March 10, 2003
ATLANTA – (Ed. Note: This is the first installment of Broadcast Notes for this week. Look for updates as we draw closer to the start of the tournament on Thursday night and through the weekend.)
With the Atlantic Coast Conference celebrating its 50th anniversary, it only makes sense that the headline event return to the birthplace of the conference itself. The 23,500-seat Greensboro Coliseum has not hosted the event since 1998, when Carolina beat Duke in the finals in what was eventually Dean Smith’s last ACC event. Smith would win four more games to surpass Adolph Rupp on the all-time victory list with 879 and retire the next fall.
This will be the 19th time that Greensboro has hosted the event. This is the first of two straight years in the “Gate City” for the tournament. After the stop here, it moves onto Washington for the 2005 event at MCI Center. That will mark the first time the tournament has been back to the Baltimore-Washington area since 1987, when NC State upset Carolina at Capital Centre.
YOU CAN HEAR THE GAMES AT THE COLISEUM
As in the past, we will offer an in-house radio signal of our broadcast during the ACC Tournament to fans attending the event. Our in-house broadcast signal will be 96.7 FM. The signal will be available only inside the Greensboro Coliseum during the games each day of the tournament.
Here is a rundown of ACC radio network affiliates in the area, that you can also hear full coverage of each game in the tournament when you are traveling around the Triad:
North Carolina, 94.1 FM (I really like the guy that does their games.)
Wake Forest, 98.1 FM
Duke, 94.5 FM
NC State, 600 AM
JACKETS AND PACK MEET IN TOURNEY FOR FIFTH TIME
Georgia Tech and N.C. State have not met in the ACC Tournament since the “play-in” game of the 1997 event in Greensboro. The Wolfpack was the 8th seed that night and beat the Jackets, 60-46, to even the tournament series between the two schools at 2-2.
That was Herb Sendek’s first State team and they rode that win over Tech to an upset of top-seed Duke on Friday (66-60), then toppled #5 seed Maryland, before bowing to Carolina in the finals, 64-54.
Tech’s last tournament win in Greensboro was their semi-final win over Maryland in 1996. The top-seeded Jackets lost to Tim Duncan and Wake Forest in the finals. Since that time, Tech has posted only one win in the ACC Tournament. That was the quarterfinal victory over Virginia in the Georgia Dome during the 2001 event in Atlanta.
Georgia Tech is 4-9, all-time in the tournament at Greensboro, having played in one final (1986, vs. Duke).
THE EARLY READ ON THE FIRST FIVE GAMES
Here’s a little material to get you through to Thursday night and the start of the event on each game:
#8 Clemson vs. #9 Florida State: The total difference between the two schools during the regular season was 15 points. The Seminoles won 60-59, on January 21, while the Tigers were 74-60 winners on February 25. Each school won on their home floor.
#1 Wake Forest vs. #8 Clemson or #9 FSU: Regardless of whom the Deacons play, they swept each of them in the regular season. Scoring wise they had the tougher games with FSU.
#5 Georgia Tech vs. #4 NC State: The Wolfpack is still not on solid ground for the NCAA Tournament and probably needs a win to secure a bid on Sunday. They have only one victory against the Top 50 of the RPI, with a team rating of 62. No #5 seed has ever won the ACC Tournament.
#7 Carolina vs. #2 Maryland: The Terps have just rocked the Heels in both meetings this season, including that 96-56 victory at College Park on February 22. Seven of the Tar Heels 16 wins have been by four points or less. Jawad Williams will have to be very good in order for Carolina to have a chance. Williams has been in double-figures 16 of the last 18 games this season.
#6 Virginia vs. #3 Duke: I guess we wait around all day Friday to see if Dahntay Jones can set down another dunk on the Wahoos like he did against them at Charlottesville on February 15. Jones has posted double-figures in 25 of Duke’s 27 games this season. Duke won the regular season series by a combined 30 points from Virginia. Travis Watson was very good in the final two regular season games against Georgia Tech and Maryland. He will have to be especially so, if the Cavaliers are going to pull the upset. Guard play will be critical for the Wahoos as well.
ONE MAN’S ALL-ACC TEAM
Here’s how I voted for the first team:
Josh Howard, Wake
Chris Bosh, Georgia Tech
Steve Blake, Maryland
Ed Scott, Clemson
Julius Hodge, NC State
See you later this week in Greensboro…
