The whole concept for the Women’s Guide to Sports series was spawned on a bus ride to JPJ. While waiting for the stop near the arena, I overheard a conversation between girls sitting a row in front of me. It went something like this:
Girl 1: “Do you know how many teams play in the ACC Tournament?”
Girl 2: “I think only two teams end up going.”
Girl 1: “Oh, okay.”
My jaw dropped. I wanted to say something, but I kept my mouth shut. Are women really this poorly informed about sporting events? I’m not generalizing here, but I think this is a travesty. First of all, by its very definition, a tournament has to have more than two teams. Otherwise, it is just a series, regular game, or championship match. I hope those two girls stumble across this piece; I’m willing to bet they don’t spend much time on sports websites. Juicycampus.com anyone???
So, after a few previous Women’s Guides, I decided to write one about the initial topic itself. Contrary to what those two believe, EVERY team in the ACC goes to the end-of-season tournament. The rundown of the games looks a little something like this:
FIRST ROUND - Thursday, March 13
#8 Wake Forest vs. #9 Florida State
#5 Miami vs. #12 NC State
#7 Georgia Tech vs. #10 Virginia
#6 Maryland vs. #11 Boston College
QUATERFINALS - Friday, March 14
#1 North Carolina vs. Winner of Wake/FSU
#4 Virginia Tech vs. Winner of Miami/NC State
#2 Duke vs. Winner of GT/Virginia
#3 Clemson vs. Winner of Maryland/BC
SEMIFINALS - Saturday, March 15
Game 9 (Winners of UNC/VT games)
Game 10 (Winners of Duke/Clemson games)
FINALS - Sunday, March 16
Game 11 (Title game. Winners of Games 9 and 10)
The addition of Boston College, Miami, and VT to the ACC a few years back means that the top four teams at the end of the regular season get to a bye (read: they don’t have to play) in the first round. The tournament is single-elimination, so you either win your games or you go home. UNC, who won the regular season crown with a victory over Duke last week, is a favorite to win both the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.
I’ve heard many questions about the relationship between the ACC and the NCAA Tournaments. Is there one? Not really. Everyone from the ACC heads the ACC Tournament, while it depends on several factors as to which teams and how many of them move on to the NCAA’s. Each conference, including the ACC, has an automatic bid, which in this case goes to the winner of the ACC Tournament. A selection committee can hand out at-large bids to other teams.
With Selection Sunday for the NCAA’s coming up on the same day the tournament ends, it is difficult to say exactly which teams are going. UNC is definitely headed to the Big Dance, by way of being nationally ranked #1. Duke and Clemson are also unofficially “in” by way of their records and rankings. The teams with something to prove regarding getting an at-large bid are Miami, Virginia Tech, and Maryland. Your beloved Cavaliers need to run the table at this tournament and win the whole thing to get a bid. By winning the tournament crown, any team can secure their bid to the national tournament.
As for everyone else, their season may end after the ACC Tournament. However, there is a chance that they could get the most bittersweet of consolation prizes: A bid to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). The NIT bid is usually extended to those teams above .500 not good enough to make it to the NCAA’s. Also referred to as the Not-Invited Tournament, the NIT allows second tier teams to have a post-season. Let’s call it the Basketball equivalent of the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.
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