Maybe "yikes" above, but the ACC as a whole has started off very nicely with, as of tonight, a .869 willing percentage which is the best of any conference. And, by virtue of Duke squeaking by Santa Clara tonight, every team in the league has a winning percentage. The PAC-12 is close behind with a .823 percentage. Looking at their schedules Pitt, Syracuse, and Miami will start to stumble soon, but the rest of the ACC teams look pretty good for the next three weeks given their schedules. That said, like last year the PAC 12 may over take the ACC by the time the conference schedules start... So we shall see....
NC State had a tough match vs Monmouth Friday night. Nice composed finish by #3 Schuster with a little over 16 minutes left to win 1 to nil. I liked how she cut inside and simply passed the ball into the corner with a bit of pace. Defending could have been better on that one but the finish was smooth.
The ACC is doing pretty well against non-conference opponents as we head into conference play. UNC and Wake Forest kick off the ACC season a bit early on Thursday night, while everyone else is still playing non-conference games this week. Big/interesting non-conference games left to play: Notre Dame vs. South Carolina (the first real look we'll have at how good the Notre Dame team is) Florida State vs Colorado Virginia vs. Penn State Wake Forest vs. South Florida Clemson vs. South Carolina Louisville vs. Vanderbilt
Oops, just realized that the UNC vs. WFU game tonight is technically a non-conference game. So add that to the list.
Someone from Wake must read this forum. When I checked the schedules earlier today after reading your post, Wake had the asterisk by the game indicating that it was an ACC game. UNC didn't have it listed that way. Now Wake doesn't have the asterisk there either.
Seriously William & Mary!!? Try effin defending for once instead of lettin Virginia seem like the uswnt! I’m over them
It was completely and utterly shambolic defending by W&M and really poor keeping. Very, very funny listening to the game announcer try to make it sound like the game was close and respectable. I.will say the Renee Kohler's goal for W&M was as pretty a goal as you'll see: she left Courtney Petersen on her ass and Phoebe McClernon sprawling. I won't have highlights up for several.days due to travel, family illness, etc, but it was a pretty goal.
I think I'd like to see referees stop calling PK fouls. Too many refs seem too eager to call a foul in the box that, we can see, is not a foul. I'd bet they get it wrong /more/ than half the time. There was a bad handball/PK call in the Notre Dame/South Carolina game that gave SC the go-ahead goal, two or three bad ones in the Florida St.-Colo. match. I've seen a LOT of bad PK calls in recent years--and I think in a lot of cases it's because the refs see something happen in the box, and automatically assume it must be a foul. These calls are game-changers, game deciders, and it would be better for refs to err on the side of letting possible/actual penalties go uncalled than to keep making PK calls that are wrong. Seriously, how many times do you see a real or egregious foul in the box NOT get called? I'm sure it has happened--but it seems very rare in the college game. Why? Because the refs seem to want to blow their whistles when it comes to action in the box.
I fixed your last sentence for you. I've never been one to defend refs. When I played I was constantly grousing at them and got my fair share of warnings. As a spectator, I've had to be muzzled more than once and at times had to have family and friends helping me to keep my emotions in check. That said, you painted refs with a broad brush. Bad refs are often looking to blow their whistle in the box and will do so even if not sure that a foul was committed. Good refs will not blow their whistle unless they're sure that a foul was committed. As spectators I think that we sometimes forget that good refs do exist.
Hard to pinpoint any one team that is most dominant this early in the season. Maybe Stanford, b/c their loss was "one of those games" where you dominate run of play and lose anyway. USC and UVA are still undefeated. Of course, it's who is playing best at the end of the year that counts. Looks to be a very interesting year. No one is as clear cut a favorite as Stanford was last year.
Regular season excellence has limited value. 2games a week, its physically grueling, to earn the right to play in a KO event fro all the marbles. Its a bit silly imo. Watching the PSU UVA game today an seeing PSU players going down like flies. Meanwhile they have a bench full of internationals and big name players who see limited minutes. the logic of running kids into the ground now escapes me
Health and academic progress are an alleged concern for the NCAA. In the other football, there are limits on practice hours, coaching contact hours etc. There probably are in this one too, I'm just no aware. In this football, if they were truly concerned about the players' health, they would mandate at least 2 full days between games especially in the NCAA. No more Friday/Sunday turn arounds. As it currently stands, the CC final is played between 2 tired teams not yet fully recuperated. Anyone should want to see 2 teams at their best.
Sure, but to give yourself the best chance of getting the best 2 teams to begin with you need a longer season with more rest.
Agreed. I'm guessing it's all about the money and the financial burden on schools of more nights away from home, and more classes missed. Those things trump the physical well being. Some sports have overlapping seasons. Golf has a fall and spring season. Softball does too I think, but the fall season is more of a spring training kind of set up I believe. 1 game a week would bleed over into January/February and really impact northern schools. Not feasible IMO. 2 games Th/Sun is the best option IMO, but bigger travel budgets, more missed classes and harder for fans to attend Thursday night games are all factors. Do they trump the better health and recuperation for the girls?
Thursday/Sunday is the norm now. What really stinks in the women's game (especially for the P-5 conferences) is that all the conference games are back to back. Whereas the mens game the conference games are sprinkled throughout the season. So if you're in the Pac-12, ACC, SEC you have a grueling back half of the season, but the men don't because they pepper in weaker non-conference opponents in throughout. Something the women's side should consider? Not sure if that's desirable from a coach's perspective. Anyway, mixed results for the ACC this weekend. UNC, NC State, Wake Forest and Notre Dame all fall. FSU, Virginia, Louisville and Clemson pick up big wins.