And now, the good news for the ACC from its challenge series with the SEC.
No. 9 Duke over No. 2 Auburn 84-78. Clemson over No. 4 Kentucky 70-66. That’s two victories over top-5 teams.
WILD WEDNESDAY: No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Auburn fall
Okay. We’re done.
Everything else this week was pretty much . . . well, surely the ACC is very glad that’s over. Consider the carnage of the SEC/ACC Challenge.
The SEC went 14-2, including 6-2 on the road. The ACC lost 11 games by double digits and five by 20-plus points. Its two wins were by four and six. The ACC has only three ranked teams; two lost by 15 and 33. Seven SEC teams broke 85 this week. Five ACC teams could not get to 60.
Alabama had six players score in double figures, led for 36:32, and was up on North Carolina by as many as 18 points in Chapel Hill, cruising in 94-79.
Mississippi State outrebounded No. 18 Pittsburgh 49-27, outscored the Panthers 52-14 in the paint, and crushed them 90-57. It was the most significant victory over a ranked opponent for the Bulldogs in school history.
Florida used a 15-0 run to overwhelm Virginia 87-69, the most points scored against the Cavaliers in four years and 129 games.
Vanderbilt won at Virginia Tech 80-64, the eighth consecutive loss for the Hokies against current SEC members returning to 2017.
Texas and North Carolina State were within a single possession of one another for all but 53 seconds of the second half, but the Longhorns found a way in the end, 63-59.
Tennessee blasted Syracuse 96-70 to go 8-0, with all eight wins by at least 15 points. The Volunteers have played 320 minutes this season and led for nearly 304 of them. They might be No. 1 next week.
NOTHING BUT NET: College basketball’s NET rankings, explained
Oklahoma trailed Georgia Tech 34-30 at halftime but held the Yellow Jackets without a field goal the first seven minutes of the second half and moved away 76-61.
Texas A&M allowed two Wake Forest points in the final seven minutes and won 57-44, the lowest total by a power conference opponent against the Aggies in nearly eight years.
Ole Miss showed up in Louisville and shredded the Cardinals with 56.7 percent shooting, 48-26 dominance in the paint, and 10-0 in fast break points. The same Louisville team that stormed to the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis was mashed 86-63 on its court.
Georgia committed only five turnovers, its fewest in a game since 2018, in a 69-48 romp over Notre Dame.
South Carolina defended Boston College with 33.3 percent shooting and rolled 73-51.
LSU was down by three at halftime but raced past Florida State 85-75. The Tigers are now 5-0 when behind at halftime.
Arkansas trailed Miami for over 36 minutes but not at the end, pushing past 76-73.
Missouri spotted California an 18-point head start late in the first half but made 22 of 26 shots and exploded for 63 points in the second half to blow by the Bears 98-93. That was the most points in a half for the Tigers in 23 years.
Is the SEC this good? This week’s Associated Press Top 25 Poll includes eight members and four of the top 10. The most recent KenPom ratings give the SEC six top 12 spots. The league is 43-15 this season against its fellow power conferences — the ACC, Big East, Big Ten and Big 12. That includes a 26-3 wipeout of the ACC. By percentage, Missouri and Tennessee are the best shooting teams in the nation. Kentucky is the second-highest-scoring offense. Nos. 5-8 nationally in the assist-turnover ratio are all SEC teams,
Is the ACC this shaky? There have been some wobbles.
North Carolina has trailed by double digits in the first half of four games in a row and lost three. Virginia Tech has dropped five in a row. So has Notre Dame, including to Elon. So has Miami. Two years removed from the Final Four, the Hurricanes are 3-15 over their past 18 games going back to last season. Virginia has been defeated by 22, 25 and 18 points. Boston College lost to Dartmouth for the first time since 1988. Stanford took back-to-back defeats from Grand Canyon and Cal Poly.
And then there were the past two hard days against the SEC by nearly everyone. Duke and Clemson, the ACC, turned its lonely eyes to you. Yes, the Blue Devils flexed their freshman muscle with a Cooper Flagg double-double and 18 first-half points off the bench from Isaiah Evans. Yes. Kentucky was the highest-ranked non-conference opponent Clemson had ever beaten at home. And yes, everything else was the SEC on parade. Fourteen wins; average winning margin 16 points.
“Give them credit, tip your cap, they kicked our butt,” said Louisville’s Pat Kelsey.
“When things don’t work our way, there are two choices: you can stay down and whine and complain, or you can get your tail back up and step forward and start swinging,” said North Carolina’s Hubert Davis.
Both coaches talked about their teams, but they could have met their league. It was a steamrolling. The subject might come up on Selection Sunday.
