ACC 2024-25 Season

[Rooster C.]

So the ACC finished the day with a perfect 6 - 0 slate as predicted. Miami was the only question and they played probably their best 3+ quarters of basketball. They blew a 20+ point lead in the fourth but Haley F#**ing Cavinder made sure they got to OT and then Miami took care of a Quinnipeac team that will undoubtedly be playing post-season. Miami needed to show us something and they did.

Duke, Syracuse, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and even Wake Forest all won easily at home.

Tomorrow we'll start anew and with the SEC/ACC challenge games on Wednesday it's going to be very interesting and competitive.

 

[FanInNC]

Ordinarily I would have included them but felt that the lack of any real post presence is too big of an obstacle to overcome. They have at least 3 first rate guards in and out of the conference but the ACC is a very guard-heavy conference so it's not enough on its' own. FSU is similar but NC State has better coaching and plays very good defense. As for NC I am inclined to agree (objectively). I don't trust their over-rated coach to win games they should.

Totally fair. I’m not sure where State ends up this year because I DO like the guards but there doesn’t seem to be any answer emerging in the least in the post. Also the guards don’t easily gel together. Last year with Saniya on the ball she was more of a distributor compared to Zoe or Zam. Azaiah, Zoe and Zam are all score first guards who can be a bit ball dominant. They are all very good at that style - however it really limits Hayes and to an extent Rivers from doing much to help out on offense. The pieces don’t fit quite right at the moment.

But the fan in me won’t let UNC be placed in a conversation ahead of State just out of principle

 

[triaddukefan]

I love my Coach Skip to the 9:30 mark

ON PLAYING TEAMS OUTSIDE THE POWER FOUR... “Yeah, this is my public service announcement. Any team that wants to play Duke, we will play you. Anybody in the country that wants to play us, we will play you. So, we took this game because they’re a fantastic team. We took this game, because they can beat us. We went there [last season], we’ll go anywhere. We went to South Dakota State. A lot of people don’t take that game. We went to South Dakota State, we’ve been to Toledo, we’ve been to Florida Gulf Coast, we’ve been to all these places. So, anybody that wants to play, like, let’s call me. If you don’t have my number, which you probably don’t, call someone on my staff. Okay, not many people have my number. I understand that, but just call me. We’ll play. Because what you get out of it, what you get out of it, is you learn about your team. You learn about your team, where you have some weak spots. Good teams show you where you’re weak



In summary, my Coach did her best Bernie Mac (RIP) impression.... " I ain't scared of you money figures"

 

[Rooster C.]

There are no ACC games tonight so a few tidbits to chew on:

The ACC had 6 Top-25 ranked teams to begin the season:
#6 Notre Dame, #9 NC State, #11 Duke, #15 N.C., #17 Louisville, #19 Florida State.

By week 2 there were still 6 ranked teams but FSU had dropped off and Stanford hopped on. NC St. had dropped to #13, NC moved up a spot to #14, Duke dropped to #16, Louisville to #18, and Stanford appeared at #24.

Week 3 saw Duke move up to #14, NC down to #16, NC St. down again to #20, Louisville all the way down to #25, and Stanford quickly falling off to drop the ACC to 5 teams.

Week 4 saw the ACC retaining all 5 teams : ND moved up to #3, Duke back up a spot #13, NC remained at #16, NC St. remained at #20, and Louisville up a spot to #24.

So here we are at the beginning of week 5 and the ACC is now down to 4 teams ranked. Duke finally got their due and moved up to #8 their highest ranking so far this year. ND slid to #10, NC stuck at #16, and Louisville back up a few spots to #22.

NC State dropped out but just barely. GT is ascending rapidly, with Stanford and FSU still receiving votes. Miami and Cal both need a signature win to get any respect from the pollsters, and VT and Clemson are on the outside looking in.

NC State will play #18 Ole Miss and Cal will play #19 Alabama so they will have a chance to potentially replace them in the rankings. Also FSU plays at UR Tennessee so a win there would also help their chances going forward. Stanford with a victory at #5 LSU will guarantee them the next spot available should anyone drop out.

 

[WBBTakeover]

The ACC is just not a good conference right now (and maybe this year). It's okay to admit that. None of the unranked ACC teams should be ranked because they either haven't done squat or squandered their opportunity when they were ranked.

The SEC/ACC Challenge will be interesting and very telling.

 

[FanInNC]

Unfortunately it appears to be true. The ACC is down this year. Maybe just a blip on the radar, but with the big money staying in the BIG10 and SEC you have situations like Kenny Brooks moving from VT to KY. That hurts big time, VT would be a totally different animal this year had he remained in Blacksburg. Who knows what the future holds for the conference, sort of doubt it exists in a few years or if it does I wouldn't imagine it to look the same as now.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Unfortunately it appears to be true. The ACC is down this year. Maybe just a blip on the radar, but with the big money staying in the BIG10 and SEC you have situations like Kenny Brooks moving from VT to KY. That hurts big time, VT would be a totally different animal this year had he remained in Blacksburg. Who knows what the future holds for the conference, sort of doubt it exists in a few years or if it does I wouldn't imagine it to look the same as now.

I disagree with most of this. Kenny Brooks was an ACC nobody until he was gifted one of the greatest players in conference history. His successor has a respectable winning percentage in a tougher conference than the one Brooks coached in prior to Virginia Tech. Do we honestly believe that Megan Duffy wouldn't have an undefeated record right now if she had Amoore, Strack, and Silva? Come on, now. It's not necessarily the coaching--it's the talent. This league looks a lot better if players like Kiki Iriafen, Kitley, and Hailey Van Lith were playing in it.

Megan has been at VT since April 2024. It's way too early to write her off. Her predecessor didn't even make the NCAA Tournament until his best player ever arrived (missed it three straight seasons and then COVID shut down 2020). Are we not giving Megan a chance to recruit better players or is this just something that only Kenny can do?

Kenny Brooks is a good coach, but he was maybe the fourth-best coach in the conference. That means there were at least three coaches better than him in the ACC. That number could be double in the SEC. He's not going to be winning too many games against the Dawn Staleys, Kim Mulkeys, and Vic Schaefers of the SEC, and then he's also got to contend with Coach Yo, Jennie Baranczyk, Johnnie Harris, Shea Ralph, etc.

 

[FanInNC]

I think we are hitting some of the same points really, perhaps I didn't word my sentiment correctly.

I'm not arguing that Kenny Brooks himself is some major loss to the conference, I'm arguing more about the conference being raided by others with more money. Kentucky shook VT down not just for a coach but gutted their roster.

I don't know the reasons why, but Hailey Van Lith left Louisville for LSU. Kiki left Stanford for USC. Now maybe these particular situations were totally random and had nothing to do with the monetary advantages of the B10 and SEC, but these are things I'm referencing as a whole - I didn't mean to make it all about Kenny Brooks specifically.

My fear is that these types of instances won't be the exception but will become the norm. SEC and B10 schools will have more money at their disposal than the ACC and if they choose to invest in WBB then they will be able to take whatever coaches and players they want from other programs either directly or naturally with better opportunities, facilities, NIL, exposure etc.

I'm not here to pass judgement on Brooks and how he compares as a coach to Duffy or anyone else, my argument is that the ACC may be turning into a stepping stone conference for talent - be that coaching talent or player talent. Preform well enough on a national level and draw the eye and the purse of the 2 power conferences and the ACC will probably lose out on it's talent more times than not. If Megan Duffy builds a top 10 program at VT over the next 5-6 years ... is she going to be at VT for the long haul? VT fans didn't get to see the fruition of what was being built. They got a taste for a couple of years but they were still going to be very competitive this season had the staff and roster stayed together - they lost out because of higher bidder.

 

[WBBTakeover]

I think we are hitting some of the same points really, perhaps I didn't word my sentiment correctly.

I'm not arguing that Kenny Brooks himself is some major loss to the conference, I'm arguing more about the conference being raided by others with more money. Kentucky shook VT down not just for a coach but gutted their roster.

I don't know the reasons why, but Hailey Van Lith left Louisville for LSU. Kiki left Stanford for USC. Now maybe these particular situations were totally random and had nothing to do with the monetary advantages of the B10 and SEC, but these are things I'm referencing as a whole - I didn't mean to make it all about Kenny Brooks specifically.

My fear is that these types of instances won't be the exception but will become the norm. SEC and B10 schools will have more money at their disposal than the ACC and if they choose to invest in WBB then they will be able to take whatever coaches and players they want from other programs either directly or naturally with better opportunities, facilities, NIL, exposure etc.

I'm not here to pass judgement on Brooks and how he compares as a coach to Duffy or anyone else, my argument is that the ACC may be turning into a stepping stone conference for talent - be that coaching talent or player talent. Preform well enough on a national level and draw the eye and the purse of the 2 power conferences and the ACC will probably lose out on it's talent more times than not. If Megan Duffy builds a top 10 program at VT over the next 5-6 years ... is she going to be at VT for the long haul? VT fans didn't get to see the fruition of what was being built. They got a taste for a couple of years but they were still going to be very competitive this season had the staff and roster stayed together - they lost out because of higher bidder.

The Virginia Tech AD (Whit Babcock) matched and slightly exceeded the Kentucky offer. What he couldn't deliver was increasing NIL for WBB (also, Brooks did not want to remain in Blacksburg for a number of reasons). Kentucky offered upgraded facilities (that VT can't offer right now) and NIL for the players he'll desperately need if he has any chance of competing in the hornets' nest that is the SEC. The VT AD decided to go all-in for football at the expense of basketball, and here we are--underachieving football team with overpaid players and a basketball team that was raided by a vindictive former coach.

I do agree that the ACC is in danger of becoming a stepping stone league for coaches looking to move into the SEC/Big Ten. As it relates to Megan Duffy, I do believe that she could've had a Big Ten or SEC job by now if that's what she wanted. There were recent (since 2022) job openings at Michigan State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Kentucky, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee--yet she chose Virginia Tech. Her credentials stack up well against those hired by those institutions, so if she wanted an SEC/Big Ten job, she could've had one by now. Doesn't mean that she won't leave VT for one in the future, but she didn't publicly pursue those openings. We do know that she pursued the Pitt opening that was filled by Tori Verdi (a former A-10 coach) in 2023 before taking an ACC job of her own in 2024.

 

[sivad40]

The Virginia Tech AD (Whit Babcock) matched and slightly exceeded the Kentucky offer. What he couldn't deliver was increasing NIL for WBB (also, Brooks did not want to remain in Blacksburg for a number of reasons). Kentucky offered upgraded facilities (that VT can't offer right now) and NIL for the players he'll desperately need if he has any chance of competing in the hornets' nest that is the SEC. The VT AD decided to go all-in for football at the expense of basketball, and here we are--underachieving football team with overpaid players and a basketball team that was raided by a vindictive former coach.

I do agree that the ACC is in danger of becoming a stepping stone league for coaches looking to move into the SEC/Big Ten. As it relates to Megan Duffy, I do believe that she could've had a Big Ten or SEC job by now if that's what she wanted. There were recent (since 2022) job openings at Michigan State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Kentucky, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee--yet she chose Virginia Tech. Her credentials stack up well against those hired by those institutions, so if she wanted an SEC/Big Ten job, she could've had one by now. Doesn't mean that she won't leave VT for one in the future, but she didn't publicly pursue those openings. We do know that she pursued the Pitt opening that was filled by Tori Verdi (a former A-10 coach) in 2023 before taking an ACC job of her own in 2024.

Is there any proof that those SEC/Big Ten schools actually offered Duffy the job. There's a difference turning a job that was offered than believing that job was if they had wanted it.

 

[triaddukefan]

 

[triaddukefan]

 

[WBBTakeover]

Is there any proof that those SEC/Big Ten schools actually offered Duffy the job. There's a difference turning a job that was offered than believing that job was if they had wanted it.

No, no concrete proof--only speculation that she was being considered for the Minnesota job (she did play there as a pro, after all).

That said, given the hires that those institutions made, I would hope that we're not implying that she somehow wasn't qualified (or far less qualified than them). Most of those filling the positions are good coaches, but they are not remotely close to being Dawn/Geno/Tara caliber (or Brenda or Kim). I mean, Lindsay Gottlieb has a Big Ten job...

 

[Rooster C.]

The ACC is just not a good conference right now (and maybe this year). It's okay to admit that. None of the unranked ACC teams should be ranked because they either haven't done squat or squandered their opportunity when they were ranked.

The SEC/ACC Challenge will be interesting and very telling.

Yes it will. And it may not go the way you think. We'll know soon enough.

 

[Rooster C.]

Unfortunately it appears to be true. The ACC is down this year. Maybe just a blip on the radar, but with the big money staying in the BIG10 and SEC you have situations like Kenny Brooks moving from VT to KY. That hurts big time, VT would be a totally different animal this year had he remained in Blacksburg. Who knows what the future holds for the conference, sort of doubt it exists in a few years or if it does I wouldn't imagine it to look the same as now.

The ACC will be fine. It might take a couple of years but that is understandable.

1) The better teams in the conference will improve and become more consistent as the season progresses. Notre Dame has injury issues and the return of Westbeld later in the year along with talented freshman post Koval's continued development bode well. Duke has already exceeded expectations for such a young team and freshman Fournier will continue to improve as well. Louisville will continue to improve as their mostly young team will continue to figure things out. North Carolina is solid. NC State has some problems but this is an experienced Final-Four team that will come together in time. And speaking of good coaching the above four teams have nothing to fear going up against anyone (well maybe NC lol).

2)Stanford, Miami, VT, Clemson all have new coaches. They also lost most of their experienced key players as a result as well. They have all also recruited very well since taking the job so the future looks bright in that regard.

3)I expect the ACC to put 8 or 9 teams in to the post season and considering that VT basically became KY the 9 or 10 teams the SEC should have in the post season ONE of those is really an ACC team. So practically equal. I also think the BigTen will have 8 - 10 in the post season so no difference there either. The only real difference is how deep in to the tournament will they advance? I could easily see the Final Four having one team from each conference above plus either UConn or TCU (as a long shot). Only the SEC has a real chance of putting two teams in the FF(SC and LSU) but that could be completely derailed as well. It's going to be a crazy entertaining season exactly because of its unpredictability.

 

[Rooster C.]

A few more things to chew on before the big SEC/ACC games begin:

There are only 4 players in the P4 at this point in the season with a Triple-Double: Latson/FSU, Micheaux/VT, Miles/ND, and Verhulst/OK.

The P4 players in the Top 10 scoring ppg: Latson/FSU, Hidalgo/ND, Watkins/USC, Higginbottom/Ark, Robertson/SMU, and Johnson/LSU. (Bueckers is #11)

The P4 players in the top 10 field goal %:
Beers/OK, Williams/Miami, O'Grady/Iowa, Merkle/PSU, Vonleh/Baylor, Kyle/Fla., Prince/TCU, and Lee/KSU.

P4 players in the top 10 Rebounds/game:
Morrow/LSU, Williams/Wis., Peterson/SMU, Prince/TCU, Timpson/FSU, and Strack/KY.


Teams with best FG% : Texas, UCONN, Nebraska, Maryland, Stanford, Oklahoma St., Kansas St., and Oklahoma.

Teams with best FG% Defense: Miss. St., KY, LSU, UCLA, Alabama, NC, and Oklahoma.

 

[Rooster C.]

Today's big games:

Campbell(5 -3) at WF(5 - 3) WF loses
#11 Okla.(6 - 1) at #22 Louisville(5 - 2) Oklahoma
Vandy(8 -1) at Miami(7 - 0) Miami in a close one
VT(6 -2) at Georgia(5 - 4) VT should win
Duquesne(4 - 2) at Pitt(5 - 4) Toss up
Syracuse(4 -4) at Tx A&M(4 - 4) Syracuse?
FSU(8 - 1) at Tenn.(5 - 0) FSU gets a big lead and then loses
Miss.St.(8 -0) at GT(7 - 0) GT wins a tough one

These games are more important than usual for this early in the season. When trying to decide which "Bubble Teams" get in and which don't the committee can look back at these head-to-head games.

 

[Baller29]

Off topic but brutal showing for the ACC of men’s side yesterday with SEC leading that series 9-1. I wasn’t expecting that at all

Today’s games are pretty balanced I can see many going either way. Looking forward to it

 

[FanInNC]

Off topic but brutal showing for the ACC of men’s side yesterday with SEC leading that series 9-1. I wasn’t expecting that at all

Today’s games are pretty balanced I can see many going either way. Looking forward to it

It's the grim reality of where the ACC currently sits in men's college basketball these days. 9 of the SEC teams were favored, so it pretty much played out as expected, Clemson surprised with a win over Kentucky whereas Louisville disappointed with a home loss to A&M.

Unfortunately these games seem to matter more than late season games in conference, narratives are written during these non conference games and you have to pull your weight early to matter late. With transfers as prominent as they are in men's basketball I feel like the early part of the season's results should matter less. Each season is a massive overhaul of rosters, you aren't developing guys within a system the same, roles are a bigger mystery from season to season and it makes it feel like those first couple of months are a crash course for staff's to figure out exactly how the pieces fit together.

I will say the conference has more than pulled it's weight in the NCAA tournament and that fact doesn't seem to have any carry over for perception from one year to the next.

Of the 6 games today only 2 ACC schools are favored. However other than the Florida/UVa game, all the spreads are within 5 so hopefully the conference can pull a few out, Lord knows we need to!

 

[sivad40]

No, no concrete proof--only speculation that she was being considered for the Minnesota job (she did play there as a pro, after all).

That said, given the hires that those institutions made, I would hope that we're not implying that she somehow wasn't qualified (or far less qualified than them). Most of those filling the positions are good coaches, but they are not remotely close to being Dawn/Geno/Tara caliber (or Brenda or Kim). I mean, Lindsay Gottlieb has a Big Ten job...

There's only four current head coaches that have won national titles (8 since 2000 and 11 in 1990). The rest of the head coaches that have won national titles are either retired or deceased. You're making a hyperbolic point. Megan Duffy most definitely has fans.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Off topic but brutal showing for the ACC of men’s side yesterday with SEC leading that series 9-1. I wasn’t expecting that at all

Today’s games are pretty balanced I can see many going either way. Looking forward to it

The SEC men surpassed the ACC men in hoops a while ago.

 

[WBBTakeover]

There's only four current head coaches that have won national titles (8 since 2000 and 11 in 1990). The rest of the head coaches that have won national titles are either retired or deceased. You're making a hyperbolic point. Megan Duffy most definitely has fans.

Yes, I am. But I would imagine that most people know that the likes of Vic Schaefer and Jeff Walz are very good to great coaches.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Virginia Tech gets the ACC on the board first, but they did not look good at all (not sure why the coaches play Carleigh Wenzel so much--especially when she's struggling). Georgia is really, really, really, really, really terrible--yet they controlled the game for three quarters. Then, the 4th quarter hit--and of course they LOST! They managed to lose in similar fashion last season against Duke (how they managed to get two challenge home games in a row despite being the armpit of the SEC--I do not know. All I know is that they are horrible and their coach may be worse than that).

Vandy looked better than I thought they'd be (and I did have them beating Miami). Great athleticism, intense defensively, good coaching, and terrific young scorers. Miami yikes--has issues. They do not look like an NCAA Tournament team at this point. I do think that Cameron Williams has improved, so that's a good thing. But man, that was BAD. I expected them to lose, but to get smoked on their home court by an unranked team (that maybe should be ranked)--not what I was expecting.

Louisville--sigh. Had it.

 

[GoChips20]

Georgia Tech is 8-0 and very likely to be 10-0 when they open ACC play against UNC. Yellow Jackets have three quality wins now (Oregon, SDSU, MSST) and are in position to return to the NCAA tournament if they can finish in the top half of the ACC.

 

[Baller29]

Georgia Tech is 8-0 and very likely to be 10-0 when they open ACC play against UNC. Yellow Jackets have three quality wins now (Oregon, SDSU, MSST) and are in position to return to the NCAA tournament if they can finish in the top half of the ACC.

With the chatter about Nell on the hot seat they definitely look significantly improved this year so far