"I See Dead People... Walking Around Like Regular People."

After watching UVA inexplicably upset Clemson in overtime in Charlottesville just now, MY20 followed up the game with the movie that best describes Clemson's typical February collapse, The Sixth Sense.

Every year they blow through the non-conference schedule. The hype builds, their ranking climbs, and their fans start to think "hey, maybe this is the year." But then something happens, the ACC Conference slate kicks off and they fade faster than a sorority girl after drinking a cup of the "blue jungle juice."

Last year, it looked like maybe the Tigers could break the trend, and they finally did by securing a 12 seed in the NCAA Tourney. But along the way, they earned the distinction of being the only team to be taken from a lock for a tourney bid to being on the bubble for the second year in a row. They also likely would have found themselves in the NIT once again had they not won two games in the ACC Tourney. Once they found themslves on the mountaintop, they lost in the first round to Villanova.

Granted, every year they've found a way to just barely outdo themselves, and once again they seemed to be threatening to vault themselves to a very solid seed. They beat Duke by 27.

All of a sudden, they've lost 2 of 3, including most recently a loss to UVA in overtime, and I'm not so sure they're a lock for to be playing in March anymore. They host the Terps on Tuesday, and have to travel to FSU and Wake, two teams they already lost to this year.

They're like Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense. The past few years they strut around in January like they're a contender in the ACC, but really all they've gotta do is see the huge exit wound on their back to see that they are grossly mistaken.

Since the 2006-2007 season, Clemson has lost 2 non-conference regular season games, which puts them second only to UNC during the same period. On the surface, that's pretty impressive.

Who'd they lose to? Mississippi and Charlotte. Interesting. How many ranked non-conference opponents have they played? 1. No. 18 Purdue, who they beat as a part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Pretty lame.

With the second best regular season non-conference record in the last 3 years, you'd expect them to be in the ballpark of #2 for conference record right? Nope. Tied for 4th with a record of 23-19 behind UNC, Duke and Virginia Tech. Also at 23-19 is Maryland.

So what does that mean for the Terps? To me it means that of our next 3 games (@ Clemson, Duke, UNC) that Clemson seems to be the low hanging fruit. Somehow the media still thinks they are pretty good, so if we can find a way to beat them we'll be in good shape. Personally, I think we'll probably blow it since we're awful on the road.

Since the fact is that we have to find a way to win one of the next 3 to stay alive, and the Terps love to make it harder on themselves, we'll probably find a way to drop what should be the easiest game to win.

Hopefully the Terps can realize what we all should have, chances are Bruce Willis died from that pretty nasty gunshot wound to the kidney and Clemson, without any real non-conference tests, really isn't that good.

Not Settling For Lame

Every year I tell myself I'm going to do it. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. I never follow through with it, but this year, I really think I can pull it off.

I'm commiting myself to knowing everything there is to know about college basketball this year. Yea, that's right. I am going to watch some much basketball this season, that I am going to be a sure thing to pick all 63 games correct in March Madness. Fact.

I'm sure this sounds ridiculous, but let's observe the facts.

My alma mater, the University of Maryland, is going to be absolutely miserable. I want to deny it, but we could be historically bad. Although I will never sell them out, I can't stop watching basketball just because my squad drives me crazy. Although from mid-November to just after April Fool's Day there is going to be a lot of yelling and cursing, I'm going to need to watch basketball without wanting to punch someone in the face.

On the surface, this sounds like a terrible idea. It does kind of sound like the elementary school lunch room situation. You're sittin' there with a slightly thawed out hot pocket (my mom used to do this, I can't imagine I settled for that kind of treatment) and the kids around you are all munchin' on some crazy deli sandwiches. Going to lunch like that is depressing, but you have to eat.

With such potentially depressing situation, why not focus on being able to make the greatest Final Four bracket ever? Sure, there's no such thing as perfect knowledge, but won't it be fun to believe that I can get there?

So, once the season starts here in a few weeks, I am commiting to watching 3-4 games a week, outside of also watching my Terps try to squeak into the NIT, and sharing my completely unqualified thoughts here. Enjoy.