This week’s ACC Tournament is going to be a pretty fascinating event. The league, usually one of the best in college basketball, has no true dominant team, and a bevy of those hoping that deep runs will secure their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Virginia and Florida State, the top two seeds in the ACC, are pretty clearly the top tier of the conference. The Hoos nabbed the top seed on Saturday, with their win over Louisville and FSU’s upset loss to Notre Dame.
Right now, Bracket Matrix, which compiles a composite of the most significant bracketologists on the internet, has Virginia, Florida State, Clemson, and Virginia Tech pretty safely in the field. UNC is currently in as a 10-seed, while Louisville and Georgia Tech are both 11-seeds. It also has Syracuse as the first at-large team out, with Duke well below them, appearing in just one bracket.
However you shake it, there are more teams at this week’s ACC Tournament that are looking to play their way safely into the field than there are looking to improve seeding. CBS Sports‘ college hoops analysts gave their predictions, and most played it pretty safe, except for one.
Gary Parrish, Matt Norlander, and Jerry Palm are all going with Florida State, the No. 2 seed, to win the ACC. The Seminoles finished 15-5 with an 11-4 conference record. They blew out Virginia, 81-60, back in mid-February.
Kyle Boone is taking UVA. The Cavaliers are still technically the reigning national champions, after last year’s NCAA Tournament was canceled, Tony Bennett is as good a coach as there is in the country, and the team has been pretty consistent all year.
Chip Patterson is going with a bit of a wild card: No. 4 seed Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets used a late-season surge to get to 15-8, and 11-6 in conference play, winning six in a row entering the ACC Tournament.
Play in Greensboro tips off today at 2 p.m. ET, with Pitt vs. Miami. Duke faces Boston College at 4:30, followed by Notre Dame vs. Wake Forest at 7 p.m.