#1 Duke 78 #3 Boston College 76
Last week after UNC went into Cameron and won I said two things about J.J. Redick. The first was concerning the alleged emotional fatigue which I called a bloated excuse and pointed out that he was in an old fashioned shooter's slump. The second point was that he would break out of the slump beginning in the ACC Quarterfinal. He did and he has not let up. It was everything one would expect from the ACC Championship and Redick did the very thing that makes him so detested and so great all at the same time, hit a three from 25 feet with two BC defenders in his face. BC had a chance at the end to tie and they failed to execute. Two clutch free throws from Shelden Williams moved it to four, Louis Hinnant cut it to one with four seconds left. Greg Paulus hit one free throw and then intentionally missed the second to force a quick heave from BC which hit the backboard to the right. Duke wins its 7 title in 9 years and second in a row. Redick is locked and loaded for the NCAA Tournament.
I also find it interesting how teams match up with one another. BC matched UNC in every aspect and beat the Heels. Duke handled BC and was able to beat them. However, UNC probably could have beaten Duke today because of the way they match up. Caulton Tudor made the observation that UNC can beat a lot of people, BC happens to not be one of them.
I think UNC is a #3 seed though I fully expect the committee to screw them and make them a #4 seed in UConn or Villanova bracket. BC will be a #3 seed, and Duke will grab a #1 as expected. NC State, I think, falls all the way down to #8 and may possibly be one and done for five straight losses to end the season. The sharks will be circling in Raleigh is that is the case. ACC ends up with only four bids because Maryland and Florida State had no clue about how to pull it together and make a run.