This year’s ACC Tournament winner will not come from the triumvirate—North Carolina, Wake Forest and Duke—but from one of two desperate underdog squads, either fifth-seeded Georgia Tech or eighth-seeded Maryland.
Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt’s squad has the best odds of snatching the crown. The team’s defense is tough—second in the ACC in scoring defense, first in field-goal percentage defense and third in blocked shots.
Offensively, the Yellow Jackets have sputtered for much of the season, but Georgia Tech has the weapons to get hot in a short tournament. Jarrett Jack is a premier offensive catalyst, and now that B.J. Elder is healthy to complement Will Bynum, Luke Schenscher and Isma’il Muhammad, the Yellow Jackets have five potential double-digit scorers.
Factor in the experience gained in last year’s NCAA Tournament final appearance, and Georgia Tech is a bona fide contender.
The Terps come into the tournament in a similar fashion to a year ago, when head coach Gary Williams’ sixth-seeded squad beat the top three teams en route to its first tournament title in 20 years.
The team has the offensive firepower to make a serious run. The Terps are second in the ACC in scoring offense, first in free-throw percentage and second in offensive rebounding. Forward Nik Caner-Medley, who quietly averages 16.7 points per game, 2004 ACC Tournament MVP John Gilchrist and shooting guard Chris McCray give Maryland three players scoring more than 14 points per game.
The Terps allow the most points of any ACC team but they have an intangible on their side. Maryland will have the home court advantage, with the tournament in Washington, D.C.’s MCI Center.
No one expects either of these two teams to win, and rightfully so. Neither has shown consistency thus far, and Maryland will have to win four games in four days to do it.
But winning this tournament is not about consistency. It’s about getting hot at the right time, and both of these squads are capable of taking the crown.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.