The ACC isn't proving so strong afterall...
Maybe I was naive, but I really thought we might have an all ACC semi-final this year in the NCAA Soccer College Cup. North Carolina took that hope from me in the second round. Now Clemson is added to the list of ACC teams that couldn't advance in the big dance as they were beaten handily by UCLA, 3-0.
Some might say that the ACC is doing well with 3 of the final 8 teams. However, I disagree since at different points during the season at least 6 of the top 10 teams were from the strong eastern conference. The ACC had 4 of the top 5 seeds in the tournament, presumably giving them an easier road to the finals. Now, you've got three California teams in UCLA, Santa Clara and UCSB that have made it to the quarterfinals, equaling the number of ACC teams.
The ACC schools are probably hitting a wall. They play the toughest schedules in College Soccer by playing within their conference and then a conference championship tournament. Now the teams that have "easier" regular season schedules have some gas left in tank while the ACC is running on empty.
That's why we all love these types of single elimination tournaments, you never know how it is going to end up. If we rent on rankings alone, you'd have too many ACC teams looking good.
The big question now is will the #1, #2 or #4 ACC team be able to keep the momentum going to win the championship they looked destined for during the regular season?
Some might say that the ACC is doing well with 3 of the final 8 teams. However, I disagree since at different points during the season at least 6 of the top 10 teams were from the strong eastern conference. The ACC had 4 of the top 5 seeds in the tournament, presumably giving them an easier road to the finals. Now, you've got three California teams in UCLA, Santa Clara and UCSB that have made it to the quarterfinals, equaling the number of ACC teams.
The ACC schools are probably hitting a wall. They play the toughest schedules in College Soccer by playing within their conference and then a conference championship tournament. Now the teams that have "easier" regular season schedules have some gas left in tank while the ACC is running on empty.
That's why we all love these types of single elimination tournaments, you never know how it is going to end up. If we rent on rankings alone, you'd have too many ACC teams looking good.
The big question now is will the #1, #2 or #4 ACC team be able to keep the momentum going to win the championship they looked destined for during the regular season?
posted by Bonji at
11:22 AM
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