What was NC State doing on Saturday?

Wake played with their food a little bit in the win over Notre Dame. The big four, I believe we might even be locked into it. All four entering the ACC tournament on Wednesday in Greensboro.

It's going to be a party. Brett Friedlander, Saturday road ACC columnist will be there. Are we locked into all four entering play on Wednesday?

We are not. Duke could still get into that top four. I do believe if Clemson loses to Virginia and Duke wins out, I think, well I think Clemson would also have to lose that home to Notre Dame because the only Duke Clemson game was the Clemson win down there. But Clemson lost to Louisville so anything is on the table and I have an answer to your question by the way as to what NC State was doing on Saturday.

Oh no, let's well let's hear that. Kevin Keats has gotten a lot from this conference so far this year and so he was giving back. The Wolfpack took one for the team because Clemson loses that game. They've got to go to Greensboro and win the whole thing to get in the NCAA tournament. Clemson is now in a position if they can beat Virginia tomorrow or I believe it's tomorrow, maybe it's Wednesday, I can't even remember.

I think it's Wednesday. That Clemson can play its way into the field. So NC State took one for the team.

You know what, that's very generous of Kevin Keats. I considered that. You don't like to do that at the peril of your own seating because I still think that NC, look I think NC State can go to Greensboro and win. I think they're one of the teams that I am circling.

I'd like to see them have a long run because I think they have the team. They did, I think Kevin Keats said it, they did not play defense. They just did not bother on that end of the floor. Clemson had over 50 at halftime. The state weight game which he referenced over the weekend or last week was very similar.

Like there was, defense was optional and really ignored. But let me ask you a question because this has become the narrative. I know Mike de Corsi of the Sporting News, our friend, wrote about this today. The ACC has nobody to complain about but themselves. You're losing too many non-conference games.

There's no doubt about that. They lost too many. I really wonder who's doing all the losing.

It does seem to be the teams at the bottom of the league. So you tweeted out after Virginia lost at home to who was, no Virginia lost up at Boston College which was a shocking result because it was Virginia more than I think anything else, right? That was a bad look for the ACC. And no offense but that made me mad because isn't really a bad look for Virginia more so, like why does that impact NC State? Because the narrative is that the ACC is an inferior league. And here's my problem. My problem is that when teams in the Big 12 or the Big 10 beat each other, what a great conference because they're feeding off each other. The ACC that happens and all of a sudden the narrative is look how terrible they are.

And so yeah, it's just it was a bad look because that's the way it was going to be interpreted and obviously it has been. But you helped it. Mine's my point.

So I was mad at you Brett Friedlander, my friend, because you helped. You fed that narrative rather than, I tried to play the mental exercise that if this were an SEC football game and Georgia had gone to Missouri like they almost did last year and lost, it would have been spun like man this is such a deep league. Like I know Boston College ain't good but I think they're plucky. I think they're not bad. Listen, they're not they're not the bottom three. They're not Louisville, Notre Dame or Georgia Tech. Right. You know they've got some players.

I agree. So bad look for Virginia, not a bad look for the ACC. Like I think it was a bad look for Miami to lose at home to Florida State. In a rivalry game. In a rivalry game. I also think that Florida State might actually be a little bit more dangerous than we're giving them crap. I don't know. I can't figure out how they became so bad.

I can. Right before the start of the season, a week before the season, they lost their their best defensive player transfer from Brown. He's a two-time Ivy League defensive player of the year and the NCAA sat Baba Miller down for 16 games and even though you can start to see now him start to come along, he is just in mid-December right now where the rest of the league is in late February. So I think that team still has a lot of growth to go and they're just going to run out of time. Well they are going to run out of time but they may take somebody down with them and by the way if you are relying upon the defensive player upon the defensive player of the year in the Ivy League to bolster your defense, I'm not even going to finish the sentence. He's a 6'10 rim protector and you know Leonard Hamilton always has a big guy and they don't have a big guy this year.

Sure but that big guy is usually 7'4. Right? And I've never heard of him before but one of my favorite things about Florida State basketball over the last decade is that even in February, I'm watching them and go I've never heard of that guy, why does he have 26 points? Every year they do something like that, Brett Friedlander. Alright we touched on State, we're going to flush that one. Duke's been good over the last four games, a four game winning streak. But is this a four game winning streak born out of the competition or is this a Duke team that is a very difficult week away and then the ACC tournament from actually being somebody we can look at and go huh there's something there coming up in the NCAA tournament? I contend that it's a five game streak, it's not a winning streak, but the Virginia game was right there. If the thing gets called correctly they're probably going to win that game. But even though they didn't, it was a really good effort on the road against a good team.

I thought it was a real sign of progress. We will learn about Duke this week. At home against NC State, then at Chapel Hill, I believe they are trending in the right direction. They're a young team that continues to add more elements. You know, Dereek Whitehead, now that he's healthy, has definitely added an athletic inside outside kind of guy.

Therese Proctor, who should be in high school still, continues to get better. I believe they're the team that could go deepest in the ACC in March. We'll see.

We will learn a lot more in the next five days. I have an open mind when it comes to the postseason prospects of the Blue Devils. The one fundamental flaw that they have that I see can be handled by Dereek Whitehead in the ability to get from the wing to the rim. He's the only player they have I think that can do that. But I'm not sure their biggest x-factor is in somebody else you mentioned. We haven't even talked about Jeremy Roach, but I think Tyrese Proctor might be their biggest x-factor because he's long. He's a very good defender. And if the shot continues to fall at the rate it's falling now, not the overall number, but the rate since he bottomed out at about 20%, if that continues to go in at the clip, I think they could be a little bit more dangerous than we think. And I think Jacob Granderson has started to play well lately too, and I think that could be an x-factor as well, especially with his experience. All right, is Carolina back with the win over Virginia?

No. They caught Virginia at a really good time. I think it's a good sign, it's a good step, but I have to see more than one game. I mean everybody was saying they were back after Clemson and then they reverted back.

So let's just see. They shot well against Virginia and you know as well as I do, as O'Roy used to say, everything looks better when the ball goes through the basket. So I would not put it past them to go down to Tallahassee and get spanked tonight by the Knolls. So let's see what happens because that's a game they absolutely cannot lose. The win Saturday definitely puts them back into a position where now it's in their own hands to get into the NCAA tournament. Even if they lose to Duke, just go to Greensboro and don't get beat in a game that they shouldn't get beat, that Friday game or with, excuse me, Thursday game, Wednesday. No, it's the Wednesday game. Yeah, I mean it starts Tuesday now.

I'm old, I got old, yeah. But yeah, but I mean so don't lose to Florida State, don't lose on Wednesday, and I think Carolina is okay now that they beat Virginia, but let's just see what happens tonight because I'm still not convinced. Well, I'm with you. I think this team has given everybody reason to be, to all be from Missouri. Show me, right?

They have to win tonight, there's no question. Adam though, but they've got the secret weapon, they've got lemon Oreos. There's no such thing. It's a shame that they called them Oreos. Pete Dance had a great game on Saturday because Hubert got him some lemon Oreos. I can't, I'm not even going to go into a lemon Oreo. I can't, but I saw Oreos with like cookies and cream filling. It's Oreos with Oreo inside.

That's blowing my mind, that whole thing. To me, Oreos are Oreos. You know, get off my lawn for anything other than the original.

I do like them coated with fudge though. So, how many ACC teams ultimately you think are getting in the field? Well, five for sure. Well, Carolina would be six. If you think Carolina's okay if they don't screw this up tonight and then don't lose to either Wake or Syracuse on Wednesday at the ACC tournament, then Carolina would make it six.

I would imagine. Are we including Clemson in this here? I got Pitt, Miami, Virginia, Duke, State. And then Carolina would be six. And I think Clemson still got a shot as well.

So, I think a max seven. But here's another thing too, Adam. If I'm NC State, I don't want to lose at Duke tomorrow. And I don't want to lose on Wednesday because Wake Forest has a very similar resume last year.

Stumbled at the end and didn't get in. And that would be the worst thing that could possibly happen to State is to put the decision in the hand of the committee, especially with the narrative that's going around about the ACC. I think State coming out of the six hole would be a pretty good pick at the ACC tournament if they were to win this. I agree. Look, I like the wolf pack, but I've been wrong before.

I just can't remember when. Brett Friedlander at Be Fried ACC. Saturday road, ACC columnist joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. We'll talk to you very soon. I'll see you a week from tomorrow, I'm sure. Looking forward to it. All right, man. Thank you. Brett Friedlander from.