I've rather ignored the women's team's performance so far this year. They've swept the conference, have only two losses, both to teams ranked number one at the time, and generally dominated the league. And yet I'm worried about the conference tournament this weekend:
First of all, if you're looking for a conference with a more lopsided performance then the men's ACC, here's where you want to be. Only two teams score more than a point per possession; Wake Forest's accomplishments in this category is almost laughably bad. The conference is so clearly delineated that if there's a single upset before the conference championship, I'll be extremely surprised.
My concern is the only other truly good team in the conference, Maryland. UNC only faced the Lady Terps once this season, at home, and Maryland has been outperforming the Heels offensively of late, and holding their own on the defensive end. Barring the unthinkable interefering with the matchup, Sunday's title game in Greensboro looks to be one of the best games of the year.
(Of course, if I want to feel better, I can look at the fact that this year's team put up better numbers in conference this year as opposed to last, even without Ivory Latta, and that team beat the Terps both times they met. Or I can just marvel at the offensive rebounding advantage Carolina has, which even dwarfs the guys' numbers. And UNC has the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. And three All-ACC selections. And a unanimous All-Freshman selection. And the Sixth Player of the Year.
Oh, and the men's team is doing OK as well. But that's old news.