NCAA Basketball North Carolina State

This will be a transition year for most of the ACC. Pretty much everyone took a hit this offseason, with only four teams really looking like locks for the NCAA tournament. There is little doubt that North Carolina will be the favorite ... but remember that this was the case last year ... and UNC was nearly the #5 seed in the ACC tournament. NC State, Duke and Clemson have the best shot at giving the Heels trouble for the title

1-North Carolina: Sometimes subtraction isn't a bad thing. The Heels lose Brandan Wright and Reyshawn Terry, but the rotation should be tighter and everyone more understanding of their roles. If UNC is going to make its title run, they better do it now before Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough bolt.

2-NC State: Brandon Costner is my pick for ACC Player of the Year. With JJ Hickson running alongside him in the paint, Costner is free to show his entire game [similar to how Wright helped Hansbrough last year in Chapel Hill]. This team is ready to break out and get back into the ACC's elite. At issue is finding Engin Atsur's replacement ... since he was so key in the success of the Pack last year.

3-Duke: With Kyle Singler and Taylor King coming in, expect Duke to go back to its gun-slinging ways. Last year's team wasn't normal Duke: they struggled to find their offense and were very inconsistent shooting. The big issue this year is ... well, what happens if they keep missing those threes? Josh McRoberts is gone and there really isn't anyone reliable in the paint to score or rebound.

4-Clemson: Can the Tigers get back that team that was scorching the early part of the season? Well, they have four returning starters and has one of the better frontcourts in the conference. They just need to get their minds right. This team has the talent ... they just need to tighten the bolts and clean the sawdust.

5-Virginia: Dave Leitao better thank God that Sean Singletary came back. The ACC player of the year candidate will be asked to do even more with JR Reynolds and Jason Cain gone.

6-Maryland: Gotta love those Terps! The head-scratchers are gone, with their understudies ready to take their place. The team will rely on James Gist and Greivis Vasquez to become leaders on and off the floor. However, this streaky team must find someone who can hit a shot.

This week, FanHouse is taking a way too early look at the top teams heading into 2007 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. It's a time-honored filler for the off-season, and who are we to buck tradition? Today we look at teams 20 through 16.

One thing that held NC State back last year was depth. There was a bulk of the season where they played just 6 or 7 guys. This year, the Wolfpack will return four starters, bring in two transfers and four freshmen. Oh, and they return of the ACC's best big men.

In a conference with Tyler Hansbrough and Josh McRoberts ... Brandon Costner's name wasn't heard as much. He should be. He was dominant last year, leading all ACC freshmen in scoring. Not just that, but he was a beast during the ACC tournament, showing his perimeter game as well as his post precense. Now State will put McDonald's All-American J.J. Hickson alongside him ... making him much more of a mismatch. Costner's my sleeper pick for the ACC Player of the Year.

A big issue will be replacing guard Engin Atsur. The Wolfpack seemed lost without him last year. Transfers Farnold Degand [Iowa State], Marques Johnson [Tennessee] and freshman Javier Gonzalez will get the opportunity to fill the void. There's also the ongoing immigration problems with Gavin Grant. Those are key losses, but their only significant ones. This was a very thin team that got a lot of playing time last year and a crash course in how coach Sidney Lowe wants things done. The same thing could happen this year with six new faces on the roster.

With Bobby Huggins headed to West Virginia, the status of Kansas State's great recruiting class has come into doubt. Namely top dog Michael Beasley. Beasley, who has already shunned Charlotte to go to K-State, may be looking elsewhere to start his college career. There was word earlier today that Beasley was to honor his commitment to K-State. Now, it seems, that was just his mom talking and he hasn't made up his mind. After all, if not for Huggins [or Wildcat assistant Delonte Hill], there would have been a snowball's chance in Hades that Beasley would have even considered Kansas State.

"I haven't [asked to be released from Kansas State] yet," Beasley said after the Nike Hoop Summit game in Memphis, Tenn. However, it appeared he was unaware of the Wildcats' promotion of Martin, as he said, "I'm waiting to see who gets the job first. "I haven't talked to [Huggins] yet. He had to do what was best for him, but he still didn't look out for his recruits. He supposedly had the best recruiting class in the nation, but he didn't look out for us."

So, the door is still open in the Beasley sweepstakes. A door that could open up to the ACC. Out of Beasley's mouth came this:

"I'm really thinking about Memphis right now. NC State and Florida State, too"

Wow! I understand Memphis because John Calapari is a wizard at recruiting. But NC State or Florida State? That would be a coup for either program. NC State is trying to quickly rebuild it's nest and has one of their best recruiting classes in recent years coming. Florida State loses Al Thornton and is trying to take the next step to being relevant in hoops. After all, rival Florida is now winning basketball championships. Memphis, NC State and FSU have coaches who has been head coaches at the NBA level.

Beasley is no stranger to moving around. Dude has been to six high schools in five states ... including schools in both Florida and North Carolina.

When you are a bubble team that saw your dreams crushed on Selection Sunday, that usually means that you are in the running for a top seed in the National Invitational Tournament. Yeah, it isn't the same as being in the NCAA tournament and you may laugh and spit all over it, but some of these kids will be playing for the final time organized hoops ... so back off!

The NIT [which is now owned by the NCAA] is scaled down to 32 teams and is organized somewhat similar to the NCAA's tournament. There are North, South, East and West regions. I probably won't speak much of this tournament after this, so you ACC fans of these teams take notice now. Three ACC schools made this tournament, meaning 10 of the 12 members will play in the postseason.

Clemson is the #1 seed in the South Region and will host East Tennessee State this Wednesday [6pm on ESPNU]. If they win, they'll take on the Ole Miss-Appalachian State winner on Monday. The Tigers were 17-0 to start the season, becoming the final team to lose their first game. After that, they kept losing - to the tune of 10 of their last 14. As coach Oliver Purnell is telling you in the picture above, the Tigers need just 5 wins to claim this title.

Florida State is the #2 seed in the North Region and will host Toledo this Tuesday [6pm on ESPU]. A win pits them against the Michigan-Utah State winner this Thursday [sure, we'll all watch that one]. NC State, who made an amazing run to the ACC Championship game, is a #6 seed in the East Region and will travel to Drexel for their game this Tuesday [8pm, ESPNU]. Drexel was one of the most controversial ommissions from the NCAA's field of 65 teams.

There are some good teams in the NIT. Besides the ACC schools and Drexel, Syracuse, West Virginia, Mississippi State, Air Force and Kansas State are just a few teams that could've made a dent in the NCAAs.

Okay, the ACC tournament is done with UNC's 89-80 win over a very impressive NC State team today. One this we are certain of is that North Carolina will be in the dance. After that, there are teams pretty much in, but who knows how the committee views them or views this conference.

NORTH CAROLINA: IN. [RPI: 3, SOS: 5] They are in by winning the ACC tournament and will be, at worst, a #2 seed and will most likely play in the Winston-Salem pod next weekend. With UCLA losing two in a row [both to unranked teams] and depending on the outcome of the Big Ten tournament [UNC probably needs Ohio State to win that one] the Tar Heels could be looking at a #1 seed.

MARYLAND: IN. [RPI: 16, SOS: 10] The Terps have been very impressive over the 2nd half of the ACC season, and they probably won't get caught up by their loss to Miami on Thursday due to the overall weirdness of the ACC tournament. Right now, they are probably a #5 seed, but hopes to be a #4 that can get to that Winston-Salem pod.

DUKE: IN. [RPI: 15, SOS: 3]. Despite what people may hope, Duke is definitely in. I mean, their computer numbers are outstanding and it isn't like they've been losing to horrid teams. Still, there will be much debate about where Duke should be placed in the NCAA tournament. I feel either the #8 or #9 seed ... which, of course, should peeve off whomever the #1 seed in their bracket is.

BOSTON COLLEGE: IN. [RPI: 33, SOS: 12]. BC has pretty good computer numbers but has really fallen on hard times of late. Is their physical style getting them worn out? This should be around a #7 or #8 seed.

VIRGINIA TECH: IN [RPI: 32, SOS: 22]. Tech's biggest moments have come in their two wins over UNC and a big win at Duke. However, they've lost 3 of 4 and 4 of 6 which should drop them down in the same #7-#8 range that BC is in.

VIRGINIA: IN. [RPI: 54, SOS: 50]. If this team wasn't co-ACC champions, they'd be a marked team on the bubble. They played the weakest ACC schedule, were clipped in their first ACC tournament game and lost a huge game against Wake Forest to end their season. Their record says a #5 seed, but their numbers say a #7-#9 seed.

Wow. What a day in the Tampa Bay area today. The ACC sent it's beloved tournament down to the Sunshine State for some good ol' fashioned fun. And, boy, was there some fun.

Four games. Four upsets.

• Game one wasn't that big of an upset as the #9 Florida State Seminoles beat the #8 Clemson Tigers, 67-66. Probably the most talked about moment was from this game, as an iffy foul call with 1.5 seconds remaining gave Al Thornton a free throw to win the game for the Noles ... and most likely send Clemson packing for the NIT. Also, where else but college sports could you see the most dominant player in a game being interviewed, smile, and all you see are braces?
• Next, the biggest of all the upsets. Miami, the last place team in the ACC, beat Maryland, 67-62, who entered the game as the hottest team in the nation. The Terps can beat Duke and UNC, but not Miami?
• On to the Duke-NC State game, where the 10th seeded Wolfpack beat the Blue Devils, meaning this will be the first ACC finals in a decade that won't have Duke in it.
• Finally, #11 Wake Forest beats Georgia Tech in double overtime, 114-112. Wake's Harvey Hale scored 1 point in regulation then 21 points in the two overtimes. This game also set ACC tournament records for most points scored by a team and most points scored in a game.

So we had Maryland, Duke, Clemson and Georgia Tech clocking out and going home today. All those teams have been ranked at some point and all were looking at getting into the NCAA tournament. Now, there could be some doubt about all of those teams. Entering the day, Florida State, NC State, Miami and Wake Forest were on the outside looking in. Really, only FSU has a look at it ... but if any of the others get on a nice roll, they could take the ACC title and an automatic bid. You just don't know this year.

Meanwhile, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Boston College sat in hotel rooms thinking to themselves that the road to an ACC championship just got a lot easier. Or that the first day of action proves that anything can happen.

In my personal ACC awards, I pretty much nailed what would ultimately be what the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association voters named for their awards.

Like me, they named Boston College forward Jared Dudley the Player of the Year. Dudley had a stranglehold of this honor for most of the ACC season. There was some late sentiment for Virginia's Sean Singletary [who had a great season as well] due to the Cavs' run for a share of the ACC title.

Both Dudley and Singletary did end up on the All-ACC team. They are joined by North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Florida State's Al Thornton [who did end up 2nd in POY voting] and Virginia Tech's Zabian Dowdell. Again, no surprises at all here. In fact, I nailed that one with my mid-season awards I made in January. The 2nd team was made up of Virginia's J.R. Reynolds, Maryland's D.J. Strawberry, Boston College's Tyrese Rice, Duke's Josh McRoberts and North Carolina's Brandan Wright. The 3rd team is Wake Forest's Kyle Visser, Georgia Tech's Javaris Crittenton, NC State's Brandon Costner, Virginia Tech's Jamon Gordon and Miami's Jack McClinton.

Wright won the rookie of the year award, much to no one's surprise. This is the third straight season a Tar Heel has won this award. In 2005, Marvin Williams won it, while Tyler Hansbrough won it last season. Joining Wright on the All-Freshman team is teammate Ty Lawson, Georgia Tech's Crittenden, NC State's Costner and Duke's Jon Scheyer.

And...ho-hum...Virginia's Dave Leitao ended up as the Coach of the Year. Leitao took a team that many picked in the bottom half of the ACC and made them into co-champions.

Maryland whipped NC State, 79-59, to earn their 7th straight win and clinch at least the 5th seed in next week's ACC tournament.

Now, Terps fans have to root for.....gulp.....Duke tomorrow afternoon in the Blue Devils' game at North Carolina. If UNC wins, the Terps are shut out of getting a bye. If Duke wins, they would tie UNC at 10-6 in conference play, own the tiebreaker, and become the 4th seed, earning a first round bye.

If Maryland indeed finishes in 5th place, they will play the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday. If they are a #4 seed, they'll most likely play UNC or Miami on Friday.

Maryland improved to 6-0 over the Big Four schools....or the ACC schools located in the state of North Carolina. They beat both Duke and NC State twice, and won their only meetings with UNC and Wake Forest. That has never happened for Maryland in ACC play...and hadn't happened since 1932-1933 when they all were in the Southern Conference. That year, the Terps played just UNC and Duke.