NCAA Tournament: Will ACC Get 10 Teams Selected To Big Dance?
By Kelvin Hunt
The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will unveil their field of 68 teams Sunday evening. Will the ACC Conference Have 10 teams selected?
The ACC dominated the NCAA Tournament in 2016, but fell short of a National Championship when North Carolina lost to Villanova on a last second buzzer beater.
There were seven ACC teams selected to the NCAA Tournament in 2016, but it would have been eight had Louisville not been on self-imposed sanctions.
The league was even better in 2017 and as many as 10 teams could potentially be selected Sunday evening.
Here are the sure ins to be selected:
- North Carolina (27-7, 14-4 ACC)
- Duke (27-8, 12-6 ACC)
- Florida State (25-8, 11-7 ACC)
- Louisville (24-8, 12-6 ACC)
- Notre Dame (25-9, 12-6 ACC)
- Virginia (22-10, 11-7 ACC)
- Virginia Tech (22-10, 10-8 ACC)
- Miami (21-11, 10-8 ACC)
Here are the teams that could be on the bubble:
- Wake Forest (19-13, 9-9 ACC)
- Syracuse (18-14, 10-8 ACC)
Projections
According to USA Today’s latest Bracketology updates, both North Carolina and Duke are projected to be No. 1 seeds.
Florida State is projected to be a No. 2 seed and Louisville is projected to be a No. 3 seed. Notre Dame is projected to be a No. 4 seed and Virginia is projected to be a No. 5 seed.
Virginia Tech is projected to be a No. 9 seed and Miami is projected to be a No. 8 seed. Wake Forest is projected to make the tournament as a No. 11 seed.
However, Syracuse isn’t projected to make the field according to USA Today, but is projected to make the field of 68 according to ESPN’s latest bracket update.
Thoughts
I think the ACC is a lock to get nine teams selected in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. It was by far the best basketball conference with 10 teams ranked inside the top 50 in Ken Pom’s rankings.
Syracuse comes in at No. 51 according to Ken Pom. They had a winning record in the best conference, but played a weak out of conference schedule.
However, their overall strength of schedule falls at No. 45.
How does Syracuse compare to other bubble teams?
- Seton Hall (21-10)
- Providence (20-12)
- Marquette (19-12)
- Xavier (21-13)
Xavier has played the toughest schedule by far compared to these other teams listed and they have wins over ACC teams Clemson and Wake Forest.
Syracuse has played a slightly tougher schedule than Providence, and are neck and neck with Marquette. Marquette has a loss to Pittsburgh who Syracuse split with on the season (1-1).
Seton Hall has played a tougher schedule overall than Syracuse, and went 10-8 in the Big East conference as did Syracuse in the ACC.
Syracuse has three wins over top 10 ranked teams this season, and five wins over top 50 teams in the RPI. However, they also have five losses to teams ranked RPI 100+.
Syracuse went (19-13, 9-9 ACC) last season and made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed. They made the final four before losing to ACC foe and national runner-up North Carolina.
It looks like it all boils down to if Syracuse will be selected to determine if the ACC will get 10 teams in. Will last year’s run with an almost identical record be enough to sway the committee?
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Be sure to tune in later Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET for Selection Sunday.