The ACC men's basketball tournament gets underway on Tuesday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Spectrum Center. Some teams have some work to do in the tournament to keep any hopes they have of getting on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble on Selection Sunday.
One of those teams is Virginia Tech, which needs to make a serious run, as well as have a lot of other results go its way in other conference tournaments. This year, Duke is the class of the ACC with Virginia finishing second, Miami third, and North Carolina fourth. Duke and UNC are dealing with injuries to their top players, which could open things up for other teams. Here are three teams that could be sleepers as the tourney gets underway.
Louisville
Before conference play started, Louisville was a team that a lot of people were high on. However, an injury to Mikel Brown greatly hampered the Cardinals and head coach Pat Kelsey. They ended up finishing sixth in the standings and will have to play on Day 2 against the winner of Syracuse and SMU. The bracket sets up well for them in terms of playing Miami, a team they just beat in South Florida in the quarterfinals, if they get by their first game. It would be surprising to see the Cardinals in the semifinals if Brown can play, as he is listed as day-to-day.
Florida State
Halfway through the ACC schedule, who had Florida State making this list? Heck, who had them making the ACC Tournament? However, some changes by first-year head coach Luke Loucks, and all of a sudden, the Seminoles are the team in Charlotte that nobody wants to see on their side of the bracket. They get California in the 8-9 game with the winner getting top-seeded Duke in the quarterfinals. I know, this is a long stretch, but FSU is a very dangerous team this week.
Clemson
After losing to Virginia Tech at home in February, 76-66, a stretch started where the Tigers went from second place behind Duke to the fifth-seed. Brad Brownell and his team sturggled through a rough patch, but were able to right the ship before the end of the regular season. They get the winner of Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, and if they get by that game, then an interesting matchup with North Carolina awaits in the quarterfinals without the Tar Heels' star freshman Caleb Wilson.