Blog: Bilas and Greenberg Talk ACC Basketball
By: Ryan Bertonaschi
Jay Bilas and Seth Greenberg took questions from media members today in ESPN’s preseason media conference call. I had to leave the call early because of Anthropology class and couldn’t get my questions off, but both analysts addressed the new-look ACC.
Bilas, the super-Duke copyright lawyer, hit the nail on the head when a reporter asked him about the struggle for survival in the 2014-15 ACC. Bilas responded by comparing the conference’s top-to-bottom appearance this season to that of the former Big East.
“It’s got a Big East feel to it,” Bilas said. “And even though we’ll see different styles of play, we’re going to get to this Big East feel of fist fights as far as competitions for wins are concerned because getting into the NCAA Tournament is so competitive, and we could see nine teams come in. I don’t think nine or 10 is out of the realm of possibility in the next year or two.”
Greenberg, the former Virginia Tech head coach, pointed out that Florida State could be “in the mix” for one of the conference’s top positions, meaning it is a deep, deep conference, and middle-of-the-pack teams could be on upset alert on any given night.
“It would be a rare year that [the ACC is] not going to have teams in the Elite Eight and the Final Four,” Greenberg said. “In my opinion, I can’t imagine six or seven of these programs going anywhere. It’s hard to get [to the NCAA Tournament], but they’re always going to be in the dialogue.”
Bilas listed six ACC teams that he thinks will compete for the conference title. The group, in no particular order, included North Carolina, Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse and Pitt, with Duke being his choice as the conference’s frontrunner.
