I want to get this in before the Duke game so that my opinion is not colored by whatever happens tonight. I think we will lose, but how well we play is a really important test for this game. Duke is good even with Moore not playing.
Duke, Louisville, and Virginia will be very difficult for us. Those remaining games are likely going to be losses. We have two already and those four mean we will almost surely have six losses in the conference and eleven overall. We play Pitt and Clemson twice each, and we have Wake there and NC State in Atlanta. We need to win all six these games. If we do, that's good for eight ACC wins and 13 overall.
Now for the tough part. On paper we ought to beat Syracuse, but they destroyed us at McCamish. Hughes and Boeheim killed us from outside and Cuse out rebounded us. Granted, we did not have Jose or Usher. So, ... We have Miami at home and we should win that game if things fall as they should. But the Canes three ACC losses are to Louisville twice and to Duke. Before BC beat Virginia I thought that game was a certain win. Now, playing up there, I am not so sure. And we have ND twice. Finally, thank goodness we have Virginia Tech at home. If we can split these six games, I think we could be dancing. That will give us an OK record 17-14 (11-9). We will definitely be a bubble team. Honestly, it would be nicer if one of our ACC wins could be against Duke or Virginia or Louisville instead of Clemson or ND.
Maybe we get a nice surprise at home tonight. I hope the students are willing to stay up late. Two of my neighbors are Duke fans. They are visiting relatives in Duluth this week. Ha! Look for a lot of blue in the crowd.