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5 Key Storylines To Watch In The ACC Tournament

By Josh Cornelissen

Mar 4, 2017; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Theo Pinson (1) with the ball as Duke Blue Devils guard Grayson Allen (3) defends in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2017; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Theo Pinson (1) with the ball as Duke Blue Devils guard Grayson Allen (3) defends in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 24, 2017; Syracuse, NY, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons forward John Collins (20) shoots the ball in front of Syracuse Orange forward Taurean Thompson (12) during the first half at the Carrier Dome. The Orange won 81-76. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 24, 2017; Syracuse, NY, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons forward John Collins (20) shoots the ball in front of Syracuse Orange forward Taurean Thompson (12) during the first half at the Carrier Dome. The Orange won 81-76. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /

Bubble Watch

The ACC has a number of teams that are all but guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament, regardless of whether they win the conference tournament to ensure an automatic bid.

North Carolina, Louisville, Notre Dame, Florida State, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Miami are all going to be in the Big Dance no matter what happens over the next few days.

But for other teams, their tournament chances are less certain. The Syracuse Orange are almost certainly in, but the tournament selection committee is too unpredictable to get overly confident.

The benefit for Syracuse is that they play Miami, a tournament team, on Wednesday so they won’t accrue a bad loss even if they drop that game.

Below Syracuse are a pair of teams with more tenuous tournament chances. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have been an up-and-down team all season, and as of games played Tuesday ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Wake Forest projected as one of his “Last Four In.”

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    • The Demon Deacons beat Boston College Tuesday to avoid accruing another bad loss, and Wednesday will face off against Virginia Tech. Wake Forest beat the Hokies in Blacksburg Saturday to keep their bubble hopes alive, and another victory could seal their ticket. Lose, and Selection Sunday gets stressful.

    On the other side of the bubble line are the Clemson Tigers. Lunardi places Clemson as one of the “Next Four Out,” which means they need to leap over a full handful of teams to go dancing. The Tigers have been a mystery all season, clinging to the bubble despite no marquee wins since December.

    They kept their hopes alive with a 75-61 win over Dennis Smith Jr. and the NC State Wolfpack and Wednesday face the Duke Blue Devils for a chance at making a name for themselves. Win, and they log that key win the committee will be searching for. Lose, and that’s all she wrote.