I’m really intrigued by two ACC teams in Pitt and NC State, so let’s start with them…
Pack Attack?
NC State on paper doesn’t look like a NCAA Tournament team with a 15-11 record overall and just 6-7 in conference play. The Wolfpack are 3-6 in the past nine, but did beat Duke and won at Louisville. Those victories are very hard to overlook. Saturday NC State hosts Virginia Tech before going on an unusual three-game road trip to North Carolina, Boston College and Clemson before finishing with Syracuse. They will need to go 3-2 at least to have a chance, which is highly possible. Junior Trevor Lacey is scoring 16.5 points per game and with four top-50 wins NC State should be in good shape if they avoid disaster on the road. By the way, when Herb Sendek left after 2006, NC State had gone to five straight NCAA Tournaments. After a five-year absence Mark Gottfried has them on the doorstep of four straight.
Panther Power?
Pitt is 17-10 and also 6-7 in the ACC and after its loss at Virginia has a strange situation left. It has five games left in the ACC, but not a single one of them will really help them. The Panthers play at Syracuse, Boston College, at Wake, versus Miami and at Florida State. Syracuse and Miami are the only games there that could even give them a small boost, and neither of those teams are in the top 50. Pitt has only two top-50 wins and its non-conference strength of schedule is 148. Pitt has been to 12 of the past 13 NCAA Tournaments, missing only in 2012, but they’ll likely need to win out or come up with a big upset in the conference tournament to get there again.
At a High Point
Here is a name to remember for possible upset alert: John Brown. The 6’8″ junior is averaging 18.9 points and nearly six boards for High Point. He had 34 against Winthrop and 21 versus Campbell and was 20-of-29 from the field combined in those two games. High Point leads the Big South standings and has never been to the NCAA Tournament. Of course, good luck picking the Big South tournament winner – there are six teams within one game of the top spot in the league – so it’s anyone’s guess who might emerge from Myrtle Beach with an NCAA bid.
More Panther Power?
Remember in 2010 when Ali Farokhmanesh and coach Ben Jacobson of Northern Iowa shocked everyone with wins over UNLV and then Kansas? That magical ride is the last time the Panthers made the NCAAs, but a return trip to the Sweet Sixteen from this group would be anything but a shock. Seth Tuttle is a 6’8″ senior who leads the team in points, rebounds and assists. Both Wichita State and Northern Iowa are headed towards 16-1 and a February 28th regular season matchup for the league title.
40-0?
I am here to tell you that if Kentucky wins out in the regular season, it wins the NCAA title. Three games in the NCAA Tournament will determine if the Wildcats go 40-0, and I think they will, becoming the first team to go unblemished since Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers in 1976. If that happens, it’ll be fitting that it takes place just up the road from Bloomington.
– Bill Frieder
Former Michigan and Arizona State head coach Bill Frieder is an analyst for Westwood One’s coverage of NCAA Basketball. In his weekly blog Boxed Out, Bill scours the box scores to bring you interesting stories from the world of college basketball.
