ACC March Madness Report: Virginia Falls From Top Spot
Clemson-NC State Matchup Could Be Best of the Weekend
Miami moved into sole possession of the first place in the ACC on Wednesday without playing a game as Virginia lost by 15 points at Boston College.
The Hurricanes looks to stay undefeated at home when rival Florida State comes to town. The best game of the weekend could be the showdown between Clemson and North Carolina State while the Virginia-North Carolina matchup will likely generate the most national attention.
Virginia is sixth in both national polls. That figures to change after the Cavaliers lost atBoston College on Wednesday.
Miami is 11th in the coaches’ poll and 13th in the Associated Press poll after moving up two spots in both national rankings.
North Carolina State is 24th in the coaches’ poll and joins Pittsburgh and Duke as ACC teams also receive votes in the writers’ poll. Boston College will have to wait to build on that win over Virginia with its next game on Tuesday at Wake Forest.
According to the college basketball playoff odds, Miami and Virginia are both priced at +4000 in the odds to win the national championship. Duke (+5000) and North Carolina (+6600) are also in the top 25 in the title odds.
No ACC team is in the top 20 in the NCAA NET rankings which is utilized to help select and seed the March Madness bracket.
Virginia fell to No. 21 after the loss to Boston College. Miami and Duke are next at 27th and 30th.
Here’s a look at a full slate of ACC games being played this weekend.
Let’s check the latest college basketball news, stats, injury reports and college basketball lines. We’ve got plenty of NCAA basketball picks for you to consider.
Game of the Week
Clemson vs North Carolina State
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, Noon ET (ACC NX)
Two of the top offensive teams in the ACC will meet in a game that could impact March Madness seeding.
Hunter Tyson had 29 points and 10 rebounds as Clemson (20-8, 12-5 in the ACC) rolled to an 18-point win over visiting Syracuse. Clemson (20-8) had 14 3-pointers in the victory. Clemson had 28 assists against Syracuse with Chase Hunter leading the way with 11.
Our most assists in an ACC game in over 36 years, two double-doubles and five starters finish in double-figures in our win over Syracuse‼️
🎥 Clemson vs. Syracuse Highlights pic.twitter.com/wtFYV8szNt
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) February 23, 2023
North Carolina State (22-7, 12-6) is coming off a 90-74 win over Wake Forest with Jarkel Joiner having his second straight 29-point game for the Wolfpack.
Clemson looks to beat North Carolina State for the fifth time in a row and sweep the season series after winning at home 78-64 on Dec. 30 as a 2.5-point favorite.
It was the third straight game between the Tigers and Wolfpack to finish under the total.
For the Conference 😤
🏃♂️ACC Championship Meet
📍Louisville, Ky.
🗓Thursday, Feb. 23-Saturday, Feb. 25
📊https://t.co/l0hfm96i8i
📺ACCNX https://t.co/DwWe1Niz3w
📝https://t.co/a5DpWPAO8TReady to bring home some hardware. pic.twitter.com/T9XXan2NwT
— Clemson Track & Field 🐾 (@ClemsonTrackXC) February 23, 2023
Other Games to Watch
Louisville vs Georgia Tech
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, 2 p.m. ET (ACC NX)
This isn’t the most anticipated matchup of the year in the ACC with 13th place Georgia Tech welcoming one of two teams behind them in the standings to town.
Louisville (4-24, 2-15) is winless at home while 10 of Georgia Tech’s 11 wins have come at home.
El Ellis has four straight 20-point games for the Cardinals with 12 3-pointers during that stretch.
Georgia Tech (11-17, 3–14) has won two of its last three games. The bid for three straight wins ended with an eight-point loss at Pittsburgh despite Miles Kelly hitting six 3-pointers and scoring a season-high 24 points.
Louisville has won four straight games against Georgia Tech and that includes a 10-point win at home on Feb. 1 as a 1½-point underdog.
It was the ninth time in the last 10 games to finish under the total.
Florida State vs Miami
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
This could be a dangerous game for Miami after the Hurricanes took over sole possession of first place. Miami has a tendency to play up or down to the competition level so this is one game where an upset alert might come into play.
Miami has won seven games in a row with six of those wins coming by single digits.
Miami (23-5, 14-4) leads the ACC in scoring offense, averaging 79.5 points per game with FSU allowing the most points (76.3) in the conference. Miami has outscored its last six opponents by 52 points at the foul line.
Florida State (8-20, 6-11) has lost four straight games. Sophomore Matthew Cleveland had his streak of double-digit scoring games snapped at 18 as he had six points on 2 of 8 shooting against Pittsburgh.
Miami snapped a nine-game losing streak to Florida State with its 86-63 road win on Jan. 24 as a three-point favorite. Nijel Pack and Isaiah Wong had 18 points each as all five Miami starters scored in double figures.
Miami is looking to win the season series for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Miami #Hurricanes take sole possession of #ACC lead after sub-.500 Boston College stuns No. 6 Virginia https://t.co/JeBj5g5gWA pic.twitter.com/miIVZmSiR1
— Sun Sentinel Sports (@Sentinel_Sports) February 23, 2023
Syracuse vs Pittsburgh
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, 5 p.m. ET (ACC Network)
After winning four games in a row, Syracuse (16-12, 9-8) has lost its last two by 22 points to visiting Duke and by 18 points to Clemson. The Orange gave up 27 3-pointers over the last two games.
Pittsburgh (20-8, 13-4) has won six of its last seven games to stay in contention for the top spot in the ACC.
The teams will have some work to do to top the first meeting of the season as Blake Hinson had 25 points and 13 rebounds in a two-point win at Syracuse.
Pittsburgh is 19-8-1 against the college basketball spreads, the best mark in the ACC and among all teams from the Power-5 conference.
Pittsburgh has won four of the last five games against Syracuse and that includes an 84-82 road win on Dec. 20.
Syracuse had won seven in a row in the series before the Panthers turned the tide.
Five of the last seven games between the Orange and Panthers finished under the total.
Virginia vs North Carolina
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Virginia needs to bounce back after a stunning loss at Boston College as the Cavaliers (21-5, 13-4) shot 32.2% from the field and were only 4 of 21 from 3-point range. Virginia is still in a better position than North Carolina as the Tar Heels are in danger of going from reaching the national title game to missing the NCAA tournament despite returning four starters.
Despite missing 21 of 23 from 3-point range, the Tar Heels (17-11, 9-8) did pick up a tough win at Notre Dame to snap a two-game losing streak. Both of those 3-pointers were made by Caleb Love as he is averaging 21.2 points over his last five games.
Virginia has won eight of the last 10 games against North Carolina.
When the teams met on Jan. 10 in Charlottesville, Ben Vander Plas had 17 points off the bench in a seven-point Virginia win. The Cavaliers were favored by 4½-points in the game. It was the fourth straight game in the series to finish under the total.
Notre Dame vs Wake Forest
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network)
Wake Forest is struggling defensively as opponents are shooting 57% from the floor and made 21 3-pointers as the Demon Deacons fell to Miami and North Carolina State. The good news is that Demon Deacons lead the conference in 3-pointers made and attempted.
Mike Brey’s final season coaching at Notre Dame is not one for the record books with the Fighting Irish tied for last place in the ACC thanks to a six-game losing streak. Each of the last five games have been decided by six points or less. It hasn’t helped that leading scorer Nate Laszewski has been held to one field goal in two of the last three games for the Fighting Irish (10-18, 2-15).
It has been nine years since Wake Forest defeated Notre Dame three times in a row.
The Demon Deacons (17-11, 9-8) went into South Bend on Feb. 4 and returned home with a 17-point win.
Seven of the last nine games in the series have finished over the total.
Virginia Tech vs Duke
- Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 25, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Virginia Tech has one road win so trying to pick up victory No. 2 at Cameron Indoor Stadium might be asking a bit much,
Duke has won three games in a row with freshman Kyle Filipowski averaging 16.3 points. Duke is +21 in the rebounding department in those victories.
Duke (20-8, 11-6) is second in the ACC in scoring defense and third in field-goal percentage defense.
Virginia Tech (16-12, 6-11) has won three of the last four games against Duke and that includes a three-point win at home on Jan. 23 with Grant Basile leading the way with 24 points.
Six of the last eight games in the series have finished over the total with the home team winning four of the last five meetings.
The odds and predictions in the article are based on the time of writing and publication. They may differ as to when the actual event takes place.
