Category: ACC

USA Today praises the ACC’s effort in NCAA Tournament

UNC, Duke, NC State and Clemson are all still alive heading into the Sweet 16. What about the “down year?”

For a “down year,” the ACC is faring pretty well in the NCAA Tournament.

The ACC, which we’ll always argue is college basketball’s deepest conference, sent just four teams to the Big Dance. UVA being in over Pitt was a joke (see Colorado State game for example), but there was an argument for more conference teams (Syracuse, Wake Forest).

Heading into the Sweet 16, four ACC teams are still alive: NC State, Clemson, Duke and our beloved North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Wolfpack are continuing their torrid run through the ACC Tournament, which includes downing UNC in the title game. Duke has shaken off any notions of being a “choker.” Clemson looks like the early-season version of itself, while North Carolina has beaten Wagner and Michigan State comfortably.

Check out what the USA Today had to say about the ACC’s early dominance in the Big Dance:

“It’s been an epically successful tournament for the ACC,” USA Today’s Paul Myerberg wrote. “The conference is 8-1 overall and has four teams in the Sweet 16 in No. 1 UNC, No. 4 Duke, No. 6 Clemson and No. 11 N.C. State. The one loss for the ACC came from No. 10 Virginia in the play-in round, giving the league a perfect record in the first and second rounds. The four Sweet 16 bids are the most for the ACC since 2019 and come after having just one last March and a combined six across the past three tournaments. In addition, all three of the Tar Heels, Blue Devils and Wolfpack are in the Sweet 16 for just the third time, joining 2005 and 2015.”

If all goes well Thursday, UNC and Clemson will play in the Elite 8 Saturday. If NC State and Duke take care of business Friday, they’ll face off Sunday.

Quite a “down year,” right?

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Notre Dame baseball drops finale, still takes series against Miami

The Irish lose Sunday, but still take the series

It was a great weekend for Notre Dame baseball, as they got its first ACC win and along with that its first ACC series as well.

Friday and Saturday went according to plan for the Irish, winning each of those contests heading into Sunday’s finale. The back-and-forth contest against host Miami looked like it was going to go Notre Dame’s way, as they led 7-1 after 4 innings.

The Hurricane’s stormed back with an 8-run top of the fifth, which seemingly gave them a cushion to win the game. Instead, the Irish fought back, tying the game in the bottom of the ninth, 10-10.

The extra inning saw Miami plate two runs, and then shut out the Irish in the bottom to secure the win.

Although Notre Dame did drop the finale, they won the series and improved its season record to 14-9, 2-7 in the ACC. They return to the diamond on Tuesday as they host Bowling Green before going on the road to take on NC State this weekend.

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ACC completes perfect opening weekend of NCAA Tournament

The Atlantic Coast Conference tied an NCAA Tournament mark with an 8-0 record in the first two rounds.

Throughout the 2023-24 college basketball season, the Atlantic Coast Conference was considered to be having a down year. At one point, some experts believed it was just a two-bid league: North Carolina and Duke.

But here in March, the ACC is putting it together.

The conference went 8-0 in the first two rounds of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, sending four teams to the Sweet 16. With the conference making up 25% of the Sweet 16, it proves once again just how strong it really is despite others trying to convince you otherwise.

The 8-0 record matches the best record by any conference in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

And if it wasn’t for Virginia’s blunder in the First Four, this would be receiving even more attention.

Next week will give the conference another chance to prove itself as well.

No. 1 North Carolina is the top seed in the West Region, taking care of Wagner and Michigan State in the first two rounds. Also in the West Region is Clemson, which beat New Mexico and Baylor to reach the Sweet 16.

Over in the South Region, Duke punched its ticket with a big win over James Madison on Sunday. The night before, NC State continued its miracle run with a win over upset-minded Oakland.

There’s a chance UNC and Clemson could meet for a trip to the Final Four and Duke and N.C. State doing the same in the South Region. No matter what happens, it’s another impressive tournament so far for the conference.

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Notre Dame Makes Top 9 For Elite Basketball Prospect

This would be a huge get for the Irish…

Micha Shrewsberry and the Notre Dame men’s basketball team might not be dancing this March but that doesn’t mean the team didn’t have a successful 2023-24 campaign.  Despite finishing the year 13-20 overall and 7-13 in ACC play the Irish made significant strides compared to a 2022-23 season that saw them go just 4-19 over their final 23 games.

Notre Dame received good news on the recruiting front on Friday as well as big-time in-state prospect Jalen Haralson of La Lumiere in LaPorte, Indiana announced his top-nine schools and included the Irish.

Haralson ranks as a five-star prospect and the 11th overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle according to 247Sports.  The Irish have a seat at the table but will have to beat out some blue blood programs to win his commitment as Auburn, Indiana, Duke, Kansas, Purdue, Michigan State, Missouri and Gonzaga also made the cut.

Haralson checks in at 6-6, 210-pounds and figures to play as a guard or small forward in college.

UNC named as ‘most attractive’ expansion target per a report

UNC was named as the ‘most attractive’ expansion target per a report from Yahoo! Sports as conference realignment talks continue.

The rumors are swirling around college realignment, again. And the Atlantic Coast Conference is right in the middle of it again.

We already know about Florida State’s interest to leave the conference and this week, Clemson was starting to take steps in that direction. If those two programs leave, does it mean the beginning of the end for the conference?

What would happen to programs like UNC? Miami? Duke? Would they all leave as well? There are a lot of questions out there but the consistent rumblings that we’ve heard over the years has focused on North Carolina being a primary target for the Big Ten or SEC.

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports wrote on the situation and echoed those thoughts, again. Here is what he said about UNC and its attraction to the conferences:

However, there is one current ACC program that many within the industry believe is the most attractive expansion target for the Power Two. And it’s not FSU or Clemson.

“North Carolina,” said an industry source, “is the lynchpin.”

So what now? Well, we wait. As mentioned above, the consistent thought around UNC over the discussions of realignment is that they would be a very attractive program for one of the big conferences to pursue.

I don’t know how much longer this will go on but keep expecting UNC to be brought up in these conversations moving forward.

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ACC men’s basketball leaders as of March 17

No Notre Dame players.

The NCAA Tournament officially is here with five ACC teams among those seeking a national championship. The ACC particularly drew attention from the rest of the country after No. 10 seed NC State won the conference tournament for the first time since 1987. Strangely, no one on the Wolfpack concluded the ACC season as a leader in any of the major statistical categories. Some are going to March Madness though, and here they are:

Diamond Heels avoid series sweep with offensive explosion Sunday

The UNC baseball team lost its first series of the year, dropping two of three at Miami (FL). The series included two run-rule results.

For the first time all season, the UNC baseball team lost a series.

15th-ranked North Carolina came into its weekend series 17-2, with its only two losses to a ranked East Carolina squad. The Diamond Heels were blowing out opponents, with 22 runs between midweek games against Rutgers.

UNC traveled down to Miami (FL), one of college baseball’s elite programs with four College World Series titles. The Hurricanes are having an uncharacteristically slow start to the season, with an 11-8 record through 19 games.

Pin a hot North Carolina team against a struggling Miami squad – what do you think happens?

The Diamond Heels struggled big-time Friday, lost on a walk-off Saturday, then salvaged Game Three on Sunday.

Game 1: Miami 14, UNC 1

This game was ugly from the opening pitch.

North Carolina freshman pitcher Folger Boaz, who showcased his ace potential heading into this game, was rocked for eight runs on 10 hits and three walks. Boaz gave up three home runs before later exiting in the fourth inning.

The Tar Heels only notched five hits, with their lone RBI coming from an Anthony Donofrio fielder’s choice in the fourth. Their day ended early due to a mercy-rule, which is a 10-run deficit in the seventh-inning or later.

Game 2: Miami 2, UNC 1

Saturday was much different than the series opener, with both programs struggling to push runs across home plate.

North Carolina took the night’s first lead – again in the fourth inning – when Georgia transfer Parks Harber scored on a fielding error.

Despite a rebound in the pitching department, Diamond Heel pitchers gave up two home runs. The second was a walkoff to Dorian Gonzales.

Game 3: UNC 18, Miami 6

If North Carolina had any pent-up frustration on Sunday, it certainly showed on the scoresheet.

Two days after being run-ruled, the Diamond Heels did the same to Miami in a 12-run victory. They hit seven home runs in a game for the first time since March 9, 2013 at Wake Forest, with the big shot being a Gavin Gallagher grand slam.

Gallagher and Roberto Osuna each tallied four hits in Sunday’s finale, with Gallagher also mashing a team-high six RBIs. Relief pitcher Matthew Matthijs rebounded from giving up Saturday’s walk-off, earning his NCAA-leading eighth win in 2/3 innings.

UNC will return to Boshamer Stadium this week, facing UNC-Wilmington for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday.

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Armando Bacot now second in all-time ACC double-doubles

Armando Bacot played well despite an overall dud for UNC in Saturday’s ACC Championship, moving further up the ACC double-double list.

Last night was not a good one for the UNC men’s basketball team.

After being favored by nearly 10 points against NC State in Saturday’s ACC Championship, North Carolina lost by nearly 10 in an 84-76 defeat. It seemed like the Wolfpack couldn’t miss. They dominated down low, as the DJ Burns-Mohamed Diarra duo out-played Harrison Ingram and Armando Bacot.

Despite how poorly the Tar Heels played Saturday, there was one positive takeaway.

With his 18-point, 12-rebound double-double, Bacot passed Ralph Sampson on the ACC all-time double-doubles list. Bacot now has 85, breaking a tie with Sampson.

Bacot and RJ Davis played extremely well in the ACC Tournament. In fact, the two were the greatest reasons why UNC beat Pitt in the semifinals.

Bacot recorded a double-double in each ACC Tournament game, finishing with 51 points and 33 rebounds. Davis finished with 73 points.

North Carolina’s supporting cast wasn’t great, however. Harrison Ingram, Cormac Ryan and Elliot Cadeau struggled immensely in the ACC Semis and title game, making just 12 combined shots in the final two rounds.

If the Tar Heels want to do anything in the NCAA Tournament, everyone will need to step up – bench included. Hubert Davis’ reserves played well, so maybe the likes of Jalen Washington and Seth Trimble see more playing time.

One thing’s for certain – if UNC wants to win it all, will need the ACC Tournament version of Armando Bacot.

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Tar Heels can’t slow down DJ Burns or DJ Horne, fall in ACC Championship

RJ Davis and Armando Bacot stepped up again for UNC. No one else did, while NC State had four starters score in double-digits to win.

Before the ACC Championship game even started, I said that UNC players besides RJ Davis and Armando Bacot needed to step up in the scoring department.

North Carolina barely scraped by Pitt last night, needing huge efforts from its two stars late. Harrison Ingram, Cormac Ryan and Elliot Cadeau went a combined 5-for 24 from the field.

Davis and Bacot showed out again in Saturday’s championship, but NC State’s stars shined brighter. The Wolfpack won, 84-76, to win its first ACC Tournament since 1987 and head back to the Big Dance for the second consecutive season.

Arizona State transfer DJ Horne, who grew up in Raleigh (NC), led all scorers with 29 points. NC State big man DJ Burns bullied Bacot down lown, winning the battle by scoring 20 points and grabbing four rebounds.

Saturday hero Michael O’Connell scored 10 points, but it was Mohamed Diarra who truly dominated with a 11-point, 14-rebound outing for the Wolfpack.

If not for Davis, the Tar Heels (27-7, 17-3) would’ve lost by a lot more. Davis poured in 30 points, his fourth time reaching the marker this year, by making 10 shots from the field and six free throws.

Bacot also snagged yet another double-double, his 85th career game with on, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Bacot broke a tie with former UVA great Ralph Sampson, now sitting second in the ACC all-time in double-doubles.

Ingram reached 10 points for North Carolina, but he, Ryan and Cadeau combined for an ice-cold, 7-of-26 outing.

UNC never really seemed to get into a rhythm on Saturday, as it saw a significantly hungrier NC State team outplay them in every aspect. The Wolfpack needed to win tonight for a Big Dance berth, while the Tar Heels were just hoping to gain another quality win before a National Championship run.

Both North Carolina and its in-state rivals will discover their NCAA Tournament fate at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 17 for Selection Sunday.

Player of the Game

RJ Davis, who scored 30 points for the fourth time this season.

For the second consecutive night, Davis’ shooting was the major reason UNC was remotely close.

Bacot could also be Player of the Game, as he recorded another double-double, but I felt Davis made more of an impact.

What’s Next?

As part of Selection Sunday, the Tar Heels will find out their first round NCAA Tournament opponent on Sunday, March 17 at 6 p.m. North Carolina will either play on Thursday, March 21 or Friday, March 22.

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A UNC-NC State ACC Championship would clean up in North Carolina

Greensboro, NC is known as Tournament Town. A UNC-NC State ACC Championship would clean up at the Greensboro Coliseum.

While I personally think the ACC Tournament should stay in Greensboro, NC, I understand the conference’s decision to play it at rotating venues.

Playing in Greensboro would give UNC, NC State, Duke and Wake Forest home-court advantages, as no other ACC team resides in North Carolina.  The ACC Tournament has traveled to Atlanta, Ga., New York City and Washington, DC in recent years.

You could make the case for Atlanta and DC creating home-court advantage for Georgia Tech and UVA, respectively, but the college basketball following is nowhere near as large compared to North Carolina.

If sports are truly all about making money, it makes sense to keep the ACC Tournament in Greensboro. Think about tonight’s UNC-NC State ACC Championship game alone. Both schools are within a 75-minute drive and have extremely passionate fanbases. Greensboro would essentially shut down for the day and local business would be boomin’.

But the game is being played in the nation’s capital. Given the ACC Title game is on a Saturday, I’m sure there’ll be plenty fans who make the trip up. I also bet there will be more Carolina blue lining the stands at Capital One Arena, but a strong sea of red, too.

If tonight’s game isn’t packed to the brim, I think the ACC will take a long, hard look at making Greensboro the permanent, future host of its conference basketball tournament.

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