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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