Cavs at bottom of ACC class
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 9, 2008
Following a disappointing loss to Clemson on Thursday, the University of
Virginia men’s basketball team is halfway through its ACC schedule.
With the last-place Cavaliers (11-10, 1-7 ACC) set to play at Wake Forest (13-8,
3-5) this afternoon, Daily Progress beat writer Whitelaw Reid hands out
mid-season report cards in alphabetical order.
Calvin Baker
Position: Guard
Class: Sophomore
Analysis: Baker, the team’s fourth-leading scorer, has contributed more than
anybody could have imagined. The walk-on transfer from William & Mary has beaten
out recruited freshmen Jeff Jones and Mustapha Farrakhan for playing time.
Baker’s game isn’t pretty - and he’s probably better suited for coming off the
bench - but he’s clearly done enough to earn a scholarship.
Grade: B
Mamadi Diane
Position: Guard/forward
Class: Junior
Analysis: Inconsistency continues to be the buzzword with Diane. The swingman
was being counted on this season to pick up the slack for the graduated J.R.
Reynolds, but he hasn’t come close to doing so. His numbers aren’t bad - he’s
averaging over two more points per game this season (11.9) and shooting 43
percent from 3-point range - but when Virginia has needed Diane to step up in a
big spot, he hasn’t.
Grade: D+
Mustapha Farrakhan
Position: Guard
Class: Freshman
Analysis: Farrakhan has played sparingly this season. He has received more
minutes in recent games, but he hasn’t done much with the opportunity. Needs to
get a lot stronger in the offseason.
Grade: INC
Will Harris
Position: Forward
Class: Sophomore
Analysis: Harris has been riddled with injuries - mainly a balky back - all
season. He hasn’t played in five of the team’s last seven games. To his credit,
he has continued to be one of the team’s biggest cheerleaders.
Grade: INC
Jeff Jones
Position: Guard
Class: Freshman
Analysis: Jones started with a bang at Arizona. He drilled five 3-pointers in
November’s upset win, but he hasn’t hit one - or much of anything - since. At
this point, Virginia may want to think about bringing in a sports psychologist
to talk with Jones, who is clearly struggling mentally more than physically.
Grade: D
Adrian Joseph
Position: Forward
Class: Senior
Analysis: Joseph has been playing out of position (at power forward) all season,
but has still managed to put up pretty good numbers (12.1 PPG, 7.4 RPG). As a
co-captain, he’s taken on more of a leadership role. But, similar to Diane, he
has faded into the background in too many games.
Grade: C+
Jerome Meyinsse
Position: Center
Class: Sophomore
Analysis: One of the bigger mysteries is why Meyinsse hasn’t played more,
especially considering the team’s injury woes on the interior. The Baton Rouge
native has looked very good in limited playing time, shooting 70 percent from
the field. Look for him to get more of an opportunity down the stretch.
Grade: B-
Lars Mikalauskas
Position: Forward/center
Class: Junior
Analysis: Why Mikalauskas didn’t undergo shoulder surgery in the summer when
everyone knew he needed it is anyone’s guess. The Lithuanian has been hampered
by the injury from the get-go and has only been able to play in nine games.
Grade: INC
Ryan Pettinella
Position: Center
Class: Senior
Analysis: When given consistent minutes, Pettinella has usually produced. The
team can always count on the senior to give it his all. Pettinella’s Achilles’
heel - free throws - has kept him from being a bigger contributor, along with a
limited offensive repertoire.
Grade: B-
Mike Scott
Position: Center/forward
Class: Freshman
Analysis: Scott, like Joseph, has also been playing out of position. Because of
injuries to Soroye and Mikalauskas, he’s started the last 12 games at center.
The Chesapeake native has shown a knack for rebounding (12 boards versus
Maryland). He’s also displayed a swagger that not enough Virginia players seem
to have.
Grade: B-
Sean Singletary
Position: Guard
Class: Senior
Analysis: The heart and soul of the team has done everything in his power -
including playing through a painful hip injury - to try and turn the team’s
fortunes. Singletary, who clearly misses J.R. Reynolds, just doesn’t have enough
help. The result has often been Singletary trying to do too much on his own (4.2
turnovers per game).
Grade: B+
Tunji Soroye
Position: Center
Class: Senior
Analysis: It’s been a disappointing senior year for Soroye. Due to knee and back
injuries, the Nigerian has appeared in just two games. Virginia really misses
his shotblocking. The Cavaliers are last in the ACC in that category.
Grade: INC
Solomon Tat
Position: Guard/forward
Class: Sophomore
Analysis: Tat has finally gotten healthy this season - and has done very little.
He’s one of the team’s better defensive players (that is to say, he actually
tries a little bit). However, he doesn’t seem to have enough skills to warrant
anything more than spot duty.
Grade: C
Jamil Tucker
Position: Forward
Class: Sophomore
Analysis: Tucker seems to have all the skills necessary to become one of the
better players in the league, but he hasn’t been able to get consistent playing
time that would allow him to put up better numbers. He’s averaging just 11.4
minutes per game. Subsequently, he hasn’t shown much improvement in his second
year.
Grade: C
Sammy Zeglinski
Position: Guard
Class: Freshman
Analysis: After trying to play through an ankle injury, Zeglinski elected to
have season-ending surgery. He is hoping to gain a medical redshirt. In his
limited minutes, Zeglinski showed some nice playmaking skills that should
benefit the team in 2008-09.
Grade: INC
Coach Dave Leitao
Year: Third
Analysis: If Virginia loses its sixth straight game to Wake Forest this
afternoon, it will be 1-8 in ACC play. That would be the worst start to a
conference season since the 1984-85 campaign. Leitao’s squad looks nothing like
the one that was co-ACC champs a year ago. The strong-armed, tough-love tactics
that worked for Leitao last season and made him Coach of the Year simply aren’t
doing the trick now. Players seem to have lost their confidence and are always
looking over their shoulder, waiting to be removed from the game after the
smallest of mistakes. None of the kids Leitao recruited are doing much of
anything. The success that Leitao has had is mainly due to players left over
from the Pete Gillen regime.
Grade: F
Not a grade-A performance for Cavs
Picked to finish fifth in ACC, U.Va. is being kicked around
Saturday, Feb 09, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- On the penultimate day of 2007, the
University of Virginia men's basketball team beat Hartford 78-70 at John Paul
Jones Arena. The Cavaliers struggled late in that game, but the victory raised
their record to 10-1.
A collapse of almost unimaginable proportions has followed. The Cavaliers have
only won one of their nine games since, and the slide includes a 38-point loss
to Xavier, a 22-point loss to Duke, two overtime losses to Virginia Tech and,
most recently, a 31-point loss to Clemson.
Virginia (1-7, 11-10) begins the second half of its ACC schedule today at Wake
Forest (3-5, 15-8), and the outlook for third-year coach Dave Leitao's team
could not be much bleaker. The Cavaliers' confidence appears shattered, and it's
conceivable they could finish 3-13 or 2-14 -- or even 1-15 -- in the conference.
Who saw this coming? Not the media representatives who vote on the ACC's
preseason poll. They knew that U.Va. had eight of its top 10 players back from a
team that shared the ACC regular-season title with North Carolina and advanced
to the NCAA tournament's second round. They knew that one of those players was
senior point guard Sean Singletary, an All-America candidate. And so the media
picked Virginia to finish fifth in the ACC.
Prognosticators didn't know then, of course, that come the midpoint of the ACC
season, three Cavaliers -- centers Tunji Soroye and Laurynas Mikalauskas and
point guard Sammy Zeglinski -- would have missed every conference game because
of injuries. Another U.Va. player, sophomore forward Will Harris, has missed
five ACC games with a back injury.
Even so, Virginia should have more than one ACC win. In four of the Cavaliers'
conference losses, they led by nine points or more. And now even a trip to the
NIT looks like an unrealistic goal for a team that entered the season with
dreams of returning to the NCAAs.
The Times-Dispatch's evaluation:
SEAN SINGLETARY (senior guard): Illness and injuries have resulted in several
off nights for Singletary, but overall he's played well, often with little help
from his supporting cast. Singletary leads Virginia in scoring, assists, steals
and free-throw percentage. He's scored 10 or more points in 43 consecutive
games. Grade: A-minus.
CALVIN BAKER (sophomore guard): The transfer from William and Mary became a
starter after freshman Jeff Jones' production dripped. Baker, a walk-on, has
been inconsistent, scoring 17 points against Maryland and, in his next game,
zero against Virginia Tech. He's a terrific change-of-pace guard off the bench,
but when Baker plays starters' minutes, his flaws are exposed. Grade: C
MAMADI DIANE (junior forward): This three-year starter probably is the team's
biggest disappointment. Virginia desperately needs consistent production from
Diane, and he hasn't delivered. In his past four games, he's 14 for 46 from the
floor. His good nights -- 22 points against Northwestern, 20 against Boston
College -- too often are offset by games in which he's not a factor. Grade: C
ADRIAN JOSEPH (senior forward): The Trinidad native, like Diane, has a troubling
tendency to disappear during critical stretches. But Joseph, a natural small
forward who's been forced to play most of the season at power forward, has
turned into a terrific rebounder (7.4 per game), and he's the Cavaliers'
second-leading scorer. Grade: B-minus
MIKE SCOTT (freshman center): Like Joseph, Scott is playing out of position.
He's a power forward battling in the low post against bigger, stronger and,
often, more experienced players. A preseason ankle injury has slowed Scott's
progress, but he's a gifted rebounder -- he averages six boards in only 17
minutes per game -- and has shown a nice touch from the foul line. Grade:
B-minus
THE BENCH: Sophomore forward Jamil Tucker has turned in a couple of big games,
but otherwise, Leitao's reserves have produced few highlights. Center Ryan
Pettinella rebounds poorly for a 6-9 249-pounder, and sophomore center Jerome
Meyinsse remains a project. Freshman shooting guards Jeff Jones and Mustapha
Farrakhan, who were considered recruiting coups for Leitao, have disappointed.
Between them, Jones and Farrakhan are 7 for 29 from 3-point range. Grade: D
DAVE LEITAO: He was named ACC coach of the year in 2006-07. A season later,
there appears to be a disconnect between Leitao and many of his players,
particularly the freshmen and sophomores. Of late, the Wahoos have shown little
enthusiasm for defense or rebounding, and their apparent lack of effort Thursday
night against Clemson was astounding. Grade: D
OVERALL: At the halfway point, Virginia clearly is the ACC's worst team. More
was expected of these Cavaliers, who for myriad reasons have flopped. There's
little reason to believe the second half of the season will be much better.
Grade: D
Struggling Deacons to play really struggling Cavaliers
WFU has lost two straight; Virginia was crushed by Clemson
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER
With the boos of their fans still ringing in their ears, the Virginia Cavaliers
got out of Charlottesville while the getting was good.
In fewer than 43 hours after being dismantled 82-51 at John Paul Jones Arena by
Clemson on Thursday night, the Cavaliers will attempt to regroup today against
Wake Forest at 3:30 at Joel Coliseum.
The Deacons will also be trying to get back on track after back-to-back losses
to N.C. State and Georgia Tech.
Wake Forest is 13-8 overall and 3-5 in the ACC, Virginia 11-10 and 1-7.
“Hey we’ve lost two in a row, too,” Coach Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest said
yesterday. “Our guys should have a little bit of salt in the wound themselves.”
Gaudio said that L.D. Williams, a 6-4 sophomore forward, will miss his fourth
straight game since he broke his hand at Clemson on Jan. 22.
“He has to get cleared by the doctors,” Gaudio said. “Despite what he did (in
practice Thursday) - he looked pretty good - he’s not going to get cleared.
“Now they’re saying if everything goes well then hopefully he’ll be able to play
(at Florida State) on Thursday.”
Chas McFarland, a 7-0 sophomore who has started 18 games, missed practice
yesterday with an intestinal virus, but said he expects to be recovered in time
to play today.
Trainer Greg Collins said the illness typically runs its course in about 24
hours. He said that McFarland’s chances of playing today look good.
Many of the 13,929 Virginia fans who showed up on Thursday had left by the time
Clemson extended its lead to 38 with five minutes remaining. Those still around
were voicing their extreme displeasure.
“Everything was spiraling downward and we didn’t fight it,” senior Sean
Singletary of the Cavaliers said after the game. “We didn’t have enough
intestinal fortitude to fight it tonight.”
Singletary, a first-team All-ACC guard the past two seasons, called a players’
only meeting after the game, so the Cavaliers could, “clear the air.”
He declined to reveal what was said, other than what was obvious to anyone who
saw the game.
“We keep everything close quarters, but the bottom line is, we just didn’t come
out and compete,” Singletary said.
The Cavaliers have experienced a dramatic drop in fortunes since their last trip
to Joel Coliseum, when they tied for first place in the ACC regular season
despite a 78-72 loss on March 3. Virginia finished 21-11 overall and 11-5 in
conference play, and Dave Leitao was named ACC Coach of the Year.
This season the Cavaliers have clearly missed guard J.R. Reynolds and forward
Jason Cain, who expended their eligibility. They’ve also played much of the
season without Laurynas Mikalauskas, a 6-8 junior forward who has missed the
past 12 games with a shoulder injury.
Gaudio said he has three concerns going into today’s game.
“Number one, number two and number three are Singletary,” Gaudio said.
“We’ve got to do a good job on him.
“He’ll distribute the ball. But you’ve got to control him.”
Singletary, a 6-0 senior from Philadelphia, is averaging 18.5 points and 6.4
assists. But he committed five turnovers on Thursday against Clemson, giving him
90 for the season compared to 127 assists.
The Tigers shot 53 percent from the floor against Virginia and made 16
3-pointers on 26 attempts. The Cavaliers’ 51 points were their fewest of the
season.
“It didn’t look pretty, and obviously it wasn’t something that I expected to
happen,” Leitao said. “I don’t think anybody in our locker room expected it to
happen, but the fact that it did means that we’ve got to get back to basics and
make the proper physical and emotional corrections that would make sure that
type of thing wouldn’t happen again.”
Gaudio, for his part, will be looking for better effort from James Johnson, a
6-8 freshman from Cheyenne, Wyo. Although Johnson has been impressive overall
while leading the Deacons with 14.4 points and 8.1 rebounds, he watched much of
the second half against Georgia Tech from the bench after failing to box out on
a rebound and front his opponent in the post.
Still Gaudio said he was inclined to start Johnson against Virginia.
“Those freshmen are going through the dog days of the season now,” Gaudio said.
“He’s a great kid. I think he learns. I think he understands the urgency of the
moment, and how he’s got to pick it up a little bit.
“And I think he will.”
Overflow roster not cutting it for Cavs
Less than one year after his selection as ACC coach of the year, Leitao has lost
his magic. The Cavaliers, who tied for first in the regular season last year,
sink deeper into last place with each successive outing.
By Doug Doughty
After a 38-point loss at Xavier in early January, the Virginia men's basketball
party arrived back in Charlottesville to find that coach Dave Leitao had moved
the players out of their locker room.
Now might be a good time to move Leitao out of his office. Not permanently, mind
you, but make him take his stuff and move downstairs to the press room or the
security checkpoint.
Less than one year after his selection as ACC coach of the year, Leitao has lost
his magic. The Cavaliers, who tied for first in the regular season last year,
sink deeper into last place with each successive outing.
Everybody is searching for reasons, so here's mine: Virginia has too many
players. That's not to say the Cavaliers have too many good players. But, they
have so many players in the program (17) and on scholarship (13) that Leitao has
too many options on game nights and too few options for remaking the operation.
The time has come to start playing for the future, unkind as that might seem to
senior point guard Sean Singletary, one of the best players ever to come through
the program. But, no one is advocating that the Cavaliers (11-10 overall, 1-7
ACC) bench Singletary.
Virginia already has made the decision to sit down freshman Sammy Zeglinski for
the remainder of the season after his second ankle operation. A hardship appeal
is in the works for Zeglinski and, if you ask me, UVa should also seek hardship
rulings for frontcourt veterans Tunji Soroye and Lauris Mikalauskas.
They should, but they can't. The Cavaliers are out of scholarships.
The NCAA scholarship limit for Division I-A programs is 13. Of the 13
scholarship players on the current roster, three are seniors in their final
season of eligibility -- Singletary, Soroye and Adrian Joseph -- and UVa signed
three recruits in the fall who will take their place.
It would make all the sense in the world to redshirt Soroye, who was supposed to
start this year but had knee surgery before the season and lately has been
fighting a bad back. He has played in two games and for a total of eight
minutes.
The Cavaliers have recruited a pair of big men, John Brandenburg and Assane Sene,
and an able-bodied Soroye might take some of the pressure off them. But, where
would the Cavaliers find a scholarship?
To enable Virginia to meet the 13-scholarship limit this year, Ryan Pettinella
gave up the scholarship he received in 2006-2007. He will exhaust his
eligibility this year, but the Cavaliers have another player, starting guard
Calvin Baker, who is continuing to pay his way almost two years after
transferring from William and Mary.
The Cavaliers don't have a scholarship for Baker, much less Soroye. And, they
continue to recruit players for 2008-2009, including 6-foot-8 Lilburn, Ga.,
forward Wesley Witherspoon.
Obviously, if the Cavaliers are recruiting Witherspoon, whose older brother
played at Virginia Tech and is now at George Washington, the Cavaliers are
banking on somebody leaving.
Is that any way to do business?
Besides, who needs 14 or 15 players anyway? Some of the most underachieving
Virginia teams in recent years were the depth-shy units that Pete Gillen and
Leitao coached in their first seasons, 1998-1999 and 2005-2006, respectively.
UVa women's basketball has had a resurgence this year with seven or eight
players getting the bulk of the playing time.
In 29 seasons, the only time that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has had 13 players
on scholarship is when he's filled the quota with walk-ons.
Of course, you can do that when your roster is loaded with All-Americans, but
who uses 12 players in the first half? That's what Virginia did in the first
half of a recent game at Maryland.
Playing time makes players happy. Winning makes everybody happy. When you use
that many players, roles become muddled. What was Jamil Tucker to think during a
recent four-game stretch when he played 19, 2, 21 and 3 minutes?
It's called roster management and it's every bit as important as on-court
coaching or recruiting.
Cavs facing top challenge
After big opener against USC, U.Va. plays host to UR
Saturday, Feb 09, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- A date with Southern California highlights
one of the most ambitious football schedules in University of Virginia history.
U.Va. will open its eighth season under coach Al Groh on Aug. 30, when USC
visits Scott Stadium. That's the first of seven home games for the Cavaliers,
who finished 9-4 last season after losing to Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl.
Virginia's 12 opponents include seven teams that won at least eight games in
2007, including the University of Richmond, which advanced to the Division I-AA
semifinals.
"This schedule very clearly sets the bar as to the level of performance we must
strive for," Groh said in a statement.
A week after hosting USC, which finished 11-2 last season and will be touted as
a national-championship contender in 2008, Virginia will host UR. That game will
mark the return of Mike London to Charlottesville. London, the Spiders' new
coach is a former U.Va. assistant.
Returning to Virginia's schedule for the first time since 2004 is Clemson, which
likely is to enter the season as the ACC favorite.
Among the standouts Groh must replace from his 2007 team are defensive end Chris
Long, quarterback Jameel Sewell, offensive guard Branden Albert, tight ends Tom
Santi and Jonathan Stupar, nose tackle Allen Billyk, cornerback Chris Cook and
kicker Chris Gould. Season tickets go on sale Feb. 22.
Cavs face tough opponents in 2008
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 9, 2008
Al Groh said it accurately.
Virginia’s football coach claims to enjoy challenges. And he certainly faces
one.
While it took longer than usual, the ACC office finally released the football
schedules for the league’s 12 members on Friday.
For Virginia, it translates into a 12-game schedule that includes seven home
games and eight opponents that played in the postseason last year.
Three of the upcoming opponents - No. 3 Southern California, No. 9 Virginia Tech
and No. 21 Clemson - also finished the 2007 season ranked in both polls. USC
(Rose Bowl) and Virginia Tech (Orange) played in the Bowl Championship Series.
“We like challenges, and this is certainly a challenging schedule with four
non-conference opponents who played in the postseason and three teams in some of
the preseason top-10 polls,” Groh said through a released statement. “This
schedule very clearly sets the bar as to the level of performance we must strive
for.”
Virginia, of course, is also coming off a season that included a berth in the
postseason - the Cavaliers lost to Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl.
Groh, however, will have several glaring holes to fill with the graduation of
All-American defensive end Chris Long and the expected absence of quarterback
Jameel Sewell.
Luckily for Virginia, the 2008 schedule includes a pair of well-timed bye weeks.
The Cavaliers played 11 straight weeks last year before enjoying their first
weekend off.
The first bye comes after a three-game opening stretch against Southern Cal
(Aug. 30), Richmond (Sept. 6) and a trip to Connecticut (Sept. 13).
After the break, Virginia opens ACC play with contests at Duke (Sept. 27) and at
Scott Stadium against Maryland.
The Cavaliers close out the non-league portion of the schedule against East
Carolina on Oct. 11 before closing out the month with North Carolina (Oct. 18)
and at Georgia Tech (Oct. 25).
In what appears to be a trend, UVa closes out the campaign with a brutal
November. The Cavaliers will host Miami (Nov. 1) and Clemson (Nov. 22) and
travel to Wake Forest (Nov. 8) and Virginia Tech (Nov. 29). Virginia has an open
date on Nov. 15.
Due to the late announcement of the schedule, Virginia season tickets will not
go on sale until Feb. 22. A priority deadline has been pushed back to April 4
and the VAF priority deadline is March 31.
A glimpse into the ACC's gridiron future
Caulton Tudor offers his take on the conference football schedule, which was
announced Friday
Caulton Tudor, Staff Writer
TOUGHEST NON-LEAGUE SCHEDULE: VIRGINIA
The opener against Southern California will put the Cavaliers in the spotlight
and probably in the headlights. A trip to Connecticut and a home game against
East Carolina certainly do not compute to gimme victories.
EASIEST NON-LEAGUE SCHEDULE: MARYLAND
The Terrapins will face Delaware, California and Eastern Michigan in College
Park, and only Middle Tennessee on the road. With any sort of reasonable
execution, 4-0 outside the league should be there for the taking.
TOUGHEST IN-LEAGUE SCHEDULE: DUKE
Not only do the Blue Devils have to face both Clemson and Virginia Tech, they
have to do it late in the season, back-to-back and on the road. David Cutcliffe
cut his teeth on merciless SEC schedules, but consecutive trips to Clemson,
S.C., and Blacksburg, Va., hardly equate to a warm welcome.
EASIEST IN-LEAGUE SCHEDULE: MIAMI
Randy Shannon's second team dodges Clemson and will get a 10-day rest before
facing Virginia Tech in Miami on Thursday night. The Hurricanes' only road game
in conference before November will be at Duke.
FIVE MOST IMPORTANT CONFERENCE GAMES
1. CLEMSON AT WAKE FOREST, OCT. 9: The Thursday night ESPN game in Winston-Salem
will mark Clemson's first true road trip of the season and should go far in
determining the Atlantic Division champion.
2. VIRGINIA TECH AT MIAMI, NOV. 13: Another Thursday night ESPN game, one that
will demand the Hokies' undivided attention. Miami has slipped far and fast, but
the home crowd should be itching for a statement game in the Coastal Division.
3. WAKE FOREST AT FLORIDA STATE, SEPT. 20: After two straight losses in the
series, the Seminoles and their fans have had about enough of this Deacon
nonsense. Question is, can they do anything about it?
4. N.C. STATE AT NORTH CAROLINA, NOV. 22: Odds are, there will not be any
championship implications on the line, but one or both teams could go in with
late-season bowl aspirations.
5. GEORGIA TECH AT BOSTON COLLEGE, SEPT. 6: It's one of the earliest conference
games on the collective schedule and should provide the first true glimpse of
the Eagles in the post-Matt Ryan era.
FIVE TOUGH TICKETS:
1. CLEMSON VS. ALABAMA, AUG. 30, ATLANTA: Half the South will be there. Take out
a home equity loan if you're looking for four.
2. NOTRE DAME AT UNC, OCT. 11: So what if the Irish aren't what they used to be?
No one will be talking basketball that day. Well, almost no one.
3. VIRGINIA TECH VS. ECU, AUG. 30, CHARLOTTE: The Meineke Car Care Bowl should
be so lucky.
4. N.C. STATE AT SOUTH CAROLINA, AUG. 28: It falls on what is almost certain to
be a humid, miserable Thursday night, but thousands of Wolfpack fans will still
want to score a seat.
5. ECU AT N.C. STATE, SEPT. 20: With all the seats long gone, the television
audience should be huge. Assuming, of course, there is TV coverage.
TAMPA TIME: CLEMSON VS. VIRGINIA TECH
And what do we have here? Why, it's the Dr Pepper ACC championship game,
Saturday, Dec. 6 on ABC from Tampa, Fla.
Final score -- Tigers 30, Hokies 27. In double overtime.
EARLY LEAGUE PICK
Atlantic
1. Clemson
2. Florida State
3. Wake Forest
4. Maryland
5. N.C. State
6. Boston College
Coastal
1. Virginia Tech
2. Miami
3. Virginia
4. North Carolina
5. Georgia Tech
6. Duke
Top 4 overall
1. Clemson
2. Virginia Tech
3. Florida State
4. Wake Forest