The News and Observer has a blogpost on Sidney Lowe's tempo pushing, in comparison the previous Wolfpack coach. They also point out that when forced to slow it down, the team struggles as evidenced in Saturday's trouble against Mount St. Mary's. I found the tempo comment especially interesting, since from a numbers standpoint, it's not really working:
Team Pace North Carolina 76.6 Maryland 74.6 Wake Forest 73.0 Virginia 73.0 Georgia Tech 72.6 Florida St. 69.8 Clemson 68.3 Boston College 67.9 Miami FL 67.0 North Carolina St. 66.7 Virginia Tech 65.8 Duke 64.3
I admit, I don't know what to make of the folks in Raleigh. I thought they would be horrible, but a 7-2 record isn't bad for a team so undermanned. Only one of the wins is of any real quality, but giving Michigan their only loss of the year is enough for me to reevaluate the team. One thing is clear - they will never play at the tempo Lowe desires if they're only playing six people a game, and that's probably the brunt of the reason they're so far down the list. Both Engin Atsur and Pitt transfer Trevor Ferguson are supposed to suit up for the Alabama game on Wednesday, and although I don't think the Pack will win, how they play should be a good indication on how the conference season will go for them.