ACC Tournament 2018: Complete Bracket and Predictions After Regular Season

The ACC men's basketball tournament is set to begin Tuesday, when six teams kick off first-round action at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The five-day competition will conclude Saturday, with the two finalists squaring off at 8:30 p.m. ET.

The tournament follows a double-bye format. The top four teams automatically qualify for the quarterfinals, while seeds No. 5 through No. 9 start in the second round. The No. 10 through No. 15 seeds must win five games in five days to obtain the ACC crown.

Here's a look at the bracket as well as quick round-by-round predictions.

Bracket

1st-Round Predictions

Notre Dame should beat Pittsburgh, which went 0-18 in conference play.

The Syracuse-Wake Forest and Boston College-Georgia Tech matchups should be closer contests; Syracuse and Wake Forest split their two games this year, while BC needed overtime to beat the Yellow Jackets.

Look for the Orange and Eagles to progress. Syracuse may enjoy a semi-home court advantage (many alums live in the New York metro area, which is around four hours from campus), while a pesky Boston College team beat Duke and nearly took out No. 1 Virginia this year.

2nd-Round Predictions

Syracuse's reward for winning in the first round would be a date with the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are ranked eighth in the nation overall on the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings. Cuse nearly picked off the Tar Heels at home, but away from 33,000 rabid fans, UNC should win, even if Barclays Center's crowd is more pro-Orange.

Boston College's matchup with North Carolina State should be closer than the 82-66 Wolfpack win from this season (which was in part due to a cold 38 percent shooting night), but senior guard Allerik Freeman (20 points) was a problem then and will be now, as NC State will move on.

Notre Dame is in poor form heading into the tournament, as it has lost 10 of its past 15 games. The Fighting Irish did push No. 1 Virginia to the limit in Charlottesville, but they haven't beaten an ACC team with a winning record in conference play. The Hokies take this one.

Louisville and Florida State played twice this season. The teams split the series, and the final combined score was 149-149. Pomeroy has them ranked 34th and 36th, respectively, so you can say these teams are evenly matched. Neither has a distinct edge, so this goes to a total gut call, and that's Louisville.

Quarterfinals Predictions

Louisville will look to exact revenge on Virginia after the Cavaliers somehow scored five points in under a second to win 67-66 Thursday. Although the Cardinals took UVA to the limit, it's hard to bet against the Cavaliers' stout defense, which allows a Division I-best 52.6 points per game. UVA rolls on.

Duke lost a tough game at Virginia Tech on February 26, but the Blue Devils crushed the Hokies by 22 points on Valentine's Day. They have won six of their past seven games and outscored UNC 49-29 in the second half to close the regular season. The Blue Devils will head to the semifinals.

Miami is on a roll, having won each of its past four games and eight of its past 12. The Hurricanes also pulled off one of the more impressive ACC victories of the year by beating UNC on the road thanks to a late buzzer-beater. The Tar Heels are battle-tested and will be a tough out in the NCAA tournament, but the Canes will continue their hot streak with another close win.

Clemson's balanced scoring attack (five players average 10.5 points or more) is going to give teams serious problems in the NCAA tournament, and that will also be the case in the ACC quarterfinals. The Tigers split a pair of games with NC State, although they nearly picked off the Wolfpack on the road in a one-point loss. In the rubber match, Clemson will win and earn the right to face UVA.

Semifinals Predictions

Five Duke players are projected to go in the top 22 of the 2018 NBA draft, per the latest nbadraft.net mock. Having future NBA talent isn't necessarily a future sign of March success, especially given the high variance of the tournament model, but it's hard to bet against this Duke team unless it is facing one of the elite teams in the nation. Miami is stout, but it is not one of them. The Blue Devils will head back to the finals and look to defend their crown.

Clemson had a nightmarish second half against UVA this season, as the Tigers were outscored 34-13 in a 61-36 loss. Clemson shot just 31.9 percent from the field and committed 19 turnovers. Don't expect a 25-point blowout this time around, but the Cavs' defense proved to be too much on that day and should be again in March. They will face Duke in the finals.

Final Predictions

A classic battle between the No. 1 team in the nation versus the team with potentially the most NBA talent in the nation will take place Saturday. These two faced off in Durham, North Carolina, in January, with UVA holding on for a 65-63 victory.

A few stats stand out from that game. Notably, UVA won despite being out-rebounded 44-31, shooting just 39.4 percent from the field and giving up a combined 49 points and 29 rebounds to Wendell Carter Jr. and Marvin Bagley III.

Duke also hit 48.2 percent of its shots (for the season, UVA allowed just 37.6 percent of made field goals, which ranked third in Division I men's hoops).

The difference was the turnover battle, as Duke committed 16, while UVA had just five.

While the turnover margin was an anomaly (UVA ranks 10th in the nation at plus-4.2 per game), it's hard to see Duke hitting as many shots considering the Cavaliers' stout defense. Bagley and Carter may clean up on the boards, but the Duke guards could well have a hard time against the Cavaliers again.

That will be the difference here, as the Cavaliers defense will prove too strong down the stretch. Duke will keep it close, but UVA will be crowned ACC champion.