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STEVE DeSHAZO: ACC lays an NCAA egg Date published: 3/22/2009 By Steve DeShazo MEMO TO Shut up. Every year you whine about how tough your conference is, and how eight or nine teams deserve NCAA tournament bids. This year, you got seven. And what happened? Four of your teams lost to lower seeds in the first round. Besides top-seeded North Carolina and No. 2 Duke, only 10th-seeded Maryland--which had to sweat out Selection Sunday--managed to win its opener. And the Terps were sent packing by Memphis yesterday. "Body of work" is the most overused term this side of "corporate bailout" this time of year, and the ACC's new spin will surely stress how a couple of upset losses shouldn't taint the league's season-long excellence. Bull. Like many banks and insurance companies, the ACC's elite underperformed when the lights came on. This is the time of year to make a statement, and the ACC's efforts have raised only questions. Wake Forest had no business losing to 13th-seeded Cleveland State--which wouldn't have been in the tournament had it not upset Butler in the Horizon League final. The Vikings make the NCAA field once every 23 years and knock off a power once they get there, but come on. The Deacons were bigger and more athletic, but they showed up five minutes late for tipoff, trailed 9-0 and never caught up. Shame on you, Florida State, for losing to 12th-seeded Wisconsin. Like the Deacons, the Seminoles had distinct advantages in size and quickness. Plus, they had Toney Douglas, arguably the ACC's hardest player to guard. He held up his end with 26 points, but the rest of his team disappeared. The ACC has dominated its annual "Challenge" series with the Big Ten, and league officials scoffed that the Midwesterners got as many teams into the NCAA field (seven) as the ACC did. Well, who's laughing now that the Big Ten went 4-3 in the first round and the ACC was a mediocre 3-4? And need we mention that Big 12 teams were 6-0 and Big East squads 6-1 in the first round?
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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