ACC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

By:Paul Scofield

​The Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. That name should tell you that we’re in for a great week of college basketball, not to mention the other conferences battling it out for that conference title. Whether your team is already in the tournament regardless of their performance this week, they’re on the bubble and battling for a bid, or maybe your team’s only hope for a Big Dance bid is winning it all, we’re all guaranteed a week of great basketball.
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The very first thing I normally do is go ahead and put my “heavy favorite” to win the tournament out there and my top 3 teams to watch out for. I find this extremely difficult to do. There is no clear-cut favorite to win this conference, there never is honestly. I know UVA is the top seed and the #1 team in the nation right now, however, I could see them losing to FSU or Louisville in their first game. I could see another favorite to win the tournament in Duke, losing their first game as well to either Virginia Tech, Notre Dame or Pitt. Since I’m forcing myself to pick a favorite though, I’m going to go with UVA just because of their defense. They don’t have a typical 1 seed road through a tournament though. They have to go through either FSU or Louisville, then either Clemson or NC State/Boston College/Georgia Tech.

My 3 teams to watch out for were a little easier, however I’m going to give you 4, not 3 teams. My first selection is (5)NC State. They have a pretty “easy” game in the first go around, with a matchup against either (12)Boston College or (13 Georgia Tech. They move on to play, pending a win of course, (4)Clemson. I do like their road to stardom; however, it gets a bit tough after Clemson. Not saying Clemson isn’t a tough task, but I believe NC State can get the job done. My 2nd selection is (7)Virginia Tech. They’ve been quietly making a name for themselves as contenders, except for a majority of their solid victories have been home games (NC State, Duke, North Carolina and Clemson). They did go on the road to UVA and take down the #2, at the time, team in the country in overtime 61-60. They may have a rough first game against either (10)Notre Dame or (15)Pitt. Notre Dame should survive that matchup, and with Bonzie Colson back, I’d watch out for them to make a deep run. Their 2nd matchup is set to be (2)Duke. They split with Duke during the regular season. They do have a rough road, but I think they can handle their business and make a run. My 3rd selection is (6)UNC. I really don’t like putting them on my list being a UNC fan, however, they are a 6 seed. This team was a win against either Miami at home on Senior Night or at Duke on their Senior Night away from being the 2 seed. That’s how close this conference truly is. Their first game is against either (11) Syracuse or (14)Wake Forest. Syracuse is interesting yet again this year, because they’re playing in their home state for the 2nd straight year. I don’t think that’s going to matter much against either Wake Forest or North Carolina though. If UNC comes away with a win, they’ll get a Senior Night rematch on neutral floor with (3)Miami. Now my 4th team I chose, I feel like I had to because of an injury, (10)Notre Dame. They went 6-7 in that span, which just happened to be a majority of their conference play. Fortunately for them, he’s back and put up 24 points in a loss to UVA and 12 points 9 rebounds in 21 minutes in his return against Pittsburgh. I know they have a rough road, and I also understand that they have a prolonged tournament, not getting a first round bye. However, what Colson brings to that team is something special. They’re completely different with him than without him. That was proven with his absence. They have to open up with (15)Pitt, which shouldn’t be an issue. Then they move on to (7)Virginia Tech just 28 hours later. Win that and they play (2)Duke 24 hours later. In my opinion, they have to make the ACC Championship game to get a bid into March, but crazier things have happened, and the committee does take injuries into consideration. They just have to continue performing with Colson on the floor.

The tournament schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, March 6 (1st Round)
​(12) Boston College vs (13) Georgia Tech (ESPN2/ACC Network), noon
​(10) Notre Dame vs (15) Pittsburgh (ESPN2/ACC Network), 2:00pm
​(11) Syracuse vs (14) Wake Forest (ESPNU/ACC Network), 7:00pm

Wednesday, March 7 (2nd Round)
​(8) FSU vs (9) Louisville (ESPN/ACC Network), noon
​(5) NC State vs Tuesday noon winner (ESPN/ACC Network), 2:00pm
​(7) Virginia Tech vs Tuesday 2:00pm winner (ESPN2/ACC Network), 7:00pm
​(6) North Carolina vs Tuesday 7:00pm winner (ESPN2/ACC Network), 9:00pm

Thursday, March 8 (Quarterfinals)
(1) UVA vs Wednesday noon winner (ESPN/ACC Network), noon
(4) Clemson vs Wednesday 2:00pm winner (ESPN/ACC Network), 2:00pm
(2) Duke vs Wednesday 7:00pm winner (ESPN/ACC Network), 7:00pm
(3)Miami vs Wednesday 9:00pm winner (ESPN/ACC Network), 9:00pm

Friday, March 9 (Semifinals)
​Thursday afternoon winners (ESPN or ESPN2/ACC Network), 7:00pm
​Thursday evening winners (ESPN or ESPN2/ACC Network), 9:00pm

Saturday, March 10 (Championship Game)
​Friday evening winners (ESPN/ACC Network), 8:30pm

If you would like a printable version it here at the bottom!