The Tigers are the 5 seed and were oh so close to finishing 4th in the standings and getting the coveted double bye in the tournament. They finished 10-6, and Georgia Tech finished 11-6. Tech barely beat Duke in overtime at home last week, and if Duke had won that game (they had the ball with a chance to win at the end of regulation), the Tigers would have been the 4 seed instead of Tech. Tough draw for the Tigers, too. They play Wednesday at 2:30 against the winner of Pitt and Miami, both of which the Tigers have beaten in the last week. It's tough to beat a team twice, let alone twice in a week! In the case of Miami, the Tigers would have to beat them a third time this season. However, Clemson fans should root for Miami in my opinion. They have depth issues and could be worn out by the 2nd half of a 2nd game, and Pitt is the more dangerous team in general. The Tigers led them by just 2 points at halftime yesterday.
If the Tigers win on Wednesday, they will have to play a rested Georgia Tech team, which is one of the hottest in the ACC and earned a double-bye, on Thursday at 2:30. The Tigers won the last meeting at home 74-72 thanks to a last-second bank shot 3 by Nick Honor.
If the Tigers should knock off the Jackets, they would likely face No.1 seed UVA, which won the regular season title and pounded the Tigers in Littlejohn after coming off COVID pause. UVA is the one team that the Tigers haven't been able to beat in recent years and the last team I want to face if I'm Brownell. Hopefully for the Tigers, either Cuse or NC State will upset UVA.
This is as wide-open as the ACC has ever been, and I think the Tigers have as good a shot to win the whole thing for the first time as they've ever had. I wouldn't bet on it, but there's a chance! Hopefully they'll at least make it to the semifinal.
The full bracket PDF is below!
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) –The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced the seedings and bracket for the 68th annual New York Life ACC Tournament, which will be played Tuesday through Saturday (March 9-13) at Greensboro Coliseum.
After winning its fifth ACC regular-season championship in the last eight years, Virginia (17-6, 13-4 ACC) earned the tournament’s No. 1 seed and a double bye into the quarterfinals on Thursday. No. 2 Florida State (15-5, 11-4), No. 3 Virginia Tech (15-5, 9-4) and No. 4 Georgia Tech (15-8, 11-6) also earned double byes and will start tournament play on Thursday.
The tournament begins Tuesday with three matchups. No. 12 Pitt (10-11, 6-10) takes on No. 13 Miami (8-16, 4-15) at 2 p.m., No. 10 Duke (11-11, 9-9) faces No. 15 Boston College (4-15, 2-11) at 4:30 p.m. and No. 11 Notre Dame (10-14, 7-11) plays No. 14 Wake Forest (6-15, 3-15) in the nightcap at 7 p.m. All three games will be televised by ACC Network.
The second round on Wednesday starts at noon with No. 8 seed Syracuse (15-8, 9-7) taking on No. 9 NC State (13-9, 9-8) at noon. No. 5 seed Clemson (16-6, 10-6) takes on the winner of the Pitt-Miami game at 2:30 p.m. In the evening session, No. 7 Louisville (13-6, 8-5) plays the winner of the Duke-BC matchup at 6:30 p.m., with No. 6 North Carolina (16-9, 10-6) facing the Notre Dame-Wake Forest winner at 9 p.m. The quartet of games will be televised on ACC Network.
The Wednesday winners then will move on to play the tournament’s top four seeds on Thursday in the quarterfinals, which will be broadcast by ESPN or ESPN2.
All 14 tournament games will be nationally televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ACC Network. In addition, all games will be available for streaming via ACCNX.
The ACC and its 15 member institutions will continue to follow the policies and protocols in the ACC’s Medical Advisory Report.
The Greensboro Coliseum Complex has instituted the Patron Health Initiative, a program dedicated to the safety of patrons, staff and performers stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak. Face coverings are mandatory for every person 5 years or older and must be worn at all times, except while actively eating and drinking in your seat.
The full 2021 New York Life ACC Tournament schedule:
Tuesday, March 9
First Round
2 p.m. – No. 12 Pitt vs. No. 13 Miami (ACC Network)
4:30 p.m. – No. 10 Duke vs. No. 15 Boston College (ACC Network)
7 p.m. – No. 11 Notre Dame vs. No. 14 Wake Forest (ACC Network)
Wednesday, March 10
Second Round
Noon – No. 8 Syracuse vs. No. 9 NC State (ACC Network)
2:30 p.m. – No. 5 Clemson vs. Pitt/Miami winner (ACC Network)
6:30 p.m. – No. 7 Louisville vs. Duke/Boston College winner (ACC Network)
9 p.m. – No. 6 North Carolina vs. Notre Dame/Wake Forest winner (ACC Network)
Thursday, March 11
Quarterfinals
Noon – No. 1 Virginia vs. Wednesday Noon winner (ESPN or ESPN2)
2:30 p.m. – No. 4 Georgia Tech vs. Wednesday 2:30 p.m. winner (ESPN or ESPN2)
6:30 p.m. – No. 2 Florida State vs. Wednesday 6:30 p.m. winner (ESPN or ESPN2)
9 p.m. – No. 3 Virginia Tech vs. Wednesday 9 p.m. winner (ESPN or ESPN2)
Friday, March 12
Semifinals
6:30 p.m. – Thursday afternoon winners (ESPN or ESPN2)
9 p.m. – Thursday evening winners (ESPN or ESPN2)
Saturday, March 13
Championship
8:30 p.m. – Semifinal winners (ESPN)
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