When Miami went on the road to Chapel Hill and got beat down like they had never before, against the Tar Heels, the question about whether they would compete for the ACC regular season title was put into question. Yet here we are, with one game left in the regular season, and the Hurricanes are right back in the thick of things.
Miami has tied North Carolina atop the standings with a 13-4 record on the year, with only Virginia Tech standing in their way between them and at least a share on top of the standings. But North Carolina has a more difficult road trip facing them, one at rival conference foe Duke, giving hope to everyone in South Florida that the Hurricanes might just stand alone at the top of the standings when the regular season ends.
That would be a miraculous turn around by some accounts. Though if we remember back to the beginning of the season where just on this website I predicted the Hurricanes to win the ACC – – no matter the fact that they lost to Northeastern later that day – – it can’t be too surprising that this group is where they are. Jim Larranaga has a group comprised of veterans and newcomers, one that he’s molded into just the kind of machine that wins games in March. Guard play is electric, they protect the rim, and they rebound the ball.
While it remains to be seen whether they can overtake UNC for the ACC title, the Hurricanes will be a popular Final Four pick in just over a week.
