As ACC WBB Conference Play Draws Near...still a log jam at the top of conference -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

10 TEAMS IN ACC STILL WITH TWO LOSSES OR LESS

Six ACC teams being conference play on Thursday in a league that has 2/3rds of their members at .818 or better so far...in regards to win/loss percentages. 

Still atop the standing is Virginia Tech at 12-0 and now #19 in the nation. With just one loss are #15 Duke, #7 Florida State, #11 Miami and #2 Notre Dame. #8 Louisville, Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia have two losses on the season. 

Out of the remaining five schools, NC State is 10-3, Wake Forest 9-3, Pittsburgh 9-3, #25 Syracuse 9-4 and Boston College at 6-6. Seven ACC schools are ranked in the top 25.

Numbers will start to change soon, of course, as the conference battles get underway. Thursday's ACC v. ACC card includes Louisville hosting Syracuse, #7 Florida State at #11 Miami and #2 Notre Dame travelling to North Carolina State.  The FSU vs. Canes game should be a real doozy...maybe a slight edge to Miami at home...so should Syracuse coming to Louisville. We give the Cards an edge in that one, too. Notre Dame may get a tough test from the Wolfpack...but we see the Irish smiling at the end of this one. 

The national rankings are from the AP polls. The USA Coaches polls are slightly different. I usually go with the AP rankings...unless, of course, the Cards are ranked higher in the USA version. Yes, I am a blatant homer. In the fictitious Paulie polls, I wouldn't have Syracuse ranked. They lost to Drexel. Seriously? I also believe that Virginia Tech will take a bit of beating when they stop playing the Presbyterians, Gardner-Webb's and Bowling Green's of college women's basketball and line up against FSU, Louisville, Notre Dame and Duke. I will give the Hokies credit for wins over Tennessee, Auburn and Nebraska, though. 

So...who are my top five as of 12/28? 

No one can collar Collier at UConn

1) UConn. Someway, somehow they manage to keep dwarfing the rest of women's college basketball. I think DNA testing and surveillance needs to be implemented.
2) Notre Dame. They lost to UConn. They've handled everyone else. Good enough for me.
3) Maryland. They haven't lost yet. The Cards tossed a scare into them. A front line as good as South Carolina's and productive guards.
4) Florida State. They lost to UConn also. With a healthy Romero and Thomas,, Slaughter, White, James, Brown and Conde they can come at you from a lot of angles. 
5) South Carolina. I'm not sure how Duke managed to beat them...but they certainly have handled everyone else so far. Wilson, Coates and Davis an unstoppable power trio. 

Who's hot in the league? 

Syracuse's Alexis Peterson is averaging 22.9 ppg, fifth best in the nation. Rebecca Greenwell (Duke) checks in at 20.5 and Stephanie Watts (UNC) has a 19.8 scoring average per game.

Milan Quinn (Wake Forest) leads the ACC in rebounding with 9.8 grabs a game. She's the only ACC player averaging 9.0 or better. 

Lindsay Allen (Notre Dame) is the leading ACC assist creator with 7.1. Peterson is second with 6.6. Mariya's sister, Minyon Moore, has 5.5 a game for USC. 

Oderah Chidom (Duke) is atop the conference block party with 2.7 a game (32). Virginia's Felicia Alyeotan is next with 28.

Chanette Hicks (Va Tech) leads the nation in steals with 60...a solid five a game.
Peterson is #17 in the nation with 3.2. Minyon is doing pretty good here as well with 36...or 3.3 a contest. 

This Bison has buckets! 

Briana Day (Syracuse) has the highest shooting percentage (60%) in the ACC...with Brianna Turner (Notre Dame) right behind her at 57.4%.

Louisville's Asia Durr is second in the nation with 48 threes made. Taylor Thunstedt (North Dakota St.) has made 52 in 13 games. Watts and Greenwell chase Asia in-conference with 43 and 40 respectively. 

362 days till christmas! 
paulie
xxxxx