So, in hopes to save the “ACC is overrated” hype no saturating the media, the conference now lays its hopes on UNC. Dear Lord, what has this come to? I just can’t root for the ‘heels, I’m sorry. I was a Duke fan before I was a Clemson fan. I have to root for my conference though as I now live up near ‘Nova and out of the southern conference lands. This is gonna be tough.

And I just realized that if I start now, I might just be able to get the helmet schedules complete by seasons start. Of course, that would mean that my procrastinating ass would have to dismiss his taxpayer duties. I figure that my tax dues/refunds are going to be less than what Geithner “missed” on his taxes and, as I am using TurboTax, he won’t mind me skipping a year. Any other takers on this plan?

How to describe the basketball season?

First, for some perspective, here’s what I wrote at mid-season, on January 7th:

At the halfway point the team is undefeated at 15-0, which is impressive and fantastic. But it is not something that hats can be hung on. There are games left, all of which are in-conference, and we know from past experience that ACC play in the 2nd half of the season isn’t the same as OOC play in the first. At this point, the correct way to judge this team is based on how well they do in the 2nd half. Good/great starts are fine, but they’re worth almost nothing with a bad/horrible finish.

So what about that 2nd half? The Tigers failed to seize control of the ACC when they had the chance and went on to record an 8-7 conference record after I wrote that post (The win against Miami occurred earlier in the season). It was then followed by tournament losses to the worst team in the ACC and to a #10 seed in the NCAA. After starting 15-0, the team went 8-9 in the last 17 games. Based on the criteria I described, I’d call that a pretty significant, if not monumental failure.

OK. I’ll shut up about the basketball season now.

Clemson managed another resounding thud today, losing to #12 seeded Georgia Tech in their opening round game of the ACC Tournament. Clemson had beaten GT in two games earlier this season.

The Tigers are 1-4 in their last 5 games, having lost just about every game of importance, and a luke-warm 8-8 since out-of-conference play ended.

On the upside… oh fuck it. There is no upside.

Unless you’ve been living in a cubicle shaped hole the last few days like this blogger, you’re well aware that the basketball team was unable to overcome Wake Forest who shot a ridiculous 60% from the floor on Sunday.

The good news is that the ACC Tournament starts tomorrow and we play Georgia Tech at 2PM. Georgia Tech finished last in the conference and Clemson beat them twice already this season. Unfortunately playing GT is also bad news because it means that we don’t get a bye in the first round. It also means that, if the Tigers win as they should, they will face Florida State at 2PM on Friday. FSU, you may recall, has already beaten the Tigers twice this year.

Note: Clemson mayor Larry Abernathy is working to save the Astro. He “has proposed that the theatre be refurbished for a three-screen complex, featuring foreign films [ed from Canada?], as well as a concert venue allowing local individuals to showcase their talents.” I wish him no luck in his task as I suspect the building is worth more as scrap and new parking places than it is as a venue for foreign films. Last I checked, Clemson was not lacking in venues to show movies, nor was there an outrageous demand for foreign films. Moreover, the old building isn’t even nice to look at. Unless someone can come up with better ideas and the funding to implement them, I’ll be more than happy to contribute to the demolition costs.

Lawtonfunk and I can relax because the Tigers took care of business tonight against Virginia. It always feels good to beat UVA.

The bad news was apparently the first half. The good news was the 2nd half. The final score shows a convincing 75-57 victory. The win guarantees Clemson a winning conference record for the season. That’s certainly nice. It will be nicer if the team can beat Wake Forest on Sunday.

The P&C’s headline says it all.

Tigers throw away another opportunity: Virginia Tech 80, Clemson 77

I’ve got a bad feeling that the last 3 games of the season are all going to be losses.

The men’s basketball team was the victor in Atlanta today with red-hot 3-point shooting leading the Tigers past the Yellow Jackets 81-73. As I spent most of the day driving, I didn’t watch any of the game. From the perspective of someone who only reads online reports, it sounds like the difference between this game against a bottom-dweller and last week’s game against a bottom dweller is that sometimes your hot and sometimes your not. This perspective is either the cause of or a symptom of (or maybe both) my general uneasiness about the rest of the season.

Today the team was 12-21 from behind the arc. I told you it was red-hot. However that appears to have been the difference in the game. Plus the 57% hit rate was quite a bit above the team’s season average of 38%. It points to a good win that maybe, just maybe, was heavily influenced by luck.

Nonetheless, it’s a win and I’m sure we’ll all take it. Clemson is now 8-4 in conference. UNC is still leading the conference, but now they have 3 losses. FSU is also 8-4 while Duke and Wake Forest are both 7-4. To borrow from Larry Williams,

If you’re a Clemson fan right now, you’re thinking: “How in the world did we lose those games to FSU and Virginia?”

Almost every team has a few games that it should’ve and could’ve won, so it all usually evens out. But still … a 19-point second-half lead over the Seminoles at home. And that listless first half in Charlottesville. Ugh.

While it’s nice to see Clemson up there with the North Carolina schools of the ACC world, it also means that every remaining game is extremely important and that destiny can still be highly controlled. Here’s to hoping that the remaining games against FSU, VT, UVA, and Wake can go our way.

Win some games over good teams, idiotically lose some to the basement dwellers.