We don’t have that much sympathy for State – they did it to themselves – but we can empathize with State fans after the FSU debacle.

Well, that might be too strong a word, but it was pretty sad: after CJ Leslie had a first-half meltdown, picking up a second foul and a technical, which was his third personal, State was in early trouble.

In the second half, the Pack had both Leslie and Richard Howell on the bench with four fouls each and Florida State, down eight with 13:28 left, rallied.

Here’s Leslie’s production over the last seven minutes or so: missed a jumper, missed two free throws, split a pair, turned the ball over with 1:03 left and a two-point lead, then another turnover.

It wasn’t all his fault of course, but that was as much as 11 or 12 points he left on the table.

The worst part, though, was seeing Scott Wood get lost and having to watch Michael Snaer break away on an inbounds for a critical basket.  It was a bad lapse for a senior.

State now has to wait for the Virginia-Maryland game to see who gets a bye. If Maryland upsets Virginia, which seems unlikely (Gottfried said as much), then the depth-challenged Pack won’t play Friday.

But they could’ve taken care of that themselves.

BC’s post-season hopes are likely done but not quite: they knocked off Georgia Tech meaning that if they can win two games in Greensboro, or possibly one depending on the current rules, they might rank an invite.

Despite the loss, Georgia Tech is assured of a winning (regular) season. That’s a nice improvement from last season’s 11-20.

BC was down 10 with 14:34 left in the second half but Tech has not yet learned how to sustain a lead on the road.

The two teams may well meet again next week.

BC, incidentally, has won three straight.

Miami finally got to cut down the nets for their first ACC regular season title, but not having much practice at it, they picked up a pair from the trainer’s room which weren’t really up to the task. Kenny Kadji says they’ll have a better pair next weekend.

Well, maybe. Miami did defeat Clemson, a team with no offensive punch. Clemson kept up for the first half, 25-25,but Miami shut them down for almost 50% of the second half. Devin Booker finally scored at the 10:11 mark, but Miami was up by eight and Clemson isn’t a team designed for comebacks.

It was pretty methodical from there.

Still, despite Kadji’s optimism – and certainly Miami could win – but better teams have lost in Greensboro and Miami isn’t ending with a persuasive argument. So forgive us for waiting to see.