ACC Tournament Bracket 2012: Miami and NC State Battling for Spot in Big Dance

The ACC tournament has two really good teams and a bunch of decent-to-mediocre squads that have to make a strong showing during Championship Week.

In a year where the bubble is incredibly weak, this is great news for the Miami Hurricanes and North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Both teams have so-so resumes, but each has a shot to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament with an outstanding performance in this week’s ACC tournament in Atlanta.

North Carolina, Duke, Florida State and Virginia are all locks. With another down year, it’s going to be a really big stretch to think six teams get in. It may be a 12-team tournament, but the real battle is between these two, with an invitation for the dance as the prize.

(Click here for full ACC Tournament bracket)

Miami (18-11, 9-7 ACC, RPI 55)

Why Miami Will Be Dancing

They own a signature win on the road against Duke and another RPI top 25 win over Florida St. They don’t possess a single bad loss and sport the 40^th-best SOS.

As the No. 6 seed, the Hurricanes will play No. 11 Georgia Tech in a matchup they have to win. Considering Miami beat them by 15 on the road, that shouldn’t be a problem. If they win, then No. 3 Florida St. is in their way. A win against the Seminoles and they are dancing.

Why Miami is NIT Bound

When you are compared to another team, hopefully you have already beaten them. Not in Miami’s case.

They dropped two games to NCST this season, and if the committee considers the two teams to be dead even, how could they not pick the Wolfpack?

NC State (20-11, 9-7 ACC, RPI 51)

Why NC State Will Be Dancing

In addition to the two wins over fellow bubble buddy Miami, the Wolfpack have the 29^th-hardest schedule.

They have played four games against top four RPI teams (No. 1 Syracuse, No. 3 North Carolina X2, No. 4 Duke) and have a 6-4 record in true road games.

Why NC State is NIT Bound

The best team the Wolfpack has beaten is Texas, who has an RPI of 52.

If it wasn’t for Miami, NC State would have a grand total of three wins against top 100 teams.

That’s not NCAA-worthy.

As the No. 5 seed, the Wolfpack will be playing No. 12 Boston College in Round 1. They have to win. Next up would be No. 4 Virginia, a team they lost to at home. Even if they beat the Cavaliers, it’s going to take a win over North Carolina in the semi’s to clinch a bid.

Prediction:

I think Miami is able to sneak by Florida State in Round 2 while NC State falls to Virginia. All the marbles are on the line, and I like the team that has actually beaten multiple good teams.  

Follow @BigLeagueEball