March Hypomania- ACC

I hate how every year around this time, anytime you watch a college basketball game or highlights and analysis show, without fail whoever is talking at you will always say "this such and such conference deserves to have 7 or 8 teams in", then in the same breath move on to the next conference and say "this conference is so competitive, they should get 5 or 6 teams in".

Dickie V is especially guilty of this, just going down the line and saying every team that is in a BCS conference and has a record over .500 in that conference should be in, not paying any mind to the fact that there are 31 automatic bids that go to conference tourney champions, thus leaving only 33 at large bids to be handed out. If you take 4 teams from each BCS conference, that leaves only nine more bids.

So, what I'm getting at is, as much as it pains ESPN, not every ACC team can make the NCAA tournament. Here's the way I see them right now.

GOING TO HOLLYWOOD
Boston College 18-7, 9-3- They haven't beaten anyone who is any good this year, and they've lost twice to Duke, who is also not good. But they lead the conference so they are in.

North Carolina 22-4, 8-3- Will probably be a 1 or 2 seed.They are 5-0 against Top 25 opponents this year. They have dropped 2 out of their last 4 games though, including a home loss to VA Tech and a loss at weak sister NC State.

Virginia Tech 18-7, 8-3- They've got some bad losses on their resume (Western Michigan, Marshall), but the win at UNC this week seals a bid for the Hokies.

Virginia 17-7, 8-3- I remember when I was six and first became cognizant of sporting competition. Ralph Sampson rocked shit back then. It's been kind of a slow 30 years for Virginia until Barack Obama doppelganger Dave Leto became their coach.Wins over Duke, Gonzaga, and Arizona look nice. Last weekend's 27 point loss at Virginia Tech and a 24 point drubbing at the hands of 9-15 Utah could hurt their seeding.

Duke 19-7, 6-6- I can't really see a Duke team with 20 wins not being invited.

IN TROUBLE

Clemson 19-6, 5-6- A 17-0 start has devolved into a whole lot of suck.

Maryland 19-7, 5-6- The Turtles have won 2 road conference games in a row, and thumped Duke by 12 this past Sunday. They don't have any ugly losses. They'll need to finish up strong though and get that conference record over .500.

Georgia Tech 17-8, 5-6- Have won 4 in a row on the heels of a 4 game losing streak. Their remaining 5 games are murder (at Duke and Virginia, home vs. UNC and BC), but also present an opportunity to pick up some high profile wins. The Chinese use the same word for crisis as they do for opportunity. They also smash babies against tree trunks.

MY BEST GUESS-
UNC goes in as a 1 or 2. BC, Virginia, VT, and Duke end up in the 4-6 seed range. Maryland gets the fifth and final bid as an 8.