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 Tuesday, February 20, 2001
Beating each other up in the ACC
By Brent Musburger
Special to ABC Sports Online
Can things get any wackier in the Atlantic Coast Conference? Just when we thought it was safe to give two No. 1 seeds to the conference, Duke lost in Charlottesville to No. 12 Virginia.
|  | | Adam Hall hit the game-winning basket with 0.9 seconds left as UVA upset Duke 91-89. |
Without question, it was the biggest win of Pete Gillen's career as coach of the Cavaliers, and it came just a month after losing to Duke by 42 in Durham. Dick Vitale and I worked that earlier meeting, and you would have been hard pressed to say that UVA could beat the Dukies in any arena.
It's a great credit to the players, the coaching staff and the student body, which camped out a la Duke in their L.L.Bean tents and waited for a prime seat. The scene on the court afterwards was reminiscent of a high school team winning the state championship.
Does the loss eliminate Duke from gaining a No. 1 seed? No. The Blue Devils still have a return engagement against North Carolina on March 4, and the following weekend there is ACC Tournament in Atlanta. What a tournament that figures to be. Carolina is a clear favorite to win the championship and wind up with the top seed in the East, but that, too, could become shaky if the Tar Heels lose twice to Duke in the upcoming weeks.
UNC's Matt Doherty is the National Coach of the Year. He replaced Bill Guthridge, a coach who took the Tar Heels to the Final Four in two of his three years as head coach.
Doherty has brought in his own brand of enthusiasm, and has gotten more help from two football players than any basketball team I can remember. Point guard Ron Curry and power forward Julius Peppers have been outstanding, while two-guard Joseph Forte is the go-to guy and a candidate for National Player of the Year. However, that honor will probably go to Duke's Shane Battier.
The absolute stunner of the week was also in ACC play, with Florida State upending Maryland in College Park. It's clear that Gary Williams' team has not recovered mentally from losing that heartbreaker to Duke on Jan. 27, when the Terrapins squandered a 10-point lead in the last 54 seconds and lost in overtime. Williams' team is on the brink of a total collapse.
For Florida State, it was by far its biggest win of the season, and it comes amid rumors of a coaching change next year. Steve Robinson is under pressure, and there's even gossip in the Sunshine State that Bob Knight could wind up in Tallahassee. I'm not sure about that, but there is good hunting and fishing around the state capital, and we know how much that appeals to Knight.
Another surprise team in the ACC is Georgia Tech. Barring disaster, this team is headed for the NCAA Tournament. Before the season began, most observers said a NIT bid would make this a successful season, but Paul Hewitt has done a superb job, and Alvin Jones, the Jackets' go-to guy, will make All-ACC this year.
Come tournament time, another ACC team you'll have to be careful with will be Wake Forest. Like Virginia, Wake is capable of a big-time performance in a pressure situation. The RPIs and the polls and the experts all say the ACC is the No. 1 conference in the country this year, and the problem is they're busy destroying each other, with the exception of North Carolina.
When the NCAA Tournament starts, the ACC should be represented by at least one team, and maybe more, in the Final Four. It has long been known as a basketball conference, and it has more than lived up to its reputation this season.
|  | | John Chaney and Temple are on the outside of the NCAA Tournament picture. |
Weekend forecast
Dick and I will be in Amherst, Mass. this weekend, where UMass and Bruiser Flint take on Temple and John Chaney. When this schedule first appeared, this game looked like a good matchup of two NCAA-bound teams. The Owls, however, have fallen on hard times, having lost twice this year to Atlantic 10 leader St. Joseph's.
Unless Temple can capture the conference tournament, the Owls are NIT-bound. UMass is a bubble team, and a win against Temple on Saturday is imperative.
Out west, No. 2 Stanford travels to Berkeley to play Cal, and the Cardinal had better show up with their A-game. The Bears are capable, especially at home, of pulling off an upset. Remember, this is a team that beat UCLA by 29 points two days before the Bruins upset the Cardinal. Stanford's depth should win this.
Oklahoma State hosts Texas, coming off its emotionally-charged victory over Oklahoma on Wednesday night. The Longhorns are having a miserable time rebounding. They've been beaten on the boards by double figures in three of their last four games. If they lose the battle of the glass to the Cowboys, they'll be in trouble again.
Lost in all this is a battle for first place in the Big XII, where Roy Williams' Kansas team looks to avenge last week's home loss to Iowa State. A win for the Cyclones would mean a season sweep of the Jayhawks, and virtually lock up the regular season conference title.
With the job Larry Eustachy has done with his Iowa State team, he is a good pick for Coach of the Year should Matt Doherty stumble.
And finally, back in the ACC, Duke steps out of conference for a tournament preview on Sunday, when the Blue Devils head to Madison Square Garden to play St. John's. This is a fascinating game, but Duke has too much talent for the Johnnies. Former President Bill Clinton is expected to be in attendance for this one. I wonder how much he'll pay for his ticket.
Brent Musburger is a play-by-play commentator for ABC's coverage of college football and college basketball. He is a regular contributor to ABC Sports Online.
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