ACC March Madness Update: Crowd Forming on Bubble

· Mar 08 - 5 minutes read

This has not been a season to remember in the ACC so while North Carolina and Duke will be a part of the March Madness bracket, can any of the other ACC teams feel confident that they will be among those in the field of 68?

That means that the odds of winning March Madness could trend in one way or the other as ACC teams look to prove that they deserve at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament.

ACC March Madness Update: Crowd Forming on Bubble — Elliot Cadeau #2 and Harrison Ingram #55 of the North Carolina Tar Heels | Grant Halverson/Getty Images/AFP

There are seven teams with winning records in ACC play but only Duke and North Carolina are in the Top 25 in the national polls. That is something to consider when it comes to the March Madness predictions.

When looking at the college basketball futures odds, North Carolina leads the ACC and is tied for sixth nationally at +2000 in the odds of winning the national championship. Duke is next among ACC squads at +2200.

Here’s a look at the NCAA Tournament hopes for the ACC teams with the regular season winding to a close on Saturday. The ACC tournament, being played at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., begins on Tuesday.

Big Dance-Bound

North Carolina is showing up as a No. 2 seed and Duke as a No. 3 seed in the projected March Madness brackets. Will that be the case when the NCAA Tournament field is announced?

Certainly whichever team wins the showdown between the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils on Saturday will take a step in the right direction.

North Carolina leads Duke by one game in the ACC standings with the Tar Heels making the short trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium this weekend.

The Tar Heels are 10th in the NCAA NET rankings with half of the 24 wins coming in Quad 3 or Quad 4 games. Duke jumped ahead of North Carolina and into ninth in the NCAA NET rankings, even though North Carolina is 5-2 against ranked teams and Duke is just 2-2 in those contests.

Clemson is 24th in the NCAA NET rankings with the Tigers showing up in most of the bracketology efforts. A non-conference win against Alabama should help, as will the win over North Carolina. However, a recent loss to Notre Dame doesn’t help the Tigers’ cause.

What a way to cap off Senior Night in Littlejohn! pic.twitter.com/wS8LRKfkn1

— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) March 6, 2024

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On the Bubble

Wake Forest has dropped to No. 41 in the NCAA NET rankings and the Demon Deacons are starting to be removed from the projected brackets. Wake Forest is currently seventh in the ACC standings. A 2-6 record in Quad 1 games is not ideal but a 5-5 mark in Quad 2 games might be an even bigger deal breaker.

Virginia was briefly ranked in the national polls. The Cavaliers are sitting alone in third in the ACC standings but the other numbers, including an 8-9 record in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games, will be an issue. The Cavaliers are sitting 50th in the NCAA NET rankings and they did not look worthy of a spot in the tournament in a 25-point loss at Duke the last time out.

Even with back-to-back wins, Virginia Tech is 9-10 in the ACC. Four Quad 4 losses and a 3-8 record in Quad 1 contests will not look good when the Selection Committee debates the results for the Hokies.

Pittsburgh was tied for the seventh-best odds to win the ACC when the season began according to the BetUS sportsbook. The Panthers are a game out of fourth place heading into the weekend. A pair of wins over ranked teams helps but a 7-8 record in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games as well as a pair of Quad 3 losses could leave the Panthers out of the tournament field.

Wait ‘Til Next Year

North Carolina State and Syracuse are 83rd and 84th in the NCAA NET rankings. They are a combined 1-8 against ranked teams and 3-15 in Quad 1 games. Perhaps they can defy the college basketball lines and make a run in the ACC tournament.

What a nightmare of a season it has been for Miami. It returned four of the top six scorers from a team that advanced to the Final Four and added high-profile transfer Matthew Cleveland. However, only the presence of Louisville is keeping the Hurricanes out of last place in the ACC.

No. 97 Boston College and No. 98 Florida State are a combined 2-13 in Quad 1 games.

Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Louisville are a combined 17-40 in ACC play this season. Enough said.

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Questions of the Day

Which ACC teams have the best record against the spread against ranked teams this season?

North Carolina is 5-2 against the spread when facing teams in the Top 25 in the national polls this season while Georgia Tech has covered in each of its four games versus ranked teams.