The first ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament that won’t include all 18 teams is here. After the additions of California, Stanford, and SMU, the conference is still only having 15 teams attend the conference postseason tourney, meaning the bottom three teams in the standings, Miami, North Carolina State, and Boston College, will not be in Charlotte for this week’s matchups.
This season was a down year for the conference and unlike last year, it would be stunning if anyone from the top three spots, Duke, Louisville, and Clemson, ended up the winner by late Saturday night. The tournament kicks off Tuesday with three games before four games are played Wednesday and Thursday before the semifinals and championship games on Friday and Saturday. How will things turn out this week? Let’s make some predictions.
First Round
There are some interesting matchups on Tuesday with six teams looking to advance. This is the round that NC State started in last year before going on their memorable run.
Pittsburgh defeats Notre Dame, 76-71
California defeats Virginia Tech, 69-63
Syracuse defeats Florida State, 81-75
Second Round
Five teams will begin play on Wednesday after receiving a bye on the first day with the three winners from Tuesday looking to pick up a second straight win.
Georgia Tech defeats Virginia, 65-58
North Carolina defeats Pittsburgh, 81-66
Stanford defeats California, 72-55
SMU defeats Syracuse, 77-63
Quarterfinals
The last four teams getting byes will be in action on this day.
Duke defeats Georgia Tech, 84-65
North Carolina defeats Wake Forest, 78-73
Louisville defeats Stanford, 71-60
Clemson defeats SMU, 66-57
Semifinals
Duke defeats North Carolina, 82-67
Clemson defeats Louisville, 69-65
Championship
Duke defeats Stanford, 77-66
There won't be any NC State Cinderella run this year for anyone as chalk will hold through once all is said and done late Saturday night. Could Louisville or Clemson beat Duke? Sure, but it feels like this year that the Blue Devils are not taking anyone or anything for granted.