Thursday, February 23, 2012

Why North Carolina fans have to root for Duke tonight against Florida State, even if it hurts

No. 7 North Carolina has enjoyed a solid day and a half or so alone in first place atop the ACC standings. That will change tonight, when either Duke or Florida State joins the Tar Heels. The Blue Devils and Seminoles play tonight at 7 in Tallahassee in what just might be the most important regular-season college basketball game there in … forever? Probably not. But it has been a long, long time since Florida State hosted a game of this magnitude.

Both Blue Devils and Seminoles have beaten UNC head-to-head, and thus hold a tie-breaker over the Tar Heels. But for North Carolina to keep hope alive of winning the mythical ACC regular season championship, it needs Duke to win tonight in Tallahassee. The reason is obvious enough: UNC will get another chance at Duke. And the Heels will have no such opportunity against Florida State.

Of course, Florida State could win tonight and then stumble at some point in its final three games. The Seminoles go on the road to Miami and Virginia, before finishing the season at home against Clemson. But the most direct path for the Tar Heels to finish with the top seed in the ACC tournament is for Duke to win tonight, for UNC to win its next two – at Virginia and against Maryland at home – and then for the Heels to beat the Blue Devils in Cameron.

Easier said than done. But a Blue Devils victory tonight allows the Tar Heels to control their own destiny.


-- Andrew Carter

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Duke will lose tonight...FSU will lose at Miami...UNC wins ACC...No true Heels fan would EVER pull for Dook. I would rather see FSU win the ACC!

Anonymous said...

FSU 73 Dook 68

Anonymous said...

There are too many games left for this one to decide it alone. As a UNC fan, I'll take my chances with Duke losing tonight. FSU may lose again or they may not, but that doesn't really affect my decision. The way I see it, if FSU wins tonight and UNC wins the rest of their games, the worst case scenario is a tie for the regular season title. But, if UNC loses somewhere, then they aren't winning the title outright anyway, and at least Duke's chances are diminished by a loss tonight. Go Noles!

Anonymous said...

I'd rather for Duke to win tonight, but I'm not rooting for them to win. With an FSU win, and they and Tar Heels win out, that puts the Heels as #2 and Duke #3, possibly facing each other in semi's and not the finals. If Duke wins and the Heels knock them off in Durham(Senior night too), then the Heels have the #1 and would possibly face Duke in the finals for the rubber match, possible #1 in East on line. More to gain for Heels if Duke wins.

Anonymous said...

A true UNC fan would never ever ever pull for Dook in any capacity. Would much rather see FSU win the ACC crown then cheer for Dook. Regardless, if UNC wins out, even if they aren't the official conference champ, they are going to get a 1 seed. That is all that matters.

Anonymous said...

I personally see Duke losing tonight, and FSU losing to either Miami or UVA (both on the road). I think in the end UNC enter the ACC tourney as the #1 seed/FSU as #2/Dook as #3. Then, we get to see a 3rd rematch of FSU vs Dook. UNC will prevail in the end, and make all the pre-season hype a reality.

Anonymous said...

Duke fan here, I rooted for UNC in that NIT 2 years ago because I thought it was cute. REALLY wanted to wear a UNC NIT champs t-shirt around Charlotte. Too bad they even blew that!

Anonymous said...

Haha FSU by 18? ...Really? You wanna bet cash on that? Do you use Paypal?

Moron...this is Duke, not UNCheat. They may lose, but it ain't gonna be by 18...

...or by 33.

Anonymous said...

A win is a win, and a loss is a loss...Duke gets beat tonight. They do not win the ACC. They will not get to the Elite Eight. That is a fact. When they get down to a good team by 20, they will not come back. Coach K retires at the end of the season with health problems. Lol...

Anonymous said...

Duke wins by 8 @ FSU...see Heels, it's not that hard! Hey 3:28pm, how does crow taste?

Next.

price per head service said...

haha some of my friends are North Carolina fans and they are not happy with the team and a couple have told me that being North Carolina fan sometimes sucks! haha