ACC Tournament 2014: Top Storylines to Watch over Next Week

Although the 2014 ACC tournament is already underway, the real fun won't begin for another few days. That's when the top teams enter into the fray and things get really interesting.

With the arrivals of Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, what's always been a competitive basketball conference got that much better.

Two or three teams enter the ACC tournament looking like national title contenders, while another two have their NCAA tournament lives on the line.

There will be a lot of drama in Greensboro, N.C., with plenty of compelling storylines for fans to follow.

Will Duke's Reliance on the Three-Pointer Haunt Them?

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

It's hard to believe that there was a period of the season in which Duke was ranked 23rd in the AP poll. The loss to Clemson on Jan. 11 seems to have sparked something in the Blue Devils.

They now look like genuine national title contenders.

The one thing that gives you pause, though, is that if the three-point shooting isn't there for Duke, it can run into major trouble.

The Blue Devils are shooting 39.3 percent from long range, good for 20th in the country. In their five conference losses, that percentage dropped to 33.3 (46-for-138). The defeats to North Carolina, Wake Forest and Clemson were particularly bad, when Duke combined to shoot 19-for-74.

Rodney Hood, Quinn Cook and Andre Dawkins are all capable of hitting critical three-pointers. They're also equally capable of shooting the Blue Devils out of a game by heaving brick after brick.

As cliche as it sounds, Duke will be living by the three and dying by the three in March.

Can Virginia Do Enough to Earn a No. 2 Seed in the Big Dance?

Steve Helber/Associated Press

Virginia shouldn't be short on motivating factors ahead of the ACC tournament. It's going for its first postseason conference title since 1976, which is even before the days of Ralph Sampson.

As if that's not enough, despite winning the regular-season ACC crown, the Cavaliers only earned a No. 3 seed in Joe Lunardi's most recent edition Bracketology on ESPN.com. Duke did receive a No. 2 seed, however.

Clearly Lunardi still thinks UVA has some work to do in the ACC tournament if they're to earn a No. 2 seed, and if he thinks so, it's likely the selection committee will.

The Cavaliers are 12th in RPI and have a rather pedestrian 4-4 record against teams in the RPI Top 50, so you can see where some critics would have their doubts.

If Virginia wants to strengthen its tourney seed, it must get to at least the final of the ACC tournament, especially after that loss to Maryland to close out the regular season.

Some players, though, are of the opinion that it was better to lose then rather than later in the year, per the Associated Press (via ABC 7 in Washington D.C.):

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"I hate calling losses good losses, but if there ever a time to have a good loss, this might have been the best one," forward Akil Mitchell said before Virginia practiced on Tuesday.

Guard Malcolm Brogdon said it was a "little bit of a wake-up call" for Virginia.

"We were living on a high a little bit," said Brogdon, Virginia's scoring leader with a 12.6 average and No. 2 rebounder (5.6). "We hadn't lost in a while and it's good when you're humbled right before do-or-die time."

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History is going against the Cavaliers, but they've been silencing a lot of critics in recent weeks. Why stop now?

Which North Carolina Will Show Up?

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Few teams were as unpredictable during the regular season as North Carolina. The Tar Heels beat Louisville, Michigan State and Kentucky earlier in the season and then lost to Wake Forest and Miami.

They beat Duke in Chapel Hill by eight points and then lost in Durham by 12 points.

UNC has played much better in the season's second half. Before that defeat to the Blue Devils, the Heels won 12 games in a row.

Marcus Paige sometimes takes his time to get into a game, but once he does, he's a major difference-maker and the kind of player who can put a team on his back in March.

Perhaps the ACC tournament can demonstrate whether North Carolina is the real deal or too inconsistent to consider a Final Four contender.

Can Pittsburgh or Florida State Sneak into Big Dance?

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sport

Pittsburgh and Florida State are the only two ACC teams listed on ESPN.com's Bubble Watch.

The Panthers are certainly in a much better position than the Seminoles. Although Pitt only has one win against a Top-50 RPI team, it still finished the regular season at 23-8 and currently has an RPI of 44, both of which are good enough numbers to get the Panthers into the tournament with an at-large bid.

As long as they can win at least their first game in the ACC tournament, they should be good.

The Seminoles, on the other hand, need at least two wins in the tourney to have any hope at making the Big Dance. Florida State is 2-7 against teams in the RPI Top 25 and 3-8 against the Top 50, according to ESPN.com.

Ian Miller is well aware of what's on the line for his team, and he has full confidence that the Noles will get the job done, per Fox Sports Florida's Bob Ferrante:

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If we get our bodies right and our minds right, we're going to really do something that people aren't expecting us to do. We probably got a one out of 10 chance in most people's mind to make it past the first and second round but we're going to do something crazy here.

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It's not unheard of for a team to get hot in a conference tournament, but with Florida State needing to beat at least Virginia and any of Pitt, North Carolina and/or Duke, the Seminoles will need a lot of luck.