With Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame joining the ACC for the 2013-14 season, few would have guessed that Virginia would capture the top seed in the conference tournament. But the Cavaliers did just that, beating the Orange, the Panthers and the North Carolina Tar Heels along the way. Their 16-2 league mark put them two games ahead of Syracuse, which began the year 25-0, and set them up for a noon tournament debut on Friday against either Maryland or Florida State in the tournament quarterfinals.
ACC Tournament 2014 bracket: Virginia, Syracuse and Duke among contenders in stacked conference tournament
The top four teams in the ACC all finished within three games of each other, making the conference tournament field wide open.
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The Terrapins ended their final regular season in the ACC on Sunday by edging Virginia in overtime. The Seminoles, meanwhile, enter the tournament as the league’s only true bubble team (assuming Pitt is safe). If Florida State can win two games, including one over Virginia, the selection committee will need to give the Seminoles a serious look for a spot in the field of 68.
Should Pitt win its second-round game, which will be against either Wake Forest or Notre Dame, the Panthers would draw No. 4 North Carolina in what could be an epic quarterfinal game.The Tar Heels beat the Panthers by four in Chapel Hill on Feb. 15.
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On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Syracuse might get N.C. State in the quarters. The Wolfpack almost handed the Orange their first loss of the year in mid-February, but Syracuse escaped with a 56-55 win. The Orange are coming off a win against Florida State, which ended a stretch where Syracuse had lost four out of five games.
Three-seed Duke joins Syracuse on the lower half. The Blue Devils enter the tournament winners of three out of four, including wins against Syracuse and North Carolina at home. All four of Duke’s ACC losses came on the road this season, but with the tournament being played in Greensboro and the Blue Devils having a massive fan base as it is, there should be plenty of fan support on hand for Duke this week.
Here is the full tournament schedule (All times Eastern):
Wednesday:
Road to the Title
No. 12 Wake Forest vs. No. 13 Notre Dame, 1 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU
No. 10 Miami vs. No. 15 Virginia Tech, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU
No. 11 Georgia Tech vs. No. 14 Boston College, 7 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU
Thursday:
No. 8 Maryland vs. No. 9 Florida State, noon, ESPNU
Wake Forest/Notre Dame vs. No. 5 Pittsburgh, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU
Miami/Virginia Tech vs. No. 7 N.C. State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Georgia Tech/Boston College vs. No. 6 Clemson, 9:30 p.m., ESPNU
Friday:
Maryland/Florida State vs. No. 1 Virginia, noon, ESPN2
Wake Forest/Notre Dame/Pittsburgh vs. No. 4 North Carolina, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2
Miami/Virginia Tech/N.C. State vs. No. 2 Syracuse, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia Tech/Boston College/Clemson vs. No. 3 Duke, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday:
Friday afternoon winners, 1 p.m., ESPN
Friday night winners, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Sunday:
Championship Game, 1 p.m., ESPN
The full ACC Tournament bracket can be found here:
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