ACC gets four teams in Sweet 16 of March Madness, most of any conference

The ACC makes up 25% of the Sweet 16 field after the conference went 8-0 in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Two months ago, to the exact week, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had the ACC as a three-bid conference.

Now, the ACC won all eight of its games in the first two rounds to send four teams to the Sweet 16. The only ACC team that lost was Virginia, which fell in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.

The conference’s 8-0 record is tied for the best conference mark in the history of the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN’s Bryan Ives. The last time a conference won its first eight games was in 2003 when the Big East went 8-0.

The 4-seed Duke Blue Devils took down Vermont in the First Round and then James Madison after Jared McCain hit eight 3-pointers to push and keep them dancing.

The 1-seed North Carolina Tar Heels faced a minor scare against Michigan State before pulling away to comfortably defeat them and advance to the next round.

The NC State Wolfpack kept its Cinderella run going as an 11-seed after taking down Texas Tech and Oakland, the latter of which they beat in overtime, to be the lowest remaining seed in March.

Finally, the Clemson Tigers roared to a massive win against New Mexico before upsetting Baylor in the second round to ensure the ACC made up 25% of the Sweet 16 field.

Even further, the three schools in the triangle —Duke, NC State, and UNC — all made the Sweet 16 for the fifth time ever and the first time since 2015.

Each year this trifecta has happened, one of the North Carolina schools made the Final Four. The last time it happened, Duke won the national championship.

NC State’s win over Texas Tech and Clemson’s win over Baylor also improved the ACC’s record against the Big 12 this season to 11-3.

Although the conference only managed to secure five bids into the NCAA Tournament, they’ve made the most of them in a strong reminder of where the conference stands among the nation’s best.