ACC Tournament May Well Be the Best Ever

As with every year since the league was founded, this year's ACC tournament will be exciting from the first tip off until the nets are cut down. This year's seedings are particularly well matched and should provide competitive games throughout the tournament.

While there are teams entering the tournament with less impressive records than have Duke and North Carolina this league has no 'weak sisters' and as those of us who have watched all of the previous tournaments can attest any team in this tournament can and well might beat any other team on a given night.

This tournament has produced many shocking upsets over the years, most notable of which is Jim Valvano's 1983 N.C. State Team, which, after losing 10 regular season games, upset Duke in the ACC final and then went on to win the National Championship by upsetting a powerful, and what some considered, undefeatable University of Houston team.

The top seeds in this year's tournament include Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Clemson. The remainder of the field includes some very good teams some of which have already proven that they are not only capable, but in fact have defeated the top seeds in tournament. For example, Wake Forest (7 wins and 9 losses in the league) and Miami (8 wins and 8 losses in the league) enter the tournament with about a .500 record and yet both of these teams have defeated powerful Duke. Similarly, 8 wins and 8 losses Maryland is one of two teams in the league to defeat North Carolina (the other is Duke).

Certainly, the easy money would pick Duke or North Carolina to win the tournament, but Clemson, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Maryland are all teams which can when playing their best ball win the big games. The question is whether any of these teams can put together 4 well-executed games in a row against very powerful opposition.

My guess is that the best team to have a shot at this underdog role is Clemson, which has played well in close defeats against UNC and Duke and has beaten Virginia Tech.

Disappointing this year is the play of usual power players Boston College (4-12) and Wake Forest. Both teams have several good players, but BC has struggled all year long. Wake (7-9), on the other hand has played some impressive games, including a hard fought victory over Duke, and if things go well for them could make a good tournament showing, as could a very good Georgia tech team (7-9).

Predictions:

In the first round:

Wake Forest will win over Florida State

Miami will win over North Carolina State

Georgia Tech will win over Virginia

Maryland will win over Boston College

In the Second Round:

North Carolina will win over Wake Forest

Miami will win over Virginia Tech

Duke will win over Georgia Tech

Clemson will win over Maryland

In the Semi Finals:

North Carolina will win over Miami

Duke will win over Clemson

In the Finals:

North Carolina will win over Duke

Regardless of how the tournament turns out it will be an exciting and competitive series of games. The tournament winner may well come from the two finishers in the league (Boston College and N.C. State) who could like N.C. State in 1983 finish the season as the National Champion, but the odds are powerful North Carolina and Duke will lead the conference in post season play.

Look for multiple ACC teams including Clemson, Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Wake Forest to make a run for the NIT championship.