The ACC Tournament begins on Tuesday when Notre Dame takes on Pittsburgh and will continue a heavy schedule through the end of the week. While none of the teams are battling for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, there is plenty to play for. Each team looks to continue their season for one more day. Day one of the ACC Tournament is all about making it to day two. Look no further than NC State from one season ago. They started on Tuesday, won five games in five days and made a run to the Final Four. The whole perspective of the program changed.
All the games on Tuesday are elimination games, so who can make the Cinderella run to the championship this season? Who can extend their season by just one more day? Let the Madness begin.
ACC Tournament Day 1 Cinderellas: Is There Another NC State?
Pittsburgh Looks to Find Early Season Form
Pittsburgh started the NET rankings at five and began the season 12-2. They were a lock until they lost 12 of 16 games and plummeted near the bottom three of the ACC. Everything went wrong and Jeff Capel’s job appears to be in question. Pitt came out and dominated Boston College on senior night, so is this a return to their early season form? Pitt is certainly the best team in this group and has no business playing on the first day of the ACC Tournament. What matters now is winning. They should be in the NCAA Tournament, but they let their foot off the gas. Maybe Pitt showed what they were going to do the rest of the way against the Eagles.
The matchups are certainly more favorable on this side of the bracket until the semifinal. If Pitt were to beat Notre Dame, they’d play North Carolina, setting up a third meeting. Pitt beat North Carolina at home and lost a one-point game on a missed shot at the buzzer in Chapel Hill. A win there would put them against Wake Forest, another game lost by one possession on the road. Sure, playing on day one of the ACC tournament is a negative, but the path is much worse in other conferences (and other parts of the ACC). The only issue is that, barring an upset, the semifinal matchup would be Duke. Duke will have to struggle to lose to anybody before the final, so the run would probably end here. However, a win could give a small (very small) at-large argument.
Florida State Wants to Send Hamilton Out with a Win
Leonard Hamilton has already agreed to step down at the end of the season, and Florida State has already hired their next head coach, Luke Loucks. While the university has begun to look towards next season, Hamilton and these players want to finish strong. What better way to send off their beloved coach than to win the ACC Tournament one last time? Florida State has been spotty at times this season, but they have the size and athleticism to compete with anybody. Being on the opposite side of the bracket as Duke has its perks. The problem is they have the toughest path.
A win over Syracuse would pin the Seminoles against SMU, a borderline NCAA Tournament team. Beating SMU would pin them against Clemson. A win against Clemson would likely put them against Louisville. Then, they would likely find themselves against the Blue Devils in the championship. Winning the whole tournament seems unlikely, but they will be highly motivated and could make a semifinal run with a couple of upsets or even make the finals with some help.
The Last Word on Day 1 of the ACC Tournament
While this is likely the least-viewed day of any tournament for the power conferences, the first day promises to have exciting matchups between even teams. Talented rosters will have the opportunity to advance and get some momentum. We saw how magical NC State’s run was because of that momentum. While any run like that seems unlikely, there are talented teams capable of making those magical runs. Day one of the ACC Tournament won’t decide the winner, but there is still plenty to watch and play for.
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