Autry's Army - 2023-24 SU Hoops

[BaseballJones]

So the latest ESPN bracketology is out: https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-2024-march-madness-men-field-predictions

Syracuse is nowhere in sight. SU is currently 14-6, 5-4 in the ACC, and has beaten these power 5 opponents: LSU (11-9, SEC), Oregon (14-6, Pac 12), Pitt 2x (12-8, ACC), BC (12-8, ACC), Miami (14-6, ACC), and NC State (13-7, ACC). They have no bad losses (5 of their losses were to ranked teams, and the 6th was to Florida State who is 12-8, so they're not bad).

No, SU is not an elite team, and they'll continue to get belted around by the really good teams. Nobody remotely thinks they are even close to great. But that's a pretty good resume and they have a chance tonight to get to 15-6. It's a little strange that they are getting absolutely NO love at ALL from anyone with any say in the matter.

I guess they just gotta keep on winning and hope that 22 wins is enough?

 

[bsj]

So the latest ESPN bracketology is out: https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-2024-march-madness-men-field-predictions

Syracuse is nowhere in sight. SU is currently 14-6, 5-4 in the ACC, and has beaten these power 5 opponents: LSU (11-9, SEC), Oregon (14-6, Pac 12), Pitt 2x (12-8, ACC), BC (12-8, ACC), Miami (14-6, ACC), and NC State (13-7, ACC). They have no bad losses (5 of their losses were to ranked teams, and the 6th was to Florida State who is 12-8, so they're not bad).

No, SU is not an elite team, and they'll continue to get belted around by the really good teams. Nobody remotely thinks they are even close to great. But that's a pretty good resume and they have a chance tonight to get to 15-6. It's a little strange that they are getting absolutely NO love at ALL from anyone with any say in the matter.

I guess they just gotta keep on winning and hope that 22 wins is enough?

Lunardi just despises the ACC this year.
A marquis win would help.

 

[Dan Murfman]

I like following Bracket Matrix. They’re tracking 82 “bracketologists” . Right now they are picked by 3 of the 82. So still doable.

http://www.bracketmatrix.com/

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Lunardi just despises the ACC this year.
A marquis win would help.

Or even a marquee one

 

[BaseballJones]

Annnnnd just like that, a pretty not so great loss. Not *terrible* as BC isn't bad, but that's the kind of game they cannot really afford to lose if they want to make the dance.

 

[bsj]

Yeah

Annnnnd just like that, a pretty not so great loss. Not *terrible* as BC isn't bad, but that's the kind of game they cannot really afford to lose if they want to make the dance.

They are a year away

 

[BosoxFaninCincy]

That was a tough one. Harris Jr. decided to turn into Steph Curry 2.0 for a four minute stretch when I thought we were coming back. You just can't win a game when you get a 21-0 run against you. This team is fun to watch sometimes, and strange. A lot of times Judah is so ball dominant and just looking to get to the line that it is painful to watch. Other times the ball moves so crisply and everyone is involved. I can't think of any players I have loved to watch more in the last couple of decades than the Q's (Brown and Copeland). We definitely could have used the Chris Bell who hits threes and can at least stay on the floor. The rest of our outside shooting is not ready for prime time. And the free throw shooting last night?! Somewhere Stephen Thompson is nodding his head knowingly.

 

[Bleedred]

Losing Joe Girard really hurt this team. His outside shooting would have been massively helpful and more likely than not made them a tournament team

 

[BaseballJones]

Ehhhhhhhh he was so bad in the defensive end that his absence is likely a net positive. Yes they do miss his shooting though.

 

[ObstructedView]

Hopefully last night was rock bottom. These guys play and behave as if they don't have a coach - no apparent big-picture plan, poor shot selection and general decision-making, sloppy play, and horrible body language when things go badly. Copeland was openly pouting on the bench after being spoken with during the first half, and Williams blatantly shoulder-checked Autry at one point. There doesn't appear to be any real leadership; Mintz is their best player, and he's clearly not that guy.

This was the stretch of the schedule where the Orange had an opportunity to bank some wins and maybe get a resume-building victory or two, and they've fallen flat. Looks like a third straight season where they're not even in the conversation for a tourney bid. You can say they're a year away, but I don't see it with this collection of personnel. In the old days you could hope that a talented guy like Mintz would continue to mature as a player and grow into a leader, but he's gone. Maybe they'll go the portal route and completely reboot with guys who actually want to play for Autry. Of course he hasn't earned any credibility since he had no head coaching experience before inheriting this job, and kids coming up now don't give a crap about the Syracuse history and family tree. Without a marquee coach, and playing in a cold and remote outpost in a top-heavy ACC, I'm not sure what the draw is at this point.

 

[BaseballJones]

Yeah what a disappointing week. Ugh.

 

[Bleedred]

I mentioned up thread that my son is one of the student managers. I spoke with him last night and he didn't say that anything was seriously afoot as to player attitudes vis-a-vis Autry. However, the head manager's email to all managers this week underscored how important it was that they "do their jobs" at practices following the WF blowout and that no managers be a distraction. My son notes that there's some tension among the team, but thinks its more about the shitty loss than dissatisfaction with Autry, at least as far as he can tell. He had speculated at the beginning of the year that if things didn't go well early, the team may not be strong mentally to deal with adversity and hasn't backed off that opinion.

 

[ObstructedView]

Williams "dismissed" from the team.

 

[The Filthy One]

What a drag. I definitely felt like he was gone at the end of the year, but it's disappointing they apparently needed to boot him. I can't think of a recruit who fizzled out more than he has. It's a shame, too, because they really needed a guy with his size and athleticism.

 

[BosoxFaninCincy]

Such a shame. Hopefully the most adult of the 18-20 year old crowd can rally around AA and each other. Much like my fandom of the Sox, I am not sure how much more my mancave drywall can take watching this group.

 

[BaseballJones]

Lucky to win tonight's game against a bad Louisville team. Judah Mintz is the single dumbest and most selfish player I've ever seen. He made several utterly incomprehensibly stupid plays at the end of the game that somehow, miraculously, didn't cost them the game.

 

[BosoxFaninCincy]

Without Copeland and Brown, I would still watch, but I would be ashamed to be a Cuse fan. Both Mintz and Bell bring a lot to the table, but they also take even more off of it. My wife is a Florida Gator fan, so I have become one by extension, and watch their games as well. They have roughly the same records, but their level of adult basketball could not be more night and day. I keep waiting for a return to glory like it is a birthright from the 1980's. I am starting down the stages of grief realizing that it will never come.

 

[ObstructedView]

Mintz really is infuriating - so much athleticism and skill, but can't seem to harness it consistently. He's apparently impervious to coaching. In other words, he's a microcosm of this team.

I'll be at Saturday's Clemson game at the Dome. Something tells me they won't score 90+ again.

 

[ObstructedView]

Spirited effort against a pretty good Clemson team on Saturday, but they just didn't have the horses. The Orange could not match up with PJ Hall, who was unstoppable in the post and almost single-handedly staved off a late rally that briefly tied the game with a couple minutes left. The crowd loudly booed former local favorite Joe Girard, who of course lit it up from three and led all scorers.

Autry used a 7-man rotation, with Mintz playing all 40 minutes and Bell playing 37. The most encouraging sign was that SU didn't completely fold after getting way behind early; it was more resilience than I'd seen from them in a while. But they're undermanned and under-sized with Williams gone, and Mintz's limitations as a shooter really hurt them.

It was the loudest crowd that I've personally experienced in the Dome, partly because of the Girard factor. Our seats were a few rows behind the Orange players' families, and it was fascinating to see how much the players interacted with them and fed off the fans generally.

 

[ObstructedView]

Obviously a great win over the Heels. That was Mintz at his best, and Copeland had some huge "Tommy Point" type defensive plays. Saturday at GA Tech will be a good test of the team's stamina and maturity coming off such a draining and emotional win.

 

[BaseballJones]

Watching the SU game in CW sports. Suddenly the game cuts out and this is what shows up on screen (and has been on for five minutes):



Someone back at network HQ isn’t paying attention. Good grief.

 

[BaseballJones]

And of course SU after beating one of the best teams in the country, loses to one of the worst teams in the ACC.

Good god we suck. It's so unbelievably frustrating.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Yup. Sigh.

 

[BaseballJones]

This team is Jekyll and Hyde. I thought they'd get rolled last night at NC State but somehow won (Bell going bonkers from three helped). Now at 17-10, and unless they make it to the ACC championship, they're not making it to the NCAA Tournament. But still, a good win on the road against a good team has to help.

If I'm not mistaken, NC State is #75, which BARELY makes last night a Quad 1 win for SU. (as in, road game Quad 1 wins are against opponents #1-75, so yeah)

I know they're not making the Tournament, but I still want to see improvement. Last night was good.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Crazy that they could win 20, yet still have a meh season. Maybe it’s just me getting older, but college basketball feels pretty meh to me overall. Coneference alignment and constant player movement has sapped a lot of my enthusiasm and interest.

 

[BaseballJones]

Crazy that they could win 20, yet still have a meh season. Maybe it’s just me getting older, but college basketball feels pretty meh to me overall. Coneference alignment and constant player movement has sapped a lot of my enthusiasm and interest.

I love college sports, but several factors have lessened my joy over the years.

1. Transfers. I know student-athletes need to have more control over their lives. I never felt like it was fair that coaches could just up and leave (despite being under contract!) with no repercussions, but players had to sit out a year if they transferred. Covid obviously initiated a massive change, and I'm all for more player freedom, but it's absolutely INSANE these days.

2. NIL and pay. Similar to #1, of course I believe student-athletes should be able to earn some money. But as soon as the NIL stuff got released I asked, "What's to stop some rich oil guy in Texas from telling the #1 QB recruit, hey, I'll pay you $5 million and put you on a billboard if you play for the University of Texas?" It's totally warping things. (No, I'm not under the illusion that schools/boosters weren't paying big recruits before NIL; but now the money is insane and out in the open and student-athletes are using it as leverage.) On the flip side, Paige Bueckers makes more $$ with NIL at UConn than she'd make in the WNBA, so that this helps keep her here another year, yay.

3. Guys leaving school too soon. At SU, they've had so many guys not remotely ready for the NBA leave early anyway. Makes it really hard to root for the team because you don't get the continuity that you used to.

4. Football driving EVERYTHING in college sports. Nothing says "Atlantic Coast" Conference like...Stanford and Cal. Nothing says "Big East" like Creighton, in Omaha, Nebraska. this is all the result of football. I like college football but it's ruining other sports because of the conference shifts, all centered around football. I'm still pissed that SU left the Big East, but they saw the writing on the wall with football. It was the "right" move at the time, but SU is a Big East program, not an ACC program. It's crazy that UConn's field hockey program will now have to travel to Berkeley for a conference game.

They need to:

1. Separate football into its own sports organization.
2. Make conferences regional affiliations and traditional rivalries again. With football out of the picture, the Big East can once again have BC, Pitt, and Syracuse. As it should. UCLA and USC and Stanford and Cal can go back to being in their own conference again.
3. Reel in NIL some. I don't know how to do it but it's already gotten out of control.
4. Transfer protocols need to be tightened a little. I still want freedom for student-athletes, but some people are transferring 2-3 times and it's not good for them or for schools.


-end of old man rant-

 

[ObstructedView]

Jekyll and Hyde indeed - and often within the same game. It has been fun to watch Copeland emerge as an agitator, hustle guy and occasional playmaker. He's a real piece of work.

I realize that the national announcers were selling the drama, but it was funny to hear them talk about Cuse and NC State as bubble teams. Neither is sniffing the tourney unless they go on a serious run through the ACC bracket.

 

[BaseballJones]

Jekyll and Hyde indeed - and often within the same game. It has been fun to watch Copeland emerge as an agitator, hustle guy and occasional playmaker. He's a real piece of work.

I realize that the national announcers were selling the drama, but it was funny to hear them talk about Cuse and NC State as bubble teams. Neither is sniffing the tourney unless they go on a serious run through the ACC bracket.

SU might very well finish the season with 21 wins, including 5 Quad 1 wins, and still not even be close to the NCAA tournament. The losses to BC (away), Georgia Tech (away), and Florida State (home) are going to sink them.

 

[ObstructedView]

I love college sports, but several factors have lessened my joy over the years.

1. Transfers. I know student-athletes need to have more control over their lives. I never felt like it was fair that coaches could just up and leave (despite being under contract!) with no repercussions, but players had to sit out a year if they transferred. Covid obviously initiated a massive change, and I'm all for more player freedom, but it's absolutely INSANE these days.

2. NIL and pay. Similar to #1, of course I believe student-athletes should be able to earn some money. But as soon as the NIL stuff got released I asked, "What's to stop some rich oil guy in Texas from telling the #1 QB recruit, hey, I'll pay you $5 million and put you on a billboard if you play for the University of Texas?" It's totally warping things. (No, I'm not under the illusion that schools/boosters weren't paying big recruits before NIL; but now the money is insane and out in the open and student-athletes are using it as leverage.) On the flip side, Paige Bueckers makes more $$ with NIL at UConn than she'd make in the WNBA, so that this helps keep her here another year, yay.

3. Guys leaving school too soon. At SU, they've had so many guys not remotely ready for the NBA leave early anyway. Makes it really hard to root for the team because you don't get the continuity that you used to.

4. Football driving EVERYTHING in college sports. Nothing says "Atlantic Coast" Conference like Stanford and Cal. Nothing says "Big East" like Creighton, in Omaha, Nebraska. this is all the result of football. I like college football but it's ruining other sports because of the conference shifts, all centered around football. I'm still pissed that SU left the Big East, but they saw the writing on the wall with football. It was the "right" move at the time, but SU is a Big East program, not an ACC program. It's crazy that UConn's field hockey program will now have to travel to Berkeley for a conference game.

They need to:

1. Separate football into its own sports organization.
2. Make conferences regional affiliations and traditional rivalries again. With football out of the picture, the Big East can once again have BC, Pitt, and Syracuse. As it should. UCLA and USC and Stanford and Cal can go back to being in their own conference again.
3. Reel in NIL some. I don't know how to do it but it's already gotten out of control.
4. Transfer protocols need to be tightened a little. I still want freedom for student-athletes, but some people are transferring 2-3 times and it's not good for them or for schools.


-end of old man rant-

I agree with a lot of this. Just last night my wife was mocking me as an angry old man as I ranted about the absurdity of UConn traveling to Nebraska for a midweek conference game. Football killed the original Big East - and as you said, it continues to drive much of the lunacy.

The transfer stuff does seem to have jumped the shark. One of the interesting things about having kids at UVM (which of course has a much better chance of making the tourney than SU) is that I've seen how much the portal is impacting teams even at their level. It's an insane domino effect.

 

[BaseballJones]

Try as they might, Syracuse just couldn't find a way to completely give a game away to a poor team after holding a 28-point lead. They did give it a great effort though, but failed in the end, resulting in a 3-point win at home.

 

[BaseballJones]

Now at 19-10. Two regular season games left. If they can win both (one should be doable, the other (road game at Clemson) will be much more difficult) and then go 1-1 in the ACC tournament, they'd be 22-11, with a handful of pretty nice wins. Would that be enough for the NCAA tournament? Probably not. But at least they'd be in the conversation for one of the last at-large bids.

 

[ObstructedView]

Now at 19-10. Two regular season games left. If they can win both (one should be doable, the other (road game at Clemson) will be much more difficult) and then go 1-1 in the ACC tournament, they'd be 22-11, with a handful of pretty nice wins. Would that be enough for the NCAA tournament? Probably not. But at least they'd be in the conversation for one of the last at-large bids.

They've at least put themselves in position to get into the conversation. Avoiding the previously-inevitable 8-9 conference matchup would be nice. If they could take care of business at Louisville and somehow win at Clemson they'd probably be guaranteed a top-5 seed - and would obviously have another signature win on their resume. Of course, I won't be shocked if they lay an egg in L'ville. This team is frustrating precisely because they've shown how good they can be when they harness their athletic ability, but they're also capable of losing to anyone. Speaking of which, those losses at BC and G'tech are really haunting them now. At least they're playing hard now and have been entertaining.

 

[BaseballJones]

They've at least put themselves in position to get into the conversation. Avoiding the previously-inevitable 8-9 conference matchup would be nice. If they could take care of business at Louisville and somehow win at Clemson they'd probably be guaranteed a top-5 seed - and would obviously have another signature win on their resume. Of course, I won't be shocked if they lay an egg in L'ville. This team is frustrating precisely because they've shown how good they can be when they harness their athletic ability, but they're also capable of losing to anyone. Speaking of which, those losses at BC and G'tech are really haunting them now. At least they're playing hard now and have been entertaining.

I fully expect them to go 0-2 these next two games. Lay an egg vs Louisville and then lose a hard fought game at Clemson.

 

[BosoxFaninCincy]

They've at least put themselves in position to get into the conversation. Avoiding the previously-inevitable 8-9 conference matchup would be nice. If they could take care of business at Louisville and somehow win at Clemson they'd probably be guaranteed a top-5 seed - and would obviously have another signature win on their resume. Of course, I won't be shocked if they lay an egg in L'ville. This team is frustrating precisely because they've shown how good they can be when they harness their athletic ability, but they're also capable of losing to anyone. Speaking of which, those losses at BC and G'tech are really haunting them now. At least they're playing hard now and have been entertaining.

By and large I have been enjoying this team. Their lack of any size to speak of needs to be addressed, and Mintz can be infuriating, but he can also be creative. I have enjoyed Maliq Brown and Q Copeland as much as any duo in CNY in a very long time. And they have pulled out some late game wins which would have gone the other way in recent years. I am going to send some positive vibes to go 2-0 down the stretch. Wouldn't it be wonderful to defeat JGIII in the last regular season game? #thecuseisinthehouse

 

[BaseballJones]

20 wins. Not a bad season, regardless of whether or not they make the NCAA tournament. Autry has them moving in the right direction.

 

[BosoxFaninCincy]

Two things: Chris Bell playing some defense and Q fouling out after 11 minutes but after two of the biggest highlight reels you will ever see. Sign me up for the entire Copeland experience.

 

[BaseballJones]

Two things: Chris Bell playing some defense and Q fouling out after 11 minutes but after two of the biggest highlight reels you will ever see. Sign me up for the entire Copeland experience.

Haha yeah Copeland is insane. Like, two unbelievable baskets the likes of which we haven’t seen at SU in a long, long time. And then five fouls - some of which were incomprehensibly stupid. He’s totally crazy. LOL

At least this team is athletic as hell. Past teams weren’t, and were boring. Whatever else this team is, they’re not boring.

 

[The Filthy One]

It's crazy that this team has 20 wins, is currently the 4 seed in the ACC, but essentially has no chance of making the tournament short of getting all the way to the ACC finals. Whatever happens, I think the year has been largely positive given what might have transpired. Keeping Boeheim's recruits (Bell, Brown, Copeland, etc.) around was huge, as was getting Mintz to return. Hopefully next year he can keep Starling, Bell, Brown, and Copeland and build around them and some complementary pieces.

 

[BaseballJones]

It's crazy that this team has 20 wins, is currently the 4 seed in the ACC, but essentially has no chance of making the tournament short of getting all the way to the ACC finals. Whatever happens, I think the year has been largely positive given what might have transpired. Keeping Boeheim's recruits (Bell, Brown, Copeland, etc.) around was huge, as was getting Mintz to return. Hopefully next year he can keep Starling, Bell, Brown, and Copeland and build around them and some complementary pieces.

Pretty good recruiting class coming in as well.

Donnie Freeman: #21 recruit in the country
Elijah Moore: #53 recruit in the country

https://247sports.com/season/2024-basketball/recruitrankings/?institutiongroup=highschool

 

[BosoxFaninCincy]

It's crazy that this team has 20 wins, is currently the 4 seed in the ACC, but essentially has no chance of making the tournament short of getting all the way to the ACC finals. Whatever happens, I think the year has been largely positive given what might have transpired. Keeping Boeheim's recruits (Bell, Brown, Copeland, etc.) around was huge, as was getting Mintz to return. Hopefully next year he can keep Starling, Bell, Brown, and Copeland and build around them and some complementary pieces.

If he can keep Copeland, Brown and Bell, I am more than all in. Maybe a little front court depth for the first time in like 15 years? My prediction is that both Bell and Copeland will be stars next year.

 

[ObstructedView]

It's crazy that this team has 20 wins, is currently the 4 seed in the ACC, but essentially has no chance of making the tournament short of getting all the way to the ACC finals. Whatever happens, I think the year has been largely positive given what might have transpired. Keeping Boeheim's recruits (Bell, Brown, Copeland, etc.) around was huge, as was getting Mintz to return. Hopefully next year he can keep Starling, Bell, Brown, and Copeland and build around them and some complementary pieces.

Katz has them at #35 in his Power 36. Aside from that, I haven't seen SU mentioned as even a peripheral bubble team. Seems like it would be hard to keep them out of that conversation if they manage to beat Clemson tomorrow night and finish 4th in the conference - with other quality wins over UNC, NC State and Pitt.

Agreed that there are some reasons for optimism regardless of how the rest of this season plays out.

 

[BaseballJones]

SU only has one "bad" loss, which wasn't even THAT bad. Home loss to Florida State (Quad 3), who is 15-14, and 9-9 in the conference. Every other loss was to a good team.

Only one Quad 1 win, which is a problem, but that one was a doozy - beating North Carolina at home. Then they're 7-4 in Quad 2, which is really solid. It is weird that they're a 20 win team in a major conference, while also being top 4 in that conference, and aren't even in the bubble conversation.

Beating Clemson might change that considerably.

 

[ObstructedView]

SU only has one "bad" loss, which wasn't even THAT bad. Home loss to Florida State (Quad 3), who is 15-14, and 9-9 in the conference. Every other loss was to a good team.

Only one Quad 1 win, which is a problem, but that one was a doozy - beating North Carolina at home. Then they're 7-4 in Quad 2, which is really solid. It is weird that they're a 20 win team in a major conference, while also being top 4 in that conference, and aren't even in the bubble conversation.

Beating Clemson might change that considerably.

Syracuse suffers from being a CNY team in the ACC. Most of the attention goes to the NC programs, with occasional nods to Clemson, FSU and Miami. I'm convinced that if SU had a similar win/loss profile but was in the Big East they'd be considered a bubble team at worst. But in the ACC they're regarded as a second-tier team with no real cachet, and now that Boeheim and the zone are gone there's really nothing for national pundits to hang their hats on. As you said though, they have the opportunity to take matters into their own hands.

 

[BigRed07]

SU only has one "bad" loss, which wasn't even THAT bad. Home loss to Florida State (Quad 3), who is 15-14, and 9-9 in the conference. Every other loss was to a good team.

Only one Quad 1 win, which is a problem, but that one was a doozy - beating North Carolina at home. Then they're 7-4 in Quad 2, which is really solid. It is weird that they're a 20 win team in a major conference, while also being top 4 in that conference, and aren't even in the bubble conversation.

Beating Clemson might change that considerably.

Georgia Tech was a killer loss coming off UNC, shocked (pleasantly) that they recovered from that.

 

[TheWizard]

If they beat Clemson on the road and get a win in the ACC tourney they may have a chance of getting in to the tourney.

BUT as other's have pointed out whether they get in or not, I give Autry a lot of credit and the program seems to be headed in the right direction. And that is really all you can ask for as a fan etc.

 

[BaseballJones]

Georgia Tech was a killer loss coming off UNC, shocked (pleasantly) that they recovered from that.

Yeah that may have been a back breaker when all is said and done, but they really have rebounded nicely from that.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

The lack of road wins is killing them, they are only 4-6 on the road. 20 wins, but Chaminade doesn’t really count. Need a few more, finish strong!!

 

[CFB_Rules]

I think if they beat Clemson and don't do anything embarrassing in the ACC tourney they sneak in. They're top 4 in the conference, but if they lose to Clemson they very well might finish in the bottom half of what isn't a great league this year.

 

[ObstructedView]

The conference strength stuff sometimes feels subjective or circular. Does the fact that Notre Dame beat Clemson and GT beat UNC mean that the ACC is weak, or that it's strong/competitive from top to bottom? Then you have conferences like the SEC where merely being in the league seems to give you extra credibility even if your record is mediocre.

 

[ObstructedView]

Lunardi was on ESPN last night and was asked if Cuse would be in good shape if they beat Clemson. He was skeptical, citing their NET rating in the low 80s and saying that they "need to stack wins." Call me a boomer or Luddite, but it seems kind of insane that a team could finish with 21 wins + take fourth place in a major conference and not even be in the conversation. I will freely admit that I've made absolutely no effort to understand NET, and I know they do have a handful of heinous losses, but that overall body of work seems respectable. Of course it's moot if they can't win tonight and/or if they bow out early in the ACC tourney.