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Friday, February 20, 2009
How many bids for the ACC?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ACC coaches were none too pleased last year when only four teams made the NCAA Tournament. They pointed out, among other things, that the ACC had the highest RPI of any conference.
With Selection Sunday just over three weeks away, the league is poised to land seven teams in the tourney, just like it did in 2007. The ACC is less top-heavy than it was last year.
In its latest projection, Bracketology 101 — the blog that picked 64 of 65 teams in last year’s field and seeded 40 teams exactly — predicted the ACC would get seven bids and the Big East, eight. UNC, Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest, FSU, Boston College and Virginia Tech are in; Miami and Maryland are out.
Other indicators also are strong. USA Today’s Jeff Sagarin ratings peg the ACC as the top conference, ahead of the Big 10 and Big East.
The official RPI on the NCAA’s site has five ACC teams in the top 20: North Carolina (4), Duke (5), Clemson (10), Wake Forest (16) and FSU (20).
Then there’s Miami (47), Virginia Tech (49), Boston College (51) and Maryland (61). In case you’re wondering, Georgia Tech has an RPI of 167. No other ACC team is in triple digits.
So, barring a major surprise in the ACC Tournament, how many bids do you think the ACC deserves? How many do you think it will get?
