Here’s to the #10 Seed…

ACC Tournament. Day 1.

Last night I was speaking to a friend and co-worker, a Tar Heel fan, but not a North Carolinian and I mentioned to his girlfriend, a North Carolinian and fellow Tar Heel, that the tournament started today and his response was, “We don’t play until Friday.” As you may know, North Carolinians watch the whole tournament. I can remember being in high school watching the tournament during class. I even remember checking out of school to go watch it at home. Whether or not my team is playing, this glory comes only once a year, so I savor it and watch until I sadly have to turn off my TV Sunday afternoon. Some of the greatest upsets can happen on Day 1. I am unsure we will see any today, but I am hopeful for great action on the floor.

The first four games take place today in Charlotte, end of regular season ranked teams 5 through 12. (Speaking of pre-ACC expansion, who remembers the old Thursday game during the ACC Tournament between the 8 and 9 seed?)

Last year the tournament was great for a couple of reasons.

Number one: UNC won the title. Always the number one reason.

Number two: Duke lost in the first round… to #10 NC State. Even though so many Tar Heels say that NC State is “not our rival” (… even though they are), we were cheering along with the Wolfpack as they cut Duke out of any chance of reaching the Championship game. In fact, NC State did all the hard work for us. We lost to Virginia Tech twice last year, once by .3 seconds on February 13, and State beat them in the semifinals. All of NC State’s success last year leads me to my hope for the 10 seed this year – Virginia.

Virginia plays Georgia Tech (7) at 7 PM this evening, and whomever wins this game goes on to play Duke tomorrow night. Virginia beat Georgia Tech at home last week. Besides Clemson and UNC, UVA is one of my hopes to beat Duke, or at the very least, run them down so whatever team plays them next will trample them. Hello, Wahoos! I am probably one of your biggest fans outside of Virginians and graduates of your fine institution, so I am asking you to step up your game for the next few days. Last year, you brought a win against Duke. And this year, I need you to do the same. NC State is ranked #12 this year, and although they may upset Miami today, they will not get the chance to touch Duke until the championship game, which is highly unlikely. This is not to say that UNC can’t beat Duke, as clearly evidenced by Saturday’s game. This is to say that I just want you to win and Duke to go down.