New NCAA Rankings Released

After a weekend that contained the biggest upset thus far in the college basketball season when the #1 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels fell to unranked Boston College, the rankings shuffled up a bit. Overshadowed by the North Carolina loss was the defeat of the #2 ranked UConn Huskies to Georgetown. Therefore, the #3 ranked Pittsburgh Panthers jumped to #1 for the first time in their history. They were followed by the Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina and Wake Forest. Three of the top four teams were not only members of the Atlantic Coast Conference but were also schools located in the Triangle region of North Carolina. This cannot be considered to be too big of a surprise since all three teams feature a nucleus of experience surrounded by talented newcomers. In a season in which the press has deemed the Big East to be the greatest conference by a large margin, it brings up the debate of whether it is better to have great conference depth (10 Big East teams are currently ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25) or a few great teams such as in the ACC.
The three teams that make up the top of the ACC right now are all unique in their own way. North Carolina features a wealth of experience from its last two lengthy NCAA tournament runs, led by reigning National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough's legendary work ethic and awkward looking shots that seem to always bounce around a few times on the rim before dropping through have carried North Carolina for the last three years but he has help. Ty Lawson is really the catalyst for this North Carolina team, a team that thrives in the open court under their fast break guru, Roy Williams. The fastest player from end to end in college basketball by far can get his shot whenever he wants in the open court and is deceptively strong as he motors to the basket. Along with Lawson is the duo of Danny Green and Wayne Ellington, who both flirted with the NBA Draft before returning to school. Deon Thompson and Ed Davis make up the rest of the frontcourt and score mainly on garbage buckets off offensive rebounds. This team looked invincible for its first 13 games until running into a driven Boston College team that took care of the ball to limit fast break opportunities for North Carolina and force them into a half court game. The one aspect of Carolina that has not been superb this year has been their half court offense, and frankly it hasn't had to be. They run the court so well that they rarely have to settle into a half court game but when they do, their weakness shooting the ball from the perimeter rears its ugly head. Ellington, Green, Will Graves and Bobby Frasor are all capable three point shooters but they are all streaky and while they could make 3 or 4 in a row, they can also go very cold. It ends up putting a lot of pressure on Tyler Hansbrough and he can usually come through with flying colors. However, when the calls are not going his way and he is defended by a tall physical defender, he can get into trouble. It takes a lot to happen to beat this UNC team but there are teams that can match up very well with them and two of them are in the ACC. Tomorrow Duke and Wake Forest will be discussed in length...