ACC tournament set for debut at Barclays Center

Louisville has a 21 percent chance to grab a top seed and 14 percent chance to win the ACC Tournament. Do I favor them to be a Final Four team? For years, those schools would come to NY to play their conference tournament in Madison Square Garden.

The ACC will hold its conference tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn this week. We’ll be highlighting how the season has gone for each team, and discussing the state of each school heading into the postseason. Assuming the Blue Devils advance, they get Louisville, which beat them in the Yum!

NCAA OUTLOOK: The ACC figures to have plenty of representation in the NCAA field of 68, with an outside shot of matching the record of 11 bids by the Big East in in 2011.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the conference’s tournament this week. Or will Pitt or NC State make an unexpected Cinderella run? After the win, senior point guard London Perrantes said he didn’t plan to spend the rest of his Saturday glued to the television, waiting to see how the other ACC games ended up. Wake Forest is by far the better team, has everything to play for, and has been playing very good basketball lately, while Boston College is on a 14 game losing streak.

Up next, Duke takes on Louisville in the game of the day on Wednesday in Brooklyn.

So if you’re looking for a viable darkhorse, consider seeds 5-9 (Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Miami) and assess how they fared versus the top four (North Carolina, Florida State, Notre Dame and Louisville).

“Over the last five games, there’s been a lot at stake in every game”, Tech coach Buzz Williams said.

The Eagles (9-22, 2-16) have lost 16 of the last 17 games to draw the No. 15 seed in the tourney. Then again, since the ACC expanded to 15, the team saddled with the open date on the final weekend of the season has exited the tournament in the opening round (2014 Notre Dame, 2015 Georgia Tech and 2016 Wake Forest). In 1952, one year before the ACC was founded, University of North Carolina officials hired Frank McGuire as the school’s basketball coach. The Orange grabbed victories over Duke, Virginia, and Florida State. The 6’8 205 pound forward averages 13.4 points per game, 8.3 rebounds, shoots 39.5 percent on his threes and 82.2 percent from the line.

Miami is set to play Syracuse, which defeated UM in January, Wednesday – set for a noon tip and can be heard on Miami Sports Radio 560 WQAM. The Tar Heels don’t have many weaknesses. They play strong defense and know how to create possessions. Bolden and Giles combined to score double-digits just twice, and Krzyzewski has made a habit of keeping them both securely on the bench during second halves, trusting only six players in crunch time. However, those teams won’t play until Thursday, March 9. While the Hurricanes ended the regular season on a two-game slide, the losses came on the road. “If we continue to win, that’s the ultimate goal”. Guard Bruce Brown has experienced his ups and downs as a freshman, but he is capable of carrying the team for a few days.

One one hand, it’s a sign that the ACC championship is tougher to win. Jim Boeheim and Co. need at least an opening win to feel safe.