Weekend Preview: SEC, ACC tourney focus

by Travis Clark

November 12, 2020

The ACC and SEC Tournaments dominate the weekend to come as the shortened women’s DI season winds towards a close. The former will wrap up on Sunday in Cary with a mouth-watering final four, while the SEC kicks off on Friday with the first round, and will continue on Sunday with the quarterfinals.

Here’s what to watch for in both tournaments.

ACC

Four of the top five regular season squads make up the ACC tournament field.

Florida State battles Duke, while North Carolina takes on Virginia in the other semifinal. Both games have potential to be classics, with the former a rematch of an earlier season matchup, and the latter the first two meetings between the two in the 2020 season.

FSU is the favorite in the first semifinal (5:30 p.m., ACC Network), adopting an approach where a hard-working starting lineup wears down the opposition, before bringing on the likes of Jenna Nighswonger, Jody Brown and Yujie Zhao come off the bench and do damage. However, the most important, and arguably best player on the Seminoles is Jaelin Howell. Her ability to control the midfield will be of particular importance as Duke will look to build through Sophie Jones.

And while the Seminoles have shown quality, Duke pulling off the upset wouldn’t be a huge shock. A set piece goal or sitting back and working on the break through Marykate McGuire or Mia Gyau, coupled with a strong defensive effort, could get the job done.

Two of the best offenses do battle in the other semifinal (8 p.m., ACC Network) when North Carolina takes on Virginia. The Cavaliers averaged 2.36 goals per game, and the Heels were just behind that at 2.1. Defense could be the difference, as UNC has conceded just three goals, while UVA has let in 15. Being defensively sound on set pieces is the ultimate key for the Cavaliers to win this one, and in some ways it could make sense for them to sit deeper and look to hit UNC on the counter. When you have Rebecca Jarrett, Alexa Spaanstra, Lia Godfrey and Diana Ordonez on the break, it could make sense, provided that the defensive platform can be there.

From the Tar Heels perspective, they don’t have quite the goal-scoring punch as it’s been a collective effort. Brianna Pinto’s come up with big goals as she showed in the quarterfinal against Virginia Tech. Rachel Jones helps with her movement and passing in the midfield. Matching up with UNC’s rotation is going to be the key for any of the other three teams to take down the defending ACC tournament champs.

SEC

The first two rounds of the tournament are slated for Friday and Sunday, as all 14 teams have progressed to Orange Beach. Alabama faces LSU (7 p.m., SEC Network) and Kentucky takes on Florida (9:30 p.m., SEC Network) in the first round.

On Sunday, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State (1 p.m.) face off, as do Georgia and Auburn (6 p.m.), with Mississippi and Missouri waiting the winners of Friday’s first round games. Action will pick up for the top four seeds on Tuesday.

So where are the most intriguing matchups? Florida’s certainly had a hard time this season, with COVID protocols and injuries providing substantial hurdles. Starting with a win against Kentucky is going to be high on their wish list. Sunday’s first round clash between a Vanderbilt side that surely would’ve had a top four seed in mind at the start of the season, and a Mississippi State program that’s shown to be on the rise should be compelling.

Whether or not a program outside the top four seeds of Arkansas, Tennessee, South Carolina or Texas A&M can win the whole tournament is the question to ask ahead of kick off, as a winner looks most likely to come from that quartet.

Related Topics: Atlantic Coast, SEC