ACC Conference Rundown: Duke and …

Duke is in the NCAA Tournament and could be a No. 1 seed but, after that, it is hard to project how many ACC teams will join the Blue Devils in the field of 68.

Notre Dame is a No. 9 seed, Miami and Wake Forest are seeded 11th and North Carolina is 12th in Jerry Palm’s latest bracketology on the CBS Sports site. North Carolina might have saved its season by rallying to top Syracuse in overtime on Monday. Virginia and Virginia Tech are also in contention for tournament spots.

Duke (+1200) has dropped a bit in the national championship odds. Virginia Tech is +10000 in the March Madness predictions.

Game of the Week

Notre Dame vs Florida State

• Date, time, TV: Wednesday, 7 p.m ET, ESPN2

Florida State was expected to challenge Duke for the ACC title coming into the season. However, Notre Dame has filled that role and with just two games left in the regular season, the Fighting Irish are only a game behind No. 4 Duke in the ACC standings.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝. 📝

Arkansas, Auburn, Kansas, UCLA, USC, Villanova and Wisconsin all have 13 wins since January 1.#GoIrish ☘️ pic.twitter.com/JbACN7FAK6

— Notre Dame Basketball (@NDmbb) March 1, 2022

Notre Dame (21-8, 14-4 ) has won seven of eight games since falling to Duke on Jan. 31. The Fighting Irish are 6-2 against the spread in those matchups and the last five games all finished over the total.

Florida State (15-13, 8-10) had lost eight of nine games before edging Virginia on Saturday as a nine-point underdog on the road. That ended a run of nine straight games when the Seminoles failed to cover. Four of Florida State’s last five games went over the total.

Notre Dame snapped a three-game losing streak to Florida State with a 10-point win as a seven-point underdog at home in their last meeting. The Seminoles won the previous three games by a combined total of 10 points. Notre Dame has covered in seven of the last eight meetings.

Florida State won the last two times the teams met in Tallahassee, although the Fighting Irish covered in both of those contests.

Notre Dame leads the ACC with 267 3-pointers made while Florida State is last in the conference in 3-point percentage defense.

Here are the rest of the games in the ACC on Tuesday and Wednesday along with information that could help those who bet online.

Duke vs Pittsburgh

• Date, time, TV: Tuesday, 8 p.m ET, ACC Network

Duke takes a one-game lead into the final two games of the regular season as coach Mike Krzyzewski is in a position to lead the Blue Devils to another ACC regular-season title in his final season.

Gonzaga, Kentucky and Arizona are the only teams with better odds to reach the Final Four than Duke (+225) according to the March Madness odds.

Duke (25-4, 15-3) has won six games in a row, the longest active streak in the ACC, although the Blue Devils are just 3-3 against the Las Vegas odds in those games.

Pittsburgh (11-18, 6-12) has dropped two in a row and is tied for 10th place in the ACC. The Panthers had played four games in a row decided by fewer than 10 points before falling by 21 to Miami at home the last time out. Three of Pittsburgh’s last four games went over the total.

Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak to Duke with a six-point home win in 2021 as a 4½-point underdog. The Blue Devils won the previous five games by an average of 19.4 points.

Pittsburgh is 5-2-1 against the spread in the last eight games in the series while five of the last seven meetings finished under the total.

The Panthers lead the ACC with 432 free throws made and 617 free throws attempted. Duke sits atop the conference in field goal percentage offense and defense.

Louisville vs Virginia Tech

• Date, time, TV: Tuesday, 9 p.m ET, ESPN2

Louisville has won the last eight meetings with Virginia Tech but has covered in just four of those matchups. Six of the eight meetings finished under the total.

Virginia Tech (18-11, 10-4) has won eight of its last nine games and covered in six of those contests. Five straight Virginia Tech games went under the total before Saturday’s 71-70 win at Miami barely hit the 141-point total.

Louisville (12-16, 6-10) has lost nine of its last 10 games, although the Cardinals covered in two of the last three. Four of the last five games in the series went under the total.

Virginia Tech leads the ACC in 3-point shooting, making 39.1 percent of its shots from downtown. Louisville is well back at 30.7 percent.

Georgia Tech vs Clemson

• Date, time, TV: Wednesday, 7 p.m ET, ACC Network

Clemson is showing signs of life, winning its last two games by 10 and 11 points after losing its previous six contests. The Tigers are in a four-way tie for 10th place so seeding in the ACC tournament is very much up in the air. The Tigers (14-15, 6-12) have covered against the college basketball spreads in three of their last four games while five of the last seven games went over the total.

Georgia Tech has won four of the last five games against Clemson and covered in each of the last five.

Clemson has won four of the last five times that Georgia Tech came to visit, although the last two games were decided by a total of five points. Five of the last seven games between the teams ended up under the total.

Georgia Tech (11-18, 4-14) has lost six of its last seven games, although the Yellow Jackets have covered in three of their last four outings. Georgia Tech is just 3-7 on the road.

Georgia Tech is third in the ACC with 7.9 steals per game. Clemson is the epitome of a middle-of-the-road team, ranking seventh in the conference in scoring defense and eighth in scoring offense.

North Carolina State vs Wake Forest

• Date, time, TV: Wednesday, 9 p.m ET, ACC NX

There might not be a harder team in the ACC to figure out than Wake Forest, which lost by four and two points to ACC contenders Miami and Duke and then dropped a game at Clemson. That Clemson loss won’t look great on the resume when the NCAA selection committee considers the Demon Deacons for an at-large bid into the March Madness bracket. Wake Forest would be well advised to avoid another upset in this one.

Wake Forest (22-8, 12-7) has failed to cover in two of the last three games with each of those contests going over the total.

The Demon Deacons ended a five-game losing streak to North Carolina State in emphatic fashion with a 69-51 road win on Feb. 9 as a 3½-point favorite. The Wolfpack had covered in four of the previous five games in the series while three of the last four matchups finished under the total.

North Carolina State (11-18, 4-14) has lost eight of its last nine games and failed to cover in each of those losses to fall into a tie for last place in the ACC. Four of its last six games finished under the total.

No ACC team has attempted more 3-pointers than Wake Forest (738). NC State averages a conference-best 11.9 offensive rebounds per game.

Miami vs Boston College

• Date, time, TV: Wednesday, 9 p.m ET, ACC Network

The home team has won the seven meetings in this series. Miami needs to end that trend to avoid a potentially damaging loss when it comes to its NCAA Tournament hopes. Boston College is 8-1-1 against the spread in the last 10 games in the series while the last three between the teams went over the total.

If Miami (20-9, 12-6) doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament, a 1-4 record in the last five games decided by three points or less will be a major reason why. The Hurricanes have covered in four of the last six games and their 8-2 road record is tied for Duke for the best mark among ACC teams.

Boston College (11-17, 6-12) has lost six of its last eight games but is 4-2 against the spread in the last six. Six of Boston College’s last seven games went under the total.

Miami’s 8.9 steals per game is tops among ACC teams. The Hurricanes also lead the conference in turnover margin. Boston College is third in the conference with an average of 11.2 offensive rebounds per game.