NCAA Tournament 2012: Grading the ACC's Second-Round Performance

The ACC has completed its first round of the NCAA tournament. It was certainly a mixed bag; North Carolina, NC State and Florida State advanced, but Duke and Virginia were sent home.

For additional coverage of the ACC, check out the ACC's official Postseason Central Page.

Now let’s grade out each team’s performance.

North Carolina State – A

Of all the ACC teams, I was the most impressed by NC State and their 14-point win over San Diego State. Every time the Aztecs made a run, the Wolfpack had an answer.

This isn’t the same NC State squad that blew a 20-point lead at Duke. This was a confident, poised bunch. What makes the Pack so good is that even though they are not very deep, they had seven players score at least six points today. Four had more than 10.

Who are you going to defend?

Mark Gottfried has done an amazing job changing the culture at NC State. The Wolfpack has already exceeded its seeding, and now anything else is a bonus. They get an intriguing game with Georgetown next.

Sweet 16? Sure why not.

North Carolina – B

UNC beat Vermont 77-58 Friday. It was workman-like performance. The Heels got off to a slower start than you would care for, but were never really threatened by the Catamounts.

Harrison Barnes took a while to get going, and I’d like to see a more consistent game out of him. John Henson didn’t play today, and I’ve read he’s 50/50 for Sunday. The Heels can’t get to the Final Four without him, so the Heels need him back.

Next up is Creighton, who defeated Alabama 58-57. The Bluejays are not particularly big, so I’d expect the UNC post guys to have a big game. The Tar Heels should advance comfortably.

Florida State – B-

The 'Noles magical ride almost came to a screeching halt Friday against St. Bonaventure. Florida State prevailed 66-63, but it was much harder than it should have been.

The 'Noles fell behind early and trailed by six at halftime. You might be able to get away with that in the first round, but no more. Michael Snaer was held scoreless and that certainly can’t happen as the competition gets better. Bernard James willed the Seminoles to victory with his hard-nosed play. I give credit to FSU though; the key is to survive and advance and that’s what they did. 

Cincinnati is more than good enough to beat FSU if the 'Noles have another off-game, but I think this team is too good to have back-to-back bad performances.

Virginia – D

I don’t give the Cavs an F, because I thought today would be the end of their tournament anyway. Florida was bad matchup for a Cavs team that only suited up seven scholarship players.

The Gators were considered a No. 2 or No. 3 seed until a late-season swoon. They were under-seeded as a seven, and Virginia was no match for them. That’s why I’m giving Virginia a D. When you lose 71-45 you didn’t do many things right. Florida went solidly eight-deep while Virginia had every starter play over 30 minutes.

They got killed on the boards, and the Gators shot a sizzling 52 percent against a normally stout UVA defense. It’s a shame Mike Scott’s career ended with such an ugly loss.

Duke – F

I don’t know what else you can give Duke but an F.

Playing in Greensboro, some 50 miles from their campus in Durham, NC, Duke gave one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen from a Mike Krzyzewski-coached team.

Don’t get me wrong, Lehigh was the better team Friday night. They player harder and they played better, but under no circumstances should Duke lose to Lehigh in an opening round tournament game. Lehigh exposed every Duke weakness we already knew about. They don’t defend well and nobody but Austin Rivers can break you down off the dribble.

When Duke goes 6-for-26 from three-point range they aren’t going to win many games. Since Ryan Kelly went down the Blue Devils have struggled mightily to score. Sixty points against Virginia, then 59 against FSU and tonight 70, but they still should have beaten Lehigh.

An embarrassing loss for Duke and the ACC. Coach K go find some athletes please.