0 of 4
Duke may not have won Mike Krzyzewski's final home game in charge, but it could still ensure there's a triumphant conclusion to the legendary coach's career. The Blue Devils, who lost Saturday's regular-season finale to North Carolina, will be the No. 1 seed for the 2022 ACC tournament, which begins Tuesday.
Even though Duke will be coming off a loss when the tourney starts, it's had a successful season. The Blue Devils are 26-5 and went 16-4 in conference play. Now, they will look to outlast the ACC's other 14 teams to come away with a tournament title before heading to the NCAA tourney.
The ACC tournament is taking place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Duke, along with Notre Dame, North Carolina and Miami, received a bye into the quarterfinals of the tourney, which will end with the championship game Saturday.
Here's the full schedule for the 2022 ACC tournament, followed by some predictions for the event.
1 of 4
First Round (March 8)
Game 1: No. 12 Pittsburgh vs. No. 13 Boston College, 2 p.m. ET, ACC Network
Game 2: No. 10 Clemson vs. No. 15 NC State, 4:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network
Game 3: No. 11 Louisville vs. No. 14 Georgia Tech, 7 p.m. ET, ACC Network
Second Round (March 9)
Game 4: No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 9 Syracuse, noon ET, ESPN or ESPN2
Game 5: No. 5 Wake Forest vs. Game 1 winner, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2
Game 6: No. 7 Virginia Tech vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2 or ESPNU
Game 7: No. 6 Virginia vs. Game 3 winner, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Quarterfinals (March 10)
Game 8: No. 1 Duke vs. Game 4 winner, noon, ESPN or ESPN2
Game 9: No. 4 Miami vs. Game 5 winner, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2
Game 10: No. 2 Notre Dame vs. Game 6 winner, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2
Game 11: No. 3 North Carolina vs. Game 7 winner, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2
Semifinals (March 11)
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2
Game 13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN or ESPN2
Championship (March 12)
Game 14: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
2 of 4
Wake Forest may have gone 13-7 in ACC play this season, but it lost twice to Miami. The Demon Deacons fell 92-84 to the Hurricanes on Jan. 1 and then suffered a 76-72 defeat on Feb. 12. However, there's a good chance that Wake Forest will get an opportunity for revenge.
As the No. 5 seed, the Demon Deacons will be playing the winner of the first-round matchup between Pittsburgh and Boston College in the second round. Wake Forest should beat either one of those teams and move on to the quarterfinals, where it would meet Miami.
Although the Demon Deacons fell to the Hurricanes twice before, this time will be different. Wake Forest won three of its final four regular-season games, a stretch that included a victory over Notre Dame. It also has a talented leader capable of powering the team to success in senior guard Alondes Williams (19.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game).
Expect Wake Forest to keep its momentum going in the ACC tournament, where it will defeat Miami to advance to the semifinals. However, the Demon Deacons will have an even tougher test at that point considering they would have to go up against No. 1-seeded Duke.
3 of 4
Before losing its regular-season finale at Clemson, Virginia Tech had been rolling through the second half of its ACC schedule. The Hokies won nine of 10 games prior to falling to the Tigers, but they will have a chance to get back on track during the conference tournament.
First, Virginia Tech will have to avenge its loss to Clemson. The Tigers should win their first-round matchup against NC State, setting up a matchup against the Hokies in the second round. But Virginia Tech is capable of winning on a neutral court, especially if it can shoot better than it did Saturday, when it went 37.3 percent from the field.
If the Hokies can get hot again, they are capable of making a deep run. They will likely have to get past both No. 2-seeded Notre Dame and No. 3-seeded North Carolina to reach the championship game, but that could happen if they can be as efficient from long range as they have been for most of the season (an ACC-best 38.8 percent on three-pointers).
So don't be surprised if Virginia Tech makes it to the semifinals—and potentially even the championship game—as the No. 7 seed in the conference tourney.
4 of 4
Duke's loss to North Carolina in its regular-season finale may be the last time that it gets beat for a while. The Blue Devils are likely going to have a strong showing in the ACC tournament, one that should reestablish their momentum heading into the NCAA tourney.
Even though Duke doesn't need the automatic bid that comes with the ACC tourney title to make it to March Madness, this will be the final time that Krzyzewski will coach in the conference tournament. What better way to send him off than to capture the program's first ACC tourney title since 2019?
Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to plenty of success over the years, notably winning the conference tournament 15 times. Duke is capable of making that 16 this season as the No. 1 seed, as it averaged an ACC-best 80.4 points per game and played well for most of the campaign.
Although there are several teams capable of knocking off the Blue Devils, that's not going to happen. They are going to prove they are the top squad in the ACC by handily rolling to the tournament title.
"complete" - Google News
March 06, 2022 at 10:05PM
https://ift.tt/HMn1IPo
ACC Tournament 2022: Complete Bracket and Predictions After Regular Season - Bleacher Report
"complete" - Google News
https://ift.tt/Xz0nQP1
https://ift.tt/rCfI5UA
No comments:
Post a Comment