I think there is some validity to this POV. The top of the ACC (Duke, UNC, and UVA) looks really good. I fear there could be more space between those three and the rest of the conference than we expected. All that aside, teams are just getting started and cream (or half&half in the not top three group) could rise up and close the gap a bit. I am juiced for basketball this year.
They lost their opener to Illinois Springfield, then followed that with a drubbing at Northwestern. I believe your research result is correct for this season as well.
This.
The issue is OOC games are huge factors in determining how any teams from a Conference get into the NCAAT. If a Conference overall has a poor OOC season as the ACC did last year only a few teams will make the NCAAT. The difference in the last 10 teams in the NCAAT is virtually nil, however, overall conference "perception and rankings" which are in large part based on OOC games make the difference. As Conferences have increased the number of Conference games it makes every OOC game more meaningful. Last night's win was big for GT!
You can't win games in the tournament unless you are playing. The ACC probably had other teams who could have won games that first weekend, but they were watching games on TV.
Aren’t they down about 4 contributing players?
Theoretically (if you like rankings), FSU minus their 4 highest rated players would have as highly rated a roster as us. They’re supposed to be that deep.
Exactly, let’s not act like they’re still not stocked with great talent. Parity is a real thing these days in college hoops.
Yep. And Pack is already a millionaire thanks to NIL
