The Atlantic Coast Conference was reshuffled this past week as teams at the bottom moved up and teams from the top moved down. The big ACC surprise was Maryland's upsets against ranked teams.
On Jan. 26, the unranked Maryland Terrapins stunned No. 2 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, knocking off the Blue Devils 75-66. Nik Caner-Medley continued his hot streak for Maryland, pacing the Terps with 25 points on eight of 13 shooting.
On Sunday, Maryland went on to beat the No. 21 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 79-71. The Terps had a balanced attack, with four players scoring in double figures.
But Georgia Tech had its own surprise. Last Thursday, they were able to knock off preseason No. 1 Wake Forest. Tech led throughout the entire game, but somehow Wake managed to tie it up and send the contest to overtime. In OT, Yellow Jacket PG Jarrett Jack knocked down a couple of key free throws in the closing seconds to seal the 102-101 victory for his team.
All of this ACC madness resulted in the following national ranking shuffles: Duke dropped from second to sixth, North Carolina climbed from third to second, Wake fell from fifth to seventh, Georgia Tech fell from No. 21 to No. 23, and Maryland came from the abyss of the unranked to grab a top 25 spot at No. 24.
The other big stories of the week are the two remaining unbeaten teams in Div. I-A college basketball. Since Duke fell to Maryland, only Illinois and Boston College have an unscathed record.
B.C. has had many close calls recently. Last week, they squeaked by unranked conference foe Providence by a count of 78-75. On Jan. 19, they snuck by No. 25 ranked Villanova (who happened to pummel Kansas and knock them from the ranks of the unbeaten earlier in the season) by a final score of 67-66.
But with solid wins over Georgetown (64-49) on Saturday and West Virginia (62-50) on Tuesday, the Eagles continue to soar above the competition and are currently ranked at No. 5 in both the ESPN and AP polls.
Illinois continues to obliterate its opponents. On Jan. 25, the Illini went to Wisconsin and handed the Badgers their first home loss in 39 games with a 75-65 victory. Four days later, the Illini pounded conference foe Minnesota by a count of 89-66.
With a convincing victory (81-68) over No. 10 ranked Michigan State on Tuesday, the Illini may very well go undefeated throughout the regular season. With only a few games remaining before the Big 10 conference tournament, the Illini have only to face one more ranked team in Wisconsin; and this game will be played on Illinois' home court, where the Illini will be heavily favored.
Even though they have lost two games thus far, the North Carolina Tar Heels appear to be the strongest contender for a national title during March Madness. The Heels asserted their ACC dominance with a 110-76 pounding of Virginia on Jan. 29.
North Carolina led 62-26 at halftime and by as much as 50 at one point. The Heels had four players in double figures and six players with eight or more points.
"I've never lost like that in my life," Virginia forward Gary Forbes told ESPN.com. "Not even in a video game."
And moving from the undefeated to the nearly undefeated, let's keep going to the completely defeated. The Savannah State Tigers are currently "attempting" to be the second Div. I school in the past 50 years to end the season without a win. The Tigers only put up 57 points per game, shoot under 35 percent from the field, under 28 percent from beyond the arc, and just under 58 percent from the free throw line.
With only a few games remaining in their season, and considering their average margin of loss is 24 points per game, the rest of this season doesn't look too bright for Savannah State. May the "Winless Watch" continue.
