ACC Tournament 2024: Top Storylines for Men's Round 2 Games
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons over the last two weeks.
Steve Forbes' team plummeted out of the projected NCAA men's basketball tournament field with three straight defeats.
Wake opens its ACC tournament slate on Wednesday in need of multiple wins in Washington, D.C. to even have a chance of competing for one of the final at-large spots.
The Demon Deacons are expected to beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but that was also the expectation prior to Wake's February 27 loss in South Bend.
The Clemson Tigers are the only other team with NCAA tournament potential in action on Wednesday. They are firmly in the field and looking to make a deep run in Washington, D.C. to potentially challenge the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils.
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ACC Tournament Day 2 Schedule
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No. 9 Florida State vs. No. 8 Virginia Tech (Noon ET, ESPN)
No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 5 Wake Forest (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 10 NC State vs. No. 7 Syracuse (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
No. 11 Boston College vs. No. 6 Clemson (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU)
Wake Forest Starts Final Bubble Push
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Wake Forest begins its ACC tournament run on the outside of the NCAA tournament bubble.
Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller and ESPN's Joe Lunardi each listed Wake as the third team out in their latest bracket projections.
Wake appeared to be in a safe position after its home win over Duke on February 24, but then it lost to Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.
Notre Dame caught Wake in the ideal letdown spot on February 27. The Demon Deacons must avenge that loss to be in position to earn better wins in Washington, D.C.
The Fighting Irish earned five of their seven conference victories in the last eight games. They improved as the season went on under first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry.
The Irish could be a pesky team for Wake to put away on Wednesday, but the Demon Deacons are expected to win.
That would set Wake up with a bubble showdown against the Pittsburgh Panthers, who are the second team out in Miller's bracket projection.
Hunter Sallis and Co. should use Wednesday as an opportunity to get used to playing inside Capital One Arena so that it can start fast in Thursday's quarterfinal that will decide if it makes the NCAA tournament.
Will Any Upsets Occur?
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The ACC tournament quarterfinals typically feature the top eight or nine programs in the conference.
Five double-digit seeds advanced to the ACC tournament quarterfinals since 2018 and two of those teams were No. 10 seeds.
The NC State Wolfpack (No. 10), Boston College Eagles (No. 11) and Notre Dame (No. 12) will attempt to win their second game in two days.
NC State struggled to put away the last-place Louisville Cardinals on Tuesday without starting guard D.J. Horne.
Horne is listed as questionable for Wednesday's clash with the Syracuse Orange. The Wolfpack likely need Horne to challenge a Syracuse team they lost to twice in the regular season.
Boston College enters its matchup with Clemson on a three-game winning streak, but it only has a single win over teams that finished in the top seven of the ACC standings.
The Eagles earned seven of their eight ACC regular-season wins over Miami, Louisville, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, all of whom were double-digit seeds.
Notre Dame likely has the best chance to pull off an upset on Wednesday because it beat Wake already and the Demon Deacons carry the most pressure of any team on the four-game slate.
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