All posts by Cliff Barnes

Featured stories, The skinny

Teams fight for playoffs in Week 10 of the high school football season

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As the season is winding down, teams are fighting for playoff spots. Two games that could be close are favorites Wakefield at Broughton and favorites Garner at Southeast Raleigh. Those games could go either way but I’m sticking with the favorites. The weather will be clear with temperatures in the 50s tonight. Here are 11 football games being played tonight that are within driving distance in the Triangle area. Most games are at 7:30 p.m. You might want to check with local officials as some games start at 7. In bold below are the predicted winners. Last week my record was 9-0-1 for a 73-16-1 season mark. I am dropping the Apex at Northern Durham tie and adding an extra game this week.

Apex at Fuquay-Varina

Cardinal Gibbons at Orange

Garner at Southeast Raleigh

Green Hope at Cary

Durham Hillside at East Chapel Hill

Holly Springs at Middle Creek

Durham Jordan at Panther Creek

Leesville Road at Heritage

Millbrook at Wake Forest-Rolesville

Sanderson at Enloe

Wakefield at Broughton

Other games in the Triangle include Wake Christian at North Raleigh Christian, Southern Vance at Chapel Hill, Southern Durham at Northern Durham, Smithfield-Selma at East Wake and Charlotte Christian at Ravenscroft. Check the scores at the top of the left navigation bar on this page.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny, UNC

Baseball America ranks Wolfpack 4th, Heels 20th in recruiting

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Vanderbilt topped Baseball America’s annual recruiting class rankings while N.C. State ranked fourth and North Carolina 20th. The Wolfpack surpasses their previous high ranking of 11th in 2009.

The Commodores landed the nation’s top recruit in unsigned first-round pick Tyler Beede, a bona fide ace with premium stuff, command and makeup. The early enrollment of power-hitting catcher Chris Harvey gives Vanderbilt a second marquee recruit. Athletic outfielder John Norwood and high-upside pitchers Adam Ravenelle and Philip Pfeifer join Beede and Harvey as the core of a very deep class.

Texas brought in the No. 2 class, its eighth top-10 class since the BA recruiting rankings started in the fall of 2000. Southern Mississippi welcomed its best class ever, landing in the recruiting rankings for the first time at No. 3. Mississippi rounds out the top five with its highest-ranked class ever, marking the Rebels’ seventh appearance in the 12-year history of the recruiting rankings.

The Southeastern Conference placed eight teams in the Top 25 for the second year in a row, leading all conferences once again. The Pacific-12 Conference followed with four teams in the Top 25, and the Atlantic Coast Conference produced three ranked classes as Virginia was ranked eighth. Nine different conferences appeared in the rankings.

Four-year transfers were not considered for BA’s rankings, except graduate transfers who are immediately eligible.

For breakdowns on the top 25 classes, plus a look at some of the best classes by region outside the top 25, visit www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/recruiting.

Duke, Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny, UNC

All voters name Barnes as preseason player of the year for preseason pick UNC

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Fronted by the unanimous choice for Player of the Year, the North Carolina is the media’s nearly unanimous pick to win the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2011-12.

While this seems to suggest the season’s course is already determined, consider this: Last year, the lone dissenter was the only psychic.

Duke was the choice of every voter save one in October of 2010. That fellow picked the Tar Heels, who went on to claim the regular season. (The Devils prevailed in the ACC Tournament.)

On Wednesday, 57 of 59 electors went with Tar Heels, which return the vast majority of their roster from a group that went 29-8. That contingent includes swing man Harrison Barnes, whose excellence in conference play last season made talent evaluators swoon. Barnes, to the surprise of some, is still an amateur, and, joined by post players John Henson and Tyler Zeller, he gives North Carolina an acclaimed front line.

Barnes, who averaged 15.7 points a game last year, was the second player to get the early nod from every voter in the past four years. Another Tar Heel, Tyler Hansbrough, was the choice in October of 2008.

The Devils received the other two first-place votes and are solidly second overall. Florida State, which advanced to the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 last year, is third. Also occupying the upper stratum is Virginia, which has its highest on-paper expectations (fourth place) since predicted third in 2001-02.

Miami and Virginia Tech round out the top half of the projected final standings. The triumvirate of Barnes, Zeller and Henson made UNC the first team to place three men on the top preseason squad since voters tapped Duke’s Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy for the 2001-02 season.

Generally speaking, electors have a solid track record. The No. 1 or No. 2 choice in preseason has gone on to win or share 35 of the past 42 regular-season titles.

2011-12 ACC Preseason Predictions
ACC Operation Basketball, Charlotte
59 Ballots
Team Finish:
1-North Carolina (57) 706
2-Duke (2) 649
3-Florida State 560
4-Virginia 463
5-Miami 455
6-Virginia Tech 411
7-Clemson 403
8-NC State 316
9-Maryland 264
10-Georgia Tech 176
11-Wake Forest 109
12-Boston College 90

Preseason All-ACC:
Harrison Barnes, UNC 59*
John Henson, UNC 47
Tyler Zeller, UNC 46
Malcolm Grant, Miami 32
Seth Curry, Duke 20 (t)
Mike Scott, Virginia 20 (t)
*denote unanimous

Preseason Player of the Year:
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina 57
John Henson, North Carolina 2

Preseason Rookie of the Year:
Austin Rivers, Duke 57
James Michael McAdoo 1
Nick Faust, Maryland 1

– ACC News Release

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Both Duke and Wake coaches believe their teams are similar

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At the Wednesday weekly ACC coaches news conference, both Duke coach David Cutcliffe and Coach Jim Grobe had similar answers to this question. How would you characterize the Duke-Wake football rivalry (which renews this weekend)?

COACH CUTCLIFFE: I think it’s two teams that obviously come from similar universities that makes it a rivalry, geographic location make it’s a rivalry. Circumstances, like I said, that most universities are faced with. I think the thing is right now our programs are very similar. You have two teams that are going to play extremely hard, two teams that are going to be disciplined. They’re going to compete like crazy. Since I’ve been at Duke, and really quite often in recent times even before we came, a very hotly contested game, and it’s going to always be an exciting, good football game for the fans.

COACH GROBE: Well, I think it’s a great rivalry because the games have been really, really close. That’s what you look for in a rivalry, and our schools are so similar. We’re academic schools playing in a big-time football league. I think we’ve got both of us have a bunch of kids from North Carolina. A lot of our kids have played against each other in high school, so they’ve probably
developed a little bit of competitiveness going against each other at the high school level, and they get up here and it continues for four years. Our universities are very similar. Every year our games have been really, really close. We’ve had some barn burners playing each other since I’ve been at Wake Forest, and I would expect that that will continue Saturday.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny

Can O’Brien get State on track during second half of season again?

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N.C. State is coming off a bye week to play Virginia. A healthier Wolfpack will be taking on the second half of the season, a time that Tom O’Brien coached teams have done well. How does he do it?

“Our first year was a question of getting the right people in the lineup,” Coach O’Brien said. “We had the wrong people in the wrong spots and was able to restructure the defense and the offense. The second year, we were in a situation like we were now where we had so many injuries the first half of the year that we couldn’t get any continuity until we got to the off week and got people healthy and got back at it again.”

Unfortunately, while bumps and bruises have healed, the Pack hasn’t gotten many players back from the injury list. “So we used the off week to try to get the guys that are going to have to play the second half of the year fundamentally sound and better football players,” O’Brien said. “We are who we are, and we’re going to go play the second half of the year.”

Players who could possibly return for the game at Virginia are A.J. Ferguson (DT) and Curtis Underwood (HB).

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

UNC’s Barth might be redshirted if his leg continues to bother him

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Preseason Groza Award candidate Casey Barth has been injured most of the season and UNC is looking into redshirting the senior kicker from Wilmington.

“Right now we are not ready for Casey to kick,” UNC coach Everett Withers said. “In fact, we’re investigating the situation of possibly redshirting him. We’re going to look into the ACC office about a hardship possibility.”

Withers said he didn’t want Casey to come back until he is 100 percent healthy and his leg continues to bother him. “We just felt like in our best interest and in his also, and his family’s and this football team, not to push him out there, not to rush him.”

Featured stories, Redskins, The skinny, UNC

Hanburger selected as Carolina’s Legend for ACC championship game

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Professional Football Hall of Famer Chris Hanburger has been named Carolina’s 2011 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game Legend. The Legends (one from each school) will be honored at this year’s Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game weekend.

They will be honored at the ACC Night of Legends event on Friday, Dec. 2, and during ceremonies at Bank of America Stadium for the 7th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship, which has an 8 p.m. kickoff on Dec. 3 and will be nationally televised
by ESPN in both HD and 3-D.

Hanburger (1962-64), was a standout linebacker and center for the North Carolina teams of coach Jim Hickey in the early-to-mid 1960s. Named a first-team All-ACC selection as a center in both 1963 and 1964, he helped lead the 1963 Tar Heel team to a 9-2 record, a share of the ACC championship and a 35-0 win over Air Force in the Gator Bowl.

Drafted on the 18th round of the 1965 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins, Hanburger went on to play 14 seasons in Washington, where he earned nine Pro Bowl selections and was regarded as one of the best outside linebackers of his era. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August at Canton, Ohio, he played in 187 NFL games and was voted to the All-NFL team four times.

A mainstay of the dominant Washington Redskin teams of the 1970s, he made 19 career interceptions, returning them for 347 yards and two touchdowns. He led Washington to the 1972 NFC Championship and Super Bowl VII. That year, he was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Year. Originally a native of Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, he now lives in Darlington, S.C.

Featured stories, The skinny

Hurricanes assign rookie Faulk to Charlotte

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Carolina Hurricanes today announced that the team has assigned defenseman Justin Faulk to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Faulk, 19, made his NHL debut with the Hurricanes in the team’s season opener on Oct. 7 against Tampa Bay. The South St. Paul, MN, native has played in three of the Hurricanes’ six games this season, averaging 18:59 of ice time per game. Faulk (6’0”, 205 lbs.) is in his first full professional season after winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in 2010-11. The Hurricanes drafted Faulk in the second round, 37th overall, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

The Carolina Hurricanes will continue their four-game road swing on Friday at St. Louis (8 p.m. ET, FOX Sports Carolinas HD, Hurricanes Radio Network) in the first game of a back-to-back set that wraps up on Saturday at Winnipeg. The Hurricanes will return to the RBC Center on Tuesday, Oct. 25, to face the Ottawa Senators. For information on 2011-12 Carolina Hurricanes ticket packages, please visit www.CarolinaHurricanes.com, or call 1-866-NHL-CANES.

Duke, Featured stories, N.C. State, UNC

ACC announces football game times, TV for Oct. 27-29

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The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced the following game times and networks for Oct. 27-29:

Thursday, Oct. 27
Virginia at Miami, ESPN, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 29
NC State at Florida State, ESPNU, Noon
Virginia Tech at Duke, ACC Network, 12:30 p.m.
Boston College at Maryland, RSN, 3 p.m.
Wake Forest at North Carolina, ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.
Clemson at Georgia Tech, ABC, ESPN or ESPN2#, 8 p.m.

#Network for Clemson at Georgia Tech to be announced after the games of Oct. 22.

Featured stories, The skinny

After a 10-0 week of predictions, Week 9 of high school football season is upon us

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The game of the night may very well be the Cary at Panther Creek match up. Each team has two losses and Panther Creek is playing at home but I’m going with Cary. The Imps did not play last week so they have an extra week to prepare for Panther Creek, which was not impressive in a win against weak Lee. Here are 10 football games being played tonight that are within driving distance in the Triangle area. Most games are at 7:30 p.m. You might want to check with local officials as some games start at 7. In bold below are the predicted winners. Last week my record was 10-0 for a 64-16 season mark.

Apex at Northern Durham

Cary at Panther Creek

East Chapel Hill at Southern Durham

East Wake at Southeast Raleigh

Enloe at Wakefield

Fuquay-Varina at Holly Springs

Garner at Knightdale

Heritage at Broughton

Lee County at Green Hope

Leesville Road at Millbrook

Other games in the Triangle include Middle Creek at Athens Drive, North Raleigh Christian at Ravenscroft and Northern Vance at Cardinal Gibbons. Check the scores at the top of the left navigation bar on this page.