Technician Online

March 8th, 2007

Opener affects NCAA hopes

Nick Jeffreys
Deputy Sports Editor

TAMPA, Fla. – In previous ACC Tournaments, when N.C. State and the three other North Carolina ACC schools walked onto the court, each team had some form of home-court advantage with the games in Greensboro, N.C.

This year with the tournament in Tampa, Fla., that advantage belongs to Florida State.

In the first game of the men’s ACC Tournament between FSU and Clemson – a game which many considered vital to get into the NCAA Tournament – the Seminoles had a distinct advantage in terms of support.

Its fans were loud. They were all over the refs. And the loud speaker even played the “tomahawk chop” with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

But what did this home-court advantage mean for FSU? Well, it meant a lot. Not only did it help them get the win, but it probably propelled them into the NCAA Tournament.

And after the game, FSU coach Leonard Hamilton made it known that his team should get the invite. Earlier in the season, he said he disliked the selection process. This time he said each of the 10 committee members base their selection on different topics.

FSU, the No.9 seed in the tournament, could have knocked No.8 Clemson out of the NCAA Tournament. If everything goes as planned, that means eight teams would get into the tournament.

However, Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said he believes his guys aren’t out – despite going 4-10 in its last 14 games after starting the season 17-0.

“We’ve done enough to be in the NCAA Tournament,” Purnell said.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 8th, 2007 at 4:30 pm and is filed under Men's ACC Tournament. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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