Last season, the ACC got just 4 teams into the NCAA tournament, and UNC’s inclusion was heavily criticized. The quality wins were few and far between, the ACC/SEC challenge was a disaster, and the maligned league’s metrics were awful. Duke appeared to be and was the only ACC team you could trust in March.
It’s early, but the league is off to a 30-1 start led by the flagship basketball schools Duke and UNC.
Tuesday night, Duke faced a projected NCAA Tournament Texas team that hailed from the reigning best basketball league in the country, the SEC. Duke dominated the second half 43-27 on their way to a 75-60 win. Duke’s defense looked in mid-season form, holding Texas to 32% shooting.
Heralded freshman Cameron Boozer got off to a slow start, but finished with 15 points and 13 boards. I’m not sure this team will have the natural scorers that last year’s Final 4 team did, but they look more physical, and the frontline is going to be really good.
It’s the kind of win, out of the gate, that validates a pre-season top 10 ranking.
While Duke had high expectations, UNC had more question marks.
Was head coach Hubert Davis in trouble? Should they even be in the pre-season top 25?
Friday night, they matched up with fellow top 25 team Kansas. Kansas, while not on paper one of Bill Self’s best teams, was still a very quality opponent. A win would be the kind of out-of-conference win that UNC largely lacked last year.
Like Duke, it was the second half where the UNC shined. UNC ran Kansas out of the Dean Dome 58-37 to finish the game in an 87-74 victory.
Freshman Caleb Wilson had 24 points and looks like a star in the making. Last season, UNC looked good only when they could get out in transition, but this UNC team’s half-court offense looked considerably better.
That’s a scary thought for the rest of UNC’s opponents.
These are two early-season wins that are obvious quality wins for Duke and UNC, but they will already help the ACC’s metrics going forward.
Again, it’s early, but something might be brewing on Tobacco Road.
