Hey guys, so with Duke on deck on the football schedule and basketball season right around the corner, I wanted to get a little interest generated in hoops, so I decided to do a quick run-down of the ACC teams:

Boston College (22-12, 9-7 NCAA 1st Round)

Key Players: Joe Trapani, Rakim Sanders, Reggie Jackson

The Skinny: Fresh off an NCAA tournament appearance, the Eagles will have to replace all-world guard Tyrese Rice.  However, they return all four starters besides Rice and Joe Trapani and Rakim Sanders both look to handle the scoring load with Reggie Jackson handling the ball.

3 BIG GAMES: 12/2 @Michigan, 2/6 Duke, 2/20 UNC

Clemson (23-9, 9-7 NCAA 1st Round)

Key Players: Trevor Booker, Demontez Stitt, Milton Jennings (Fr.)

The Skinny: Oliver Purnell has led his Tigers to the past two NCAA tournaments, but replacing three key starters from those teams, K.C. Rivers, Terrence Oglesby, and Raymond Sykes, will not be an easy task.  Trevor Booker returns as an ACC POY candidate and Demontez Stitt provides some experience in the Clemson backcourt.  Look for freshman Milton Jennings to give some good minutes.

3 BIG GAMES: 12/2 Illinois, 1/3 @Duke, 3/2 Georgia Tech

Duke (30-7, 11-5 NCAA Sweet 16)

Key Players: Kyle Singler, John Scheyer, Nolan Smith

The Skinny: Even with the loss of Gerald Henderson, this Blue Devils squad appears loaded for a tourney run.  Singler, Scheyer and Smith are now all upperclassmen who should be able to mentor the three McDonald’s AA’s from the incoming recruiting class.  Look for freshman Ryan Kelly to be the “go to” guy for the Blue Devils in the paint.

3 BIG GAMES: 1/9 @Clemson, 2/10 @UNC, 3/6 UNC

Florida State (25-10, 10-6 NCAA 1st Round)

Key Players: Solomon Alabi, Ufe Echefu, Michael Snaer (Fr.)

The Skinny: FSU returns almost the entire starting lineup from a year ago.  The problem is the “almost” piece missing is one of the school’s best basketball players ever in Toney Douglas.  Besides Douglas, no Seminole averaged in double figures last year and only two players averaged eight points or better.  Solomon Alabi and Ufe Echefu return to form an experienced front court and superstar freshman Michael Snaer will look to replace some of Douglas’ point production, but the ‘Noles will ultimately need another player to step up if they want to get back to The Dance this year.

Georgia Tech (13-19, 2-14)

Key Players: Iman Shumpert, Gani Lawal, Derrick Favors (Fr.)

The Skinny: The only team to lose more conference games than UVa last year was the Yellow Jackets.  However, few teams enter the 09/10 season with as much confidence as the Ramblin’ Wreck.  Freshamn sensation Iman Shumpert returns along with talented forward Gani Lawal.  D’Andre Bell also returns for the Jackets after spending a year on medical reserve and should provide quality depth to a starting five littered with talent.  Paul Hewitt once again brought in a stellar recruiting class, landing 5-star all-everything Derrick Favors as well as top-100 player Mfon Udofia and Glen Rice Jr.

3 BIG GAMES: 1/9 @Duke, 1/16 @UNC, 3/2 @Clemson

Maryland (21-14, 7-9 NCAA 2nd Round)

Key Players: Grievous Vasquez, Adrian Bowie, Eric Hayes

The Skinny: The Terps return three starters including All-ACC guard Grievous Vasquez.  Adrian Bowie, who came on strong in the ACC and NCAA tournaments last year also returns as well as Eric Hayes, Sean Mosley and Landon Milbourne for the Terps.  This is a key season for Gary Williams and staff.  They have a player in Vasquez who can lead them back to the depths of the NCAA tourney, but is there enough talent surrounding Vasquez to take them there?

3 BIG GAMES: 1/16 @Boston College, 2/7 UNC, 3/3 Duke

Miami (19-13, 7-9 NIT)

Key Players: Dwayne Collins, James Dews, Durand Scott (Fr.)

The Skinny: Frank Haith’s squad looks to find out what life is like without the indispensable Jack McClinton suiting up every night.  McClinton averaged one fourth of his teams total points a year ago, so finding someone to replace him will be easier said than done.  The ‘Canes will also be breaking in two other starters to go along with McClinton’s replacement, as Brian Asbury and Lance Hurdle are also gone.  Even with all the losses from last years team, the ‘Canes were able to sign a top-20 recruiting class including guard Durand Scott and still have some talent left over in forward Dwayne Collins and senior guard James Dews.

3 BIG GAMES: 12/2 Minnesota, 1/26 @Maryland, 2/17 Duke

North Carolina (34-4, 13-3 NCAA National Champs)

Key Players: Deon Thompson, Marcus Ginyard, Ed Davis

The Skinny: Gone from the Heels’ squad are the two winningest seniors in program history in Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green.  Also gone are guards Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington.  The four combined for 66.2 ppg a season ago, and even though Roy Williams once again stuffed his cupboard full of talent, it will be hard to replace what the ’09 team lost.  Returning for the Tar Heels are seniors Deon Thompson, who started all 38 games last year, and Marcus Ginyard returns after a medical redshirt season.  Talented big man Ed Davis also returns and looks to be the primary scorer in the paint.  Freshmen John Henson, Dexter Strickland and twins David and Travis Wear could all make an impact this season for North Carolina.

3 BIG GAMES: 12/2 Mich. St., 12/19 vs. Texas, 3/6 @Duke

N.C. State (16-13, 6-10)

Key Players: Javier Gonzalez, Tracy Smith, DeShawn Painter (Fr.)

The Skinny: The Wolfpack lose three starters from a mediocre ‘09 team.  In Sydney Lowe’s time at N.C. State, he has proven to be a good recruiter and the ‘09 class was no different as he landed two four stars in DeShawn Painter and Richard Howell.  Javier Gonzalez returns and should get most of the minutes at point guard while Tracy Smith provides an experienced post player for the ‘Pack.

3 BIG GAMES: 12/23 @Arizona, 1/16 Clemson, 1/26 UNC

Virginia (10-17, 4-12)

Key Players: Sylven Landesberg, Mike Scott, Jeff Jones

The Skinny: The Hoos are coming off one of their worst years in their basketball program’s history.  New coach Tony Bennett has his work cut out for him in the ‘09/’10 season, but Dave Leitao didn’t leave the cupboard completely bare.  The Cavs return ACC Rookie of the Year Sylven Landesberg as well as talented big man Mike Scott, who will look for more of a feature role in Bennett’s offense.  Bennett was able to bring in the two Leitao commitments in Tristan Spurlock and Jontell Evans, both of whom could provide quality depth for UVa this season.

3 BIG GAMES: 11/24 vs. Stanford, 2/10 @Maryland, 2/28 Duke

Virginia Tech (17-13, 7-9 NIT)

Key Players: Jeff Allen, Malcolm Delaney, J.T. Thompson

The Skinny: The Hokies’ emotional leader from a year ago, A.D. Vassallo, graduated, but Jeff Allen and Malcolm Delaney return for a solid one-two punch for Tech.  However, Virginia Tech will need someone to step up and provide a third scoring option for the Hokies to have a successful season and make it to the NCAA tournament.  Look for junior forward J.T. Thompson to fill that role.

3 BIG GAMES: 12/1 @Iowa, 1/28 @UVA, 2/4 UNC

Wake Forest (24-7, 11-5 NCAA 1st Round)

Key Players: Al-Farouq Aminu, Chas McFarland, L.D. Williams

The Skinny: Dino Gaudio’s hopes of a second straight top-five league finish took a serious hit when underclassmen James Johnson and Jeff Teague left school early for the pros.  On the flip side, the Deacs still return an All-ACC caliber player in Aminu and Gaudio’s recruiting continues to improve as he signed top-50 player Ari Stewart who looks to contribute this year.  Chas Macfarland returns up front for Wake and guard L.D. Williams is also back to provide senior leadership in the backcourt.

3 BIG GAMES: 12/5 @Gonzaga, 1/17 @Duke, 2/27 UNC

I thought I’d take a few minutes this morning to take a tour around the World Wide Web (don’t hear that term much these days …). Here’s what some other folks are talking about in recent entries:

• The bloggers at 7even Win Society are talking about redshirts: Why Plan for 2013 When You Can Go 5-7 in 2009?
• A pair of “from” blogs swapped thoughts on GT and Virginia. From Old Virginia answered questions about the Hoos – Guest Blogger: Zima, Sportscoat, and Wahoo Edition – while From The Rumble Seat talked about the Jackets – Q&A with From The Rumble Seat.
• Dear Old U.Va. has a two-parter up on the non-conference hoops schedule: I and II.
• Blair Capps is exclaiming about Bees on the Official Campus Correspondent Blog.
• ACC Now had a couple of interesting basketball posts up. One is about Coach K respecting UNC. The other is about Bill Guthridge looking back at pre-UNC Roy Williams.
• You know football isn’t what it used to be in Tallahassee when the ScalpEm blog is talking about hoops in October.
• Tar Heel Fan is talking about playing on Thursday night.
• Wake’s Blogger So Dear is looking at ACC basketball.
• And not least … Yahoo! Sports’ Dan Wetzel on BCS scheduling.

UVa
Questionable
Hall, V (hip)
Mosley, C (foot)
Probable
Cook, C (hip)
Jenkins, N (ankle)
McLeod, R (knee)
Minnifield, C (leg)
Simpson, M (leg)

UNC
Out for the season
Carl Gaskins OL Knee
Matt Merletti DB Knee
Trevor Stuart DS Knee
Out for the game
Lowell Dyer C Shoulder
Zack Pianalto TE Foot
Ryan Taylor TE Knee
Doubtful
Linwan Euwall LB Ankle
Questionable
Joshua Adams WR Shoulder
Jonathan Cooper OG Ankle
Anthony Elzy FB Shoulder

ESPN.com has some other ACC reports up as well.

Greetings Sabre-ites and blog followers, my name is David Scott (UVA91 DUKE89) and I was recently bestowed with the honor of contributing to The Good Ol Blog. Since this is my first post, I wanted to start off by saying a few things about myself … but then I remembered I told most of you that story not too long ago in a FanWatch piece. So without further ado, let’s get on to the blogging …

Following an excruciating two-week hiatus filled with season-ending injuries and U2 concerts, the Virginia football team will finally take the field this Saturday in Chapel Hill against the beloved Tar Holes. This, coupled with the fact that 90% of the message board subject lines contain some variation of the words CAROLINA and SUCK, got me thinking about the best “Carolina Sucks” moments I’ve witnessed over the years …

5) 1998; 30-13

Ronald ‘Benedict Arnold’ Curry makes his less-than-stellar debut in Scott Stadium. Amid myriad boos and jeers, Curry shows the UVa faithful exactly why they didn’t even want him in the first place … for the next four years.

4) 1999; 20-17

Even though the ‘99 version wasn’t one of the best George Welsh-led teams, this season-opening victory in Kenan was a big one. With the score tied at 17 late in the 4th, the UNC defense does what it does best and melts down, allowing the Hoos’ Todd Braverman to kick a 40-some yarder with no time left.

3) 2002; 37-27

Down 21-0 at the half, Marquis Weeks’ opening kickoff return to start the second half incited an explosion of 37 unanswered points from the Hoos. John Bunting proves to UVa fans why he’s the greatest Tar Heel football coach of all-time in this epic choke job.

2) 2008; 16-13 (OT)

After leading for much of the game, Butch Davis goes ultra-conservative and tries to sit on a seven-point lead. Cedric Peerman and the defense make him pay in overtime and the Hoos extend the home winning streak to 14 against the Heels.

1) 1996; 20-17

OK, so I was 11 years old and probably chasing after some girls on the hill at the time, but Antawn Harris’ 96-yard interception return is still one of the best things I’ve ever experienced in Scott Stadium. The pre-expanded crowd roared as UVa rallied from 17 down to complete the improbable upset.

Virginia safety Rodney McLeod stopped by Monday’s weekly media press conference to answer some questions from reporters. Here are a few highlights from the interview.

On the bye week and UNC … “We took a very hungry approach to get a victory. Last game – that hurt us. We definitely should have won that game. We just are looking toward North Carolina in the ACC and we’re trying to get a win this week.”

On UNC … “They’re a very running-[oriented] unit. They like to power the ball in there, just attack you. Their receivers like to come down and block. I think it’s going to be a very good game. It’s different. You know, it’s conference play so we’re just trying to get ready for that.”

On defending the ‘Wildcat’ formation … “Yes definitely. Like I said, this week we worked on areas that we thought teams might try to [exploit our defense], plays that we thought we didn’t do very well on. Wildcat was definitely a big thing we needed to improve on so we worked on that a lot.”

More on the ‘Wildcat’ … “We just need to stay composed. Everybody sees the running back back there and everyone’s like ‘Oh my gosh, wildcat’. We just need to chill out. It’s basically the same plays. We just worked on that, worked on the fits and where to fill in gaps and stuff like that.”

I thought the blog might be a good place to put some links of interest that don’t really work in the NewsLink model where we update as many regional beat media stories as we can find plus any hidden gems. Or maybe the links are too old to make sense in NewsLink, but we missed it before. Here are some interesting reads for a Thursday evening:

ESPN.com’s Andy Katz: Agents and coaches battle for prospects. Hat tip to dpc1994 for this one, which looks at the changing landscape for men’s basketball, agents, and recruiting. Some ACC coaches are quoted in there.

These articles from the Hindustan Times are a little older, but it’s always good to read about Somdev Devvarman. Super Somdev leads India to elite World Group and A new star is born. A great, great rep of UVa!

This Rivals.com roundtable of answers won’t make a Virginia fan smile, but it does give a peek at what outsiders are thinking about UVa’s situation right now: Which coach will be first to be fired?

And now for a trip around the ACC neighboordhod … Think Maryland and Virginia fans can buy each other drinks Oct. 17? (Turtle Waxing) … a league match-up that I haven’t seen mentioned once on our message boards this week is Wake Forest-Boston College but Blogger So Dear and Eagle in Atlanta have Q&A posts up … Tar Heel fan is talking defense.

Tomorrow, we’ll take a spin around the UVa-related blog world.

I thought I’d start linking some interesting stories from the ACC bloggers out there here on The Good Ol’ Blog. Please provide feedback on whether you like this new blog feature!

• N.C. State is close to hiring a new women’s basketball coach (Section Six).
• Remember the seating and policy woes for UVa this past football season? FSU fans aren’t too happy right now with some possible changes. (Scalp Em)
• Ed Davis is returning to UNC. (TarheelBuckeye) At Wake Forest, so is Al-Farouq Aminu. (Blogger So Dear)

As I mentioned on the message boards, I’ve entered The Good Ol Blog in a blogger tournament showdown. The March Madness Blogger Contest works like this: select 5 players from the NCAA Tournament and you get that quintet’s total points + rebounds + assists for the entire tournament. Total points wins. So it’s a mix of player and team skill.

After asking for a little message board advice, I decided to go with hoosnick’s theory of team-loading the 5-player pool. From there, I tried to take a little twist on a pair of guys that I didn’t think would be the top pick on their team, but will likely still put up decent numbers if that team is advancing. The Sabre’s 5:

Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
Danny Green, UNC
Jeff Adrien, UConn
Earl Clark, Louisville
Terrence Williams, Louisville

Clearly this means that Carolina and Louisville will become the first two No. 1 seeds to fall to No. 16 seeds in the next 48 hours. Make sure to check out the other entries in The March Madness Blogger Contest!

A big conference win, as the #21 Hoos take down the ACC leading/#11 Seminoles in Tallahassee, rallying from a slow start and a 9-point halftime deficit to win 68-63. The Hoos avenged an earlier season home loss to FSU. Big night for Lyndra Littles (24 points), Monica Wright (17 point), and Aisha Mohammed (15 points and 11 rebounds).

The Hoos are now 8-5 in the conference, good for 5th place right now. And, looking at the remaining relevant schedules, Virginia has nowhere to go but down, if tie breakers work against them. While they only trail third and fourth place Carolina and Duke by two games, there’s only one game left in Virginia’s regular season. Not enough space to move up in the standings. However, the teams right behind the Hoos (Georgia Tech and BC) are back two games and have two to play, giving both teams a shot at forcing a tie break situation. In fact, Virginia’s last game is against the Wreck, which means Georgia Tech has a little control over handing UVa a final loss. However, if Virginia holds serve, they lock up the 5th seed in the ACC tourney.

Just messing around on the NFL’s site, and here are the number of ACC players at the combines by team (all invites were accepted by the conference’s players):

Boston College: 3
Clemson: 6
Florida State: 2
Georgia Tech: 5
Maryland: 6
Miami: 1
North Carolina: 5
NC State: 2
Virginia: 5
Virginia Tech: 2
Wake Forest: 5

So, feel free to be impressed with the Virginia coaching staff’s ability to develop NFL-potential talent while being unimpressed with its ability to win with said talent. Or feel free to conclude that the implosion at the quarterback position derailed what could’ve been a decent season. Or feel free to conclude nothing, since the list above isn’t exactly a perfect correlation for anything.