ACC Tournament 2015: Quarterfinals Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket Predictions

Day 2 of the 2015 ACC tournament was mostly unsurprising outside of a stellar comeback by Clemson that fell just short against Florida State. But rest assured—there will be much better basketball during Thursday's quarterfinals.

The ACC is chock-full of tournament-worthy teams, but winning the automatic bid in the conference tournament will aid the winner's overall seed in the field of 68.

Virginia holds the No. 1 seed in the ACC tourney, making them obvious favorites. But Florida State, a bubble team for the NCAA tournament, is in dire need of the automatic bid. Defeating the Cavaliers on Thursday would put them one step closer.

There are exciting matchups on the schedule for Day 3 of the ACC tournament. Don't miss out.

Time (ET)	Matchup	TV	Live Stream
12 p.m.	No.1 Virginia vs. No. 9 Florida State	ESPN/ACC Network	WatchESPN
2 p.m.	No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 North Carolina	ESPN/ACC Network	WatchESPN
7 p.m.	No. 2 Duke vs. No. 7 NC State	ESPN/ACC Network	WatchESPN
9 p.m.	No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Miami	ESPN/ACC Network	WatchESPN

For an updated bracket, go to TheACC.com.

No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 9 Florida State

USA TODAY Sports

The entire Florida State campus breathed a sigh of relief after Wednesday's thriller against Clemson.

Up 20 with roughly nine minutes to go, the Seminoles seemed poised to cruise into the quarterfinals. Then the Tigers went on an absurd run, led by senior Rod Hall. Clemson eventually pulled to within two (75-73) with 25.2 seconds left. Hall then missed a floater in the paint, effectively sealing the win for Florida State.

It certainly wasn't a pretty win, but it's now in the past.

"I'm not going to be concerned," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton told the Tampa Bay Times. "I'm just glad we won and move on. That's the way the game of basketball is, it's a chess match."

The Seminoles can't dwell on this near-loss, especially against the No. 3 team in the country. Virginia beat FSU by 10 in February, holding the Seminoles to just 41 points.

The Cavaliers are somewhat offensively challenged. One of their top players, guard Justin Anderson, hasn't played since early February. The team is 7-1 in his absence, though it failed to score 60 points in four of those contests.

Defense is where Virginia shines, and their game plan against FSU must focus on containing Xavier Rathan-Mayes. Daily Press' David Teel thinks that Virginia would have preferred to avoid the freshman guard altogether:

Rathan-Mayes has scored 49 points in two ACC tournament games and has converted on 16-of-27 attempts from the field. He has scored in double figures in every game since a five-point flub against Duke on Feb. 9.

For FSU to upset Virginia, XRM will have to continue to fire on all cylinders, Montay Brandon has to play like he did on Wednesday (17 points, three assists) and the defense has to force Malcolm Brogdon to take contested shots. He is shooting under 42 percent from the floor in his last four games.

This game has the potential to turn into an upset for the Seminoles. The Cavaliers are coming off a two-point loss to Louisville last week, and they're as vulnerable as they'll ever be.

Prediction: FSU forces OT but loses, 66-62.

No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 North Carolina

USA TODAY Sports

On the surface, Louisville has the clear advantage in this matchup of college basketball powerhouses.

The Cardinals enter this game following a double-bye in the first two days of the tournament. The Tar Heels, on the other hand, are banged up. Kennedy Meeks and Theo Pinson both missed the last game against Boston College, per C.L. Brown of ESPN.com, but UNC still pulled out a decisive victory, 81-63.

The numbers indicate that this matchup will be close, however. The Associated Press (via FoxSports.com) broke it all down:

"

The fifth-seeded Tar Heels (22-10) hold a 10-4 edge in the series with a 7-1 advantage at neutral sites, but things were far more even this season as the schools split two with Louisville holding a 132-131 scoring edge in regulation.

The fourth-seeded Cardinals (24-7) won 78-68 in overtime on Jan. 31 at home after the Tar Heels claimed a 72-71 victory in Chapel Hill three weeks prior. Substantial leads haven't been safe, with Louisville coming back from 18 down in its win and North Carolina recovering from a 13-point deficit with 8 1/2 minutes remaining in Chapel Hill.

"

So what should we expect on Thursday? A thriller.

UNC is a difficult team to compete with because of its great rebounders (Meeks and Brice Johnson) and unselfish juniors (Marcus Paige and J.P. Tokoto). The Tar Heels will need their big bodies against Louisville, but it doesn't appear as if Meeks will be able to play, according to Andrew Carter of the The News & Observer:

That gives the Cardinals a huge edge. Montrezl Harrell has three double-doubles in his last five games and averaged 15.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game this season. He should have a monster game on Thursday.

The Tar Heels need to dominate inside to defeat Rick Pitino's Cardinals. But with a couple of key players dinged up, it won't be easy.

Prediction: Louisville dominates and wins by 12, 74-62.

Kenny DeJohn is a Breaking News Team Featured Columnist. Follow him on Twitter.