ACC Tournament 2024: Complete Schedule and Updated Men's Bracket Predictions
Saturday's clash between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils is one of many ACC games that will determine the ACC tournament seeding.
North Carolina has one of the simplest scenarios across the conference. The Tar Heels just need to win inside Cameron Indoor Stadium to clinch the ACC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament.
A Duke win complicates the battle for the top seed because the rivals would be tied at 16-4 in league play.
The Tar Heels and Blue Devils are guaranteed to be the top two seeds in Washington D.C. next week. That will spark the buildup to a third potential meeting between the longtime foes.
The Virginia Cavaliers should lock in the No. 3 seed with a win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, but after that, the No. 4 seed could go to as many four different programs.
ACC Tournament Schedule
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Tuesday, March 12
No. 12 seed vs. No. 13 seed (2 p.m. ET, ACC Network)
No. 10 seed vs. No. 15 seed (4:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network)
No. 11 seed vs. No. 14 seed (7 p.m. ET, ACC Network)
Wednesday, March 13
No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed (Noon ET, ESPN or ESPN2)
No. 5 seed vs. No. 12/13 winner (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 7 seed vs. No. 10/15 winner (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
No. 6 seed vs. No. 11/14 winner (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2 or ESPNU)
Thursday, March 14
No. 1 seed vs. No. 8/9 winner (Noon ET, ESPN or ESPN2)
No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 vs. 12/13 winner (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2)
No. 2 seed vs. No. 7 vs. 10/15 winner (7 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2)
No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 vs. 11/14 winner (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2)
Friday, March 15
Semifinal No. 1 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2)
Semifinal No. 2 (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2)
Saturday, March 16
Championship Game (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Bracket Prediction
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1. North Carolina
2. Duke
3. Virginia
4. Pittsburgh
5. Wake Forest
6. Clemson
7. Syracuse
8. Virginia Tech
9. Florida State
10. NC State
11. Boston College
12. Notre Dame
13. Georgia Tech
14. Miami
15. Louisville
The ACC as a whole has not been great this season, but Saturday's UNC-Duke clash should carry the normal buzz around it.
North Carolina needs a win to avoid going deep into tiebreakers with Duke for the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament. A win would also give the Heels the outright regular-season title.
UNC beat Duke 93-84 on February 3. Since then, the Tar Heels are 6-2 and the Blue Devils are 8-1.
UNC's losses to the Clemson Tigers and Syracuse Orange could hurt it in tiebreakers, as the Washington Post's Patrick Stevens detailed.
A win in Durham would eliminate all those tiebreaking scenarios, and it would help the Tar Heels make a case for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Duke's defense could be the X-factor on Saturday. The Blue Devils held opponents under 70 points in each of their last eight wins.
However, that may not be enough to land Duke the No. 1 seed because of the tiebreakers in place.
Clemson visits the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, who are desperate for a win, while the Pittsburgh Panthers host the struggling NC State Wolfpack. A Pitt win and Clemson loss shift the tiebreaker in UNC's favor.
A Pitt victory and a Clemson loss would place the Panthers directly into the ACC tournament quarterfinals.
The Syracuse Orange would drop to No. 7 in that scenario since they lost twice to Clemson and once to Wake Forest. All of those teams would be tied at 11-9 in league play.
The bottom half of the conference should remain the same barring any upsets on Saturday.
The most surprising sight is the Miami Hurricanes in 14th place, only above the Louisville Cardinals.
Miami needs a miracle in Washington, D.C. just to get back to the NCAA tournament to have a shot at repeating its Final Four run from a year ago.
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