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 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)

The last two seasons, Sean Miller’s Xavier team has dropped double-digit (108-70 in 2007-08 and 84-70 this season) defeats on the Virginia men’s basketball team. Miller posted a 93-39 record his first four years on the job at XU and the Musketeers are 25-7 entering this week’s NCAA Tournament. Miller’s name is one that has surfaced on the radar since Dave Leitao’s departure earlier this week.

The Sabre asked Shannon Russell, the Xavier beat writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, to answer a couple of quick questions about Miller. Read more about XU on Cincinnati.com’s blog and make sure to check out this Russell article on Miller.

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.

I was all prepared to leave this season for dead and focus on the future, but …

And so I bothered to care again about this miserable year. In fact, because I wasn’t able to watch this one live, I decided to DVR this one — “we’re in the middle of a winning streak and I can’t miss another chance for a victory!” — to watch it later. And, I guess the Hoos missed starting slow and clawing their way back to a close defeat so much that they decided to do it twice in the same game. Awesome.

There were a slew of positives and negatives, which are summed up in our recap of the game. Here, I’ll just congratulate Mamadi Diane for finally playing some ball during his fourth year. It’s been tough for him, so I’m sure it cheered many Wahoo hearts to see him contribute. I’ll wait for a few more of these before getting too excited, but a scoring Diane will make this a dangerous team come conference tourney time.

JPG gets it right:

Ranking the ACC
T1. Florida State
T1. Maryland
T1. UNC
T1. Virginia Tech
T1. Georgia Tech
T1. Boston College
T1. Wake Forest
T1. Virginia
T1. Miami
10. Duke
11. Clemson
12. N.C. State

Sorting the ACC is like listening to Billy Squier’s greatest hits. Dude, is this “In the Dark” or “My Kinda Lover?” Who can tell the difference?

Duke’s a step behind the top nine because it beat Virginia but couldn’t close out Miami at home.

N.C. State and Clemson are the only teams kind enough to identify themselves.

(pssst … that’s code for “Who the hell knows?!?”)

What does it say about the program when fans of other ACC schools are pissed that we’re not on their schedule? (hat-tip FOV).

After holding back at first, Nate goes on a rant after a disastrous first weekend for ACC football:

The coaching in this league is one big pile of rotten ass outside of Jim Grobe, Jeff Jagodzinski, and Frank Beamer (although not today or last Jan. 3 or whenever I seem to watch the Hokies). And please excuse David Cutcliffe, Paul Johnson and their assistants from this rant as well – for now. Al Groh, Ralph Friedgen, Tommy Bowden and Tom O’Brien are borderline thieves when you consider the results they’ve delivered in comparison to the checks they cash. And Butch Davis is now on my shitlist with the turdlike performance against McNeese tonight; I guess 4-8 last year really was a shitty 4-8 and not the special 4-8 with sprinkles that I was deluded into believing. Randy Shannon is still the in-over-his-head-goob who lost 48-0 to Al Groh in the Orange Bowl finale last year. Even Bobby Bowden has irritated me today and his Noles didn’t even play – but Joe Paterno just tied him in the Death Race, making up eight games in overall record over the last four years.

Too many of these millionaire coaches have either done nothing to deserve such riches, or are living off past – waaaaaaaay past – glory. The boosters of the schools with these shitty coaches had better demand more bang for their buck or else this same bullshit will rain down year after year after year.

Tell us how you really feel, Nate! Seriously, though, the ACC needs to start figuring out why its supposed-to-be flagship sport looks so damn bad.

More from tlmii, a list of ACC champs for this year. Well, at least through April 21. Current totals look pretty nice!

Virginia: 6 Titles
Florida State: 4 Titles
North Carolina: 4 Titles
Virginia Tech: 4 Titles
Clemson: 2 Titles
Duke: 2 Titles
Boston College: 1 Title
Maryland: 1 Title
Miami: 0 Titles
Georgia Tech: 0 Titles
Wake Forest: 0 Titles
NC State: 0 Titles

With one crown left to hand out (baseball), the Hoos have wrapped up the most-conference-titles-this-year honors. And so close to a couple more, with women’s golf just a stroke behind Duke in the championships and men’s lacrosse just a few goals behind the Blue Devils in the title game.

ACC football might be headed for its worst season ever (and that’s saying something), but Tom Barnhart thinks the bag o’ crap is half full:

Yes, the ACC is 1-9 in BCS games. The ACC has yet to place two teams in the BCS, which was one of the stated goals for expansion. The ACC was 2-6 in bowl games last season. And yes, both Miami and Florida State have ceased to be Top 10 powers. Those are facts the ACC must face.

But last season the ACC finished with two teams (Virginia Tech, Boston College) in the final AP Top 10. Two out of the first three players taken in the NFL Draft (Chris Long of Virginia, Matt Ryan of Boston College) were from the ACC. The league had seven first-round draft picks, more than any other conference. So the league is getting players.

You know that Miami and Florida State are going to eventually come back. New coaching blood at Georgia Tech (Paul Johnson), Duke (Cutcliffe), North Carolina (Butch Davis, second year), and N.C. State (Tom O’Brien) will make those programs competitive sooner rather than later.

Virginia Tech is still going strong under Frank Beamer. Clemson will be in just about everybody’s Top 10 this season. Will this be the year the ACC finally gets two into the BCS?

So, in metrics other than winning (or even being invited to) the important post-season games of the mythical championship system, the ACC is doing well. Polls, draft picks, promising coaches: the ACC is dominating other conferences! Sort of like winning the mythical mythical championship, I guess. When you face a process made up of computer data and subjective rankings, might as well let the spin cycle run in our favor.