ACC Tournament 2012: Most Important Players in Conference Tourney

As it usually is, the ACC tournament promises to be a ton of fun this year.

This has a lot to do with the fact that the ACC is pretty deep this season. North Carolina is a heavy favorite to win the conference tournament after winning the regular season title, but there are a couple of teams that have the potential to get hot and make a run at stealing the tourney from the Tar Heels.

The ACC is also home to some pretty great players, all of whom will have to be at their best once the tournament gets underway on Thursday.

Here's a look at the five most important players in the tournament.

5. C.J. Leslie, NC State

Things were looking pretty bleak for the Wolfpack for a while there, as they lost six out of nine between late January and late February. 

The one guy who wasn't about to let NC State go down without a fight was C.J. Leslie. He was outstanding in NC State's final four games, posting double-doubles in three of them. The Wolfpack managed to avoid disaster by winning two in a row to finish the season. 

Nevertheless, NC State needs a strong run through the ACC tournament to secure a ticket to the Big Dance. Leslie is the Wolfpack's best player, and he's heading into the tourney with plenty of momentum. If he keeps it up, NC State stands a good chance of surprising people.

If Leslie doesn't keep it up, NC State probably won't go dancing this season.

4. Bernard James, Florida State

The Seminoles deserve more respect than they're getting. They're already a lock for the Big Dance, but their chances of winning the ACC tournament are better than people probably think.

Bernard James will play a big part in Florida State's plans. He's a solid offensive player, but he's a better defender and rebounder. He's the kind of guy virtually every team in the country would love to have in the paint. 

James' defensive presence will be the X-factor in Florida State's run through the ACC tourney. He'll need to own the paint, leading to much tougher buckets for the opposition.

If all goes well, the Seminoles could easily make a run to the tourney final. They're not going to get there without good work from James, and they're sure as heck not going to win it without good work from James. 

3. Harrison Barnes, North Carolina

There are a number of North Carolina players worth focusing on, but Harrison Barnes goes here simply because he's the best of the bunch. 

The Tar Heels don't need Barnes to be at his best to win games, but it goes without saying that they are very hard to beat when Barnes is indeed playing well. He's one of the top scorers in the ACC, and he was far more consistent in his sophomore season than he was in his freshman season.

Basically, all Barnes needs to do is keep doing what he's been doing. If he does that, the Tar Heels are going to present matchup problems for any team they come across, and they should end up winning the tourney in the end.

If Barnes doesn't play well, the rest of the team will have to pick up the slack, and that's where things get dicey.

2. Mike Scott, Virginia

If the Cavaliers are going to make a run in the ACC tourney, it's going to be because Mike Scott gets hot.

Scott got very hot in Virginia's last two games, scoring a grand total of 63 points and pulling down 21 rebounds. Those numbers are a pretty good indication of how good Scott can be in a given game.

The trouble is that Virginia is on a collision course with North Carolina, and the Tar Heels did a good job of limiting Scott's impact in their two regular season meetings. Scott is a great player, but there's only so much he can do against Carolina's bigs.

In all likelihood, Scott and the Cavaliers are going to get another shot at the Tar Heels. A great game from Scott could lead to a huge upset in the semifinals.

1. Austin Rivers, Duke

On the balance, I'd say Austin Rivers had a very good freshman season at Duke. He had his ups and downs, but the good outweighed the bad.

If the Blue Devils are going to win the ACC tournament, they're going to need to see the good Rivers show up. This version of Rivers is taking good shots and knocking down threes at a solid rate. The bad Rivers forces shots and is missing from beyond the arc.

The one game that most perfectly demonstrates Rivers' importance was Duke's win over North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rivers scored a career-high 29 points in that game, which was thanks in large part to his six three-pointers. One of those won the game at the buzzer.

Duke is a good team all around, but Rivers can make them great. The time is now for Rivers to take the next step towards becoming a Duke legend.