One and Done

The ACC Tournament started today at Noon. By about 2:05 Wake Forest was no longer an active participant. In a disappointing 70-60 loss to Florida State, a team Wake has beaten twice in the regular season, Wake was eliminated from the tournament.

It was definitely a frustrating afternoon. Wake never looked awful but also never looked good. There were flashes of brilliance from some players and disappearing acts from others. Sometimes the offense looked like it could beat anyone in the conference, other times it didn’t seem to exist at all. The same pretty much goes for the defense.

The season isn’t exactly over. All expectations are that Wake will make the NIT, and maybe even get to enjoy a home game or two (although I think the home part is in jeopardy now). Even though Wake would have had to win this tournament to make the NCAA Tournament, it would have been nice to at least have the honor of losing to UNC in the 2^nd round.

Florida State actually played a reasonably good game. Jason Rich was almost unstoppable. They shot relatively well and also played good defense. None of that made them untouchable today, though. Wake had opportunities and didn’t capitalize. The explosiveness and fire just wasn’t there.

All season it was clear the talent level on our team wasn’t at the top of the ACC, and by most accounts they still overachieved. Still, there were flashes that showed Wake was capable of more, and it’s hard to see them not reach that potential.

The NIT could still be fun, but it won’t have the passion the NCAA’s could have had. Most Wake fans will probably start looking forward to what next season could hold. It’s hard to blame them. I doubt there’s a Wake fan around that doesn’t expect to buy NCAA Tournament tickets next season, and quite possibly even Final Four tickets. That’s just the way preseason (or in this case postseason) hype works.

Nonetheless, I still hope people stick around and support the team in the NIT. They deserve it.

So that’s that. Wake has now lost 5 of 6. A promising ACC start turned in to this. Sometimes that’s just how the cards fall with a young team in the ACC. We’ll be back.