some sense of dignity afterwards. After being down 14-0 to your arch nemesis at home via a couple of nearly impossible jump shots, any other fan may have given up, but not this one. My friends say I have too much hope, and I say that they have not enough pride. Somewhere in the middle is the rational fan. I hope that anyone reading this is of the rational variety, as it is not too fun on the other side. Anyway, the ACC tourney comes to Greensboro this year to embrace the rich history of the wonderful conference and to probably get some wonderful BBQ across the street at Stamey’s whenever possible. Barack Obama went to Stamey’s once, and that particular comment has little to no relevance to this article whatsoever (and that also may or may not be true).
Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
The following is what I perceive to be our chances in the upcoming tournament taking place in the beautiful city of Greensboro, North Carolina.
In the first round we will play the winner of the Florida State and Clemson game taking place on Thursday at 9 pm eastern time. We are 3-0 against these teams this season including a road win against both teams and a home win against the Seminoles in a game that I saw from the third highest row of the entire Dean E. Smith center. We have won these games by a combined score of 224-189. We match up pretty well against both of these teams, especially now with our smaller line up. We should be able to get out and run against either team and play our desired brand of basketball. However, if I could pick my opponent I would have to say Clemson not because they are the lower seed but because I could count on my hands the number of times they have beaten us in the state of North Carolina. So, I’ll go out on a limb and say we win Friday night at 9 against either team.
Then, it is not too much of a stretch to predict that Duke would beat either Maryland or Wake Forest on Friday, setting up a third match-up with Duke on Saturday at 3 pm. My dad just told me that Duke has beaten us three times in the same year about 5 times (and he might as well be right because he almost always is with these kinds of things). You see, if my father were a mythological creature, he would be the God of sports trivia. But again, this has no actual bearing on this article.
With this in mind, I just have to say that we would beat Duke on Saturday given a third chance, and you can call me irrational if you want.
Then, just to throw a wrench in your plan, I say Miami loses to Virginia on Saturday, setting up a conference championship game against the Wahoos on Sunday afternoon. I love the ACC championship game, because usually the two teams that are in it have practically clenched a NCAA berth and many consider it meaningless. But if we win, we get to put the cool trophy in our cool basketball museum. I think we win that trophy on Sunday afternoon, and end up with a 5 seed in the big dance. I’m not Joe Lunardi, nor have I ever met the man, but i can make predictions too.
In conclusion, I have just irrationally and with no actual logic predicted an ACC tournament championship from the Heels on Sunday. So get excited about that.