ACC Has Impressive First Round in the NCAA Tournament

If you are an ACC basketball fan you have to feel pretty good about the opening round of the NCAA tournament. ACC teams went 4-2, including 2-1 over Big 12 schools. How did each ACC team do?

Wake Forest 81, Texas 80, F/OT
We all knew Wake Forest had talent, but they were not playing well to the end the season. When they play like they did Thursday, they can play with anyone in the country. Texas was a former No. 1 team that the Deacs took down. Ishmael Smith had a stat line Magic Johnson would have been proud of 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. They get Kentucky next, and they can play with the Wildcats. Wake Forest has size inside, and won't be overwhelmed athletically by Kentucky. I think Kentucky wins, but it's going to be tougher than expected.

Georgia Tech 64, Oklahoma St. 59
The Jackets played nearly perfect NCAA tournament basketball Friday night. They defeated the Cowboys with good defense, great free throw shooting, and solid rebounding. After an inconsistent year, Georgia Tech is finally looking like the team many thought they could be. They harassed OSU's star player James Anderson into 3-12 shooting, and Iman Shumpert played mostly mistake free at PG while locking down on Anderson. This is a team with plenty of talent, and they can go into the game with Ohio St knowing full well they can win. I like the Jackets because Ohio St. isn't deep, and they aren't big. Four Buckeyes played more than 37 minutes in their first-round game with Santa Barbabra. Limit the turnovers and Georgia Tech will head to the Sweet 16.

Duke 73, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 44
Now that's how a No. 1 seed should look. This game was never in doubt. Duke has a great opportunity to run through the South Regional. California is a decent team that jumped on Louisville early and never let go. That won't happen against Duke. The Blue Devils have too many options. When you have Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, and Kyle Singler, one of those guys is going to score. Actually, I think Duke will win fairly comfortably and move on to the Sweet 16.

Maryland 89, Houston 77
The Terps looked solid against Houston. What I like about this game was that Jordan Williams and Landon Milbourne were other scoring options to Grevis Vasquez. Williams had 21 and Milbourne scored 19 in the win over Houston. Vasquez is the guy that makes Maryland go, but when other guys chip in, the Terrapins are especially dangerous. Sunday, they face a Michigan State team that was lucky to escape with a win over New Mexico St. Tom Izzo is a great coach, but Gary Williams can match him. Maryland wins and readies to face the monster from Kansas.

Now the bad news...

Missouri 86, Clemson 78
It's almost unbelievable to me that a coach as good as Oliver Purnell has never won a tournament game. Poor, Trevor Booker. He never won that coveted NCAA tournament game in his collegiate career. Has Clemson reached a ceiling? What can they do to get over these late season collapses? Purnell needs to get out and recruit, then recruit some more, and then recruit even more after that. The Tigers have nice players, but they lack that 6'5" to 6'7" swingman that can get to the basket off the dribble, and also hit the open jumper. Purnell may also need to back off the press so much as his teams seem to wear down late in the year.

Gonzaga 67, Florida State 60
This wasn't a good matchup for Florida St. Gonzaga was tournament-tested and is the most consistent mid-major basketball team in the country. Florida St., as has been the case all year, played great defense but struggled offensively. They scored only 19 points in the first half. I wonder how much better the 'Noles would have been if say, scorer Tony Douglas was still there. Leonard Hamilton needs to hit that recruiting trail too and get some scoring to go along with that defense.

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