Back to reality after the Beanpot win....bummer, I know.
Anytime there's a situation where five teams jam up for the same spot in the standings, the following week tends to be weird. Heading into last week, half of the ACC's teams on the inside of the postseason were tied, and just two games separated fourth place from 12th.
In the blink of an eye, the expected state of chaos unfolded over a crazy weekend of games. Here are the results with last week's seeds:
(12) BC def. (T-4) Georgia Tech, 3-0
(A1) Louisville def. (T-4) Wake Forest, 3-0
(3) Florida State def. (13) Pittsburgh, 3-0
(T-4) Clemson def. (14) Duke, 2-0 (third game cancelled)
(11) Virginia def. (C1) Miami, 2-1
(T-4) Notre Dame def. (9) NC State, 2-1
(10) Virginia Tech def. (T-4) UNC, 1-1 (third game cancelled)
Before we get into the full standings, some observations:
-Three of the five teams tied for the fourth place spot tanked horribly over the course of the weekend. The bad news is that they now all dropped. For Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, that means a tie from fourth is now a tie for ninth with Virginia, who surged past the Coastal Division-leading Miami Hurricanes by winning two of three. Three teams tied for ninth, two of which are in the Coastal, means someone is the odd duck out. Right now, that looks to be Wake Forest.
-The good news for the tanking fourth seeds is actually for UNC. Because the third game between UNC and Virginia Tech was cancelled, the Tar Heels only split the weekend and fell to 10-10 in conference play. That's still good enough for sixth place, still on the heels of Clemson and Notre Dame. While NC State and Boston College are nipping at them, the cancelled game, in this instance, serves as a "non-loss" and keeps them a game up of the Eagles and the Pack Nine. Conversely, look at Virginia Tech, who could've really gummed it up with a win.
-If there's a race to keep an eye on, it's that the Tar Heels are also only 4.5 games back of the Miami Hurricanes for the second seed in the playoffs. Remember that the division champions are automatically awarded the top two seeds in the ACC Tournament. Miami is 15-6, but that might as well be a mile ahead of the 14-7 third-seeded Florida State Seminoles. But if Miami is caught napping this week and UNC sweeps BC, we're looking at the difference between second and sixth in the league standings.
-As for the Eagles, they're in it, but there's a long way to go. They have nine games left on the schedule against some tough opponents. They can shore up some positioning by taking two out of three from the Tar Heels this weekend, but they'll need to win moreso to avoid the teams coming up their rear. Only a half of a game separates them from a tie for seventh with NC State from being back out of the ACC postseason race, so they absolutely need a good showing down in Chapel Hill.
Onward with the standings. Be sure to check out how bunched it is from fourth pretty much straight through to 12th:
Place | Team | Record | GB (Conf.) | GB (Division) |
A1) | Louisville | 19-2 | -- | -- |
C1) | Miami | 15-6 | 4.0 | -- |
3) | Florida State | 14-7 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
4) | Clemson | 11-9 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
5) | Notre Dame | 11-10 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
6) | North Carolina | 10-10 | 8.5 | 4.5 |
T-7) | North Carolina State | 9-11 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
T-7) | Boston College | 9-11 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
T-9) | Virginia | 9-12 | 10.0 | 6.0 |
T-9) | Georgia Tech | 9-12 | 10.0 | 6.0 |