Blogger Roundtable | Atlantic Coast Conference | The ACC
Which ACC teams do you think will make the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament?
March 18th
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There's an obvious reason why both Duke and North Carolina will be in the Sweet 16. They are playing the first two rounds of the NCAA's in Charlotte NC. For both the Heels and Blue Devils, that is like opening the tournament playing at home. It doesn't hurt that Duke may be getting back Kyrie Irving and just won the ACC Tournament. They are playing great basketball and are the West region's #1 seed. UNC was on a roll themselves despite some slow starts against Miami and Clemson before running into Duke. This team is far better than they were at the start of the year. Those 2 are locks for the Sweet 16.
Florida State probably has the toughest path to the Sweet 16. Even if the Noles beat Texas A&M, they'll probably have to contend with a Notre Dame team that could have been a number one seed. I just don't think FSU has the firepower to beat the Irish. It would be some kind of run if Florida State got to the Sweet 16."
-Jeff Fann, All About Sports |
"As much as I would like to say that Florida State will beat Notre Dame and advance to the Sweet 16, the only ACC teams that will make it to the second weekend of the NCAATournament are the North Carolina Tar Heels, and the Duke Blue Devils. However, North Carolina will not have an easy time making it that far, with Washington probably standing in its way. The cold blooded Isaiah Thomas leads his red-hot Washington Huskies fresh off their Pac-10 tourney title into the NCAA tournament averaging 94 points in wins. They will run run run, but so does Carolina, so I expect the more defensively sound Tar Heels to advance to the Sweet 16, but I would not be surprised in the least if the Huskies pulled off the upset. Duke will not have any trouble advancing, so don't hold your breath for any upsets in the West region."
-Gavin Andrews, Raycom Sports Wake Forest Blog |
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"Duke and North Carolina will be Sweet Sixteen bound. The return of Kyrie Irving will boost this Duke team (that I had been pretty skeptical of) through their region, and North Carolina is simply peaking at the best possible time and matches up well with their size against Long Island (obviously), Washington and Georgia. Florida State -- the last of the disappointingly meager three tournament teams remaining -- will be overmatched offensively without a fully healed Chris Singleton."
-Charlie Sallwasser, The Great Blog of Virginia
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"Three ACC teams remain eligible for the sweet sixteen: Duke, North Carolina and Florida State. Duke and North Carolina should be in good shape to get past first round games easily against Hampton and Long Island respectively. Duke will move on to face the winner of Michigan and Tennessee, while North Carolina will play the Washington/Georgia winner. Both tobacco road teams are playing in front of home crowds in Charlotte, North Carolina and they should coast into the sweet sixteen. Florida State will have a much more difficult road with a first round game in Chicago against Texas A&M, and then a matchup against Notre Dame should they survive the Aggies. In my very biased bracket, I have the Seminoles advancing to the Elite 8, along with both Duke and North Carolina."
-Andrew Brady, NoleFan.org |
"Despite what has no doubt been a down year, I still expect the ACC to get at least two teams into the sweet 16, as both Duke and North Carolina posses the talent and rather favorable brackets to make it to the tournament's 2nd weekend, if not further. What's really intriguing about Duke is that they get back freshman star Kyrie Irving, who was averaging 17.4 point per game before injuring his toe earlier in the season. The Blue Devils seemed unstoppable when Irving was in the line up but even after he went down the Blue Devils still managed to finish 2nd in the conference and win the ACC Tournament, which resulted in Duke securing a number one seed in the Big Dance. Florida State could also sneak into the Sweet 16 if their star player, junior forward Chris Singleton, is able to play for the first time since suffering an injury a month ago. If Singleton is able to play, Florida State will be a team that possesses much more talent and ability than their seed indicates and could sneak up on a lot of teams in the NCAA tournament."
-David Tucker, Testudo Times
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"It's no surprise after the finish to the season, where one won the ACC regular season championship - the other the ACC Tournament Championship...Duke and UNC are the obvious top two to advance. Duke, as a one seed, has a pretty easy draw with a 16-seed in Hampton that they'll cruise by and two BCS-conference schools that shouldn't be a big problem in Michigan and Tennessee. For UNC past 15-seed Long Island, the Pac-10 Champ Washington or SEC at-large Georgia await them in the next round. As long as UNC doesn't get down big early a la the ACC Tourney, the Tar Heels will make it through too. The remaining ACC team is FSU - and they face a decent 7-seed Texas A&M team with 2-seed Notre Dame most likely awaiting them in round three. The Seminoles will struggle to get past their opener, much less make the Sweet 16 in my estimation."
-Brandon Rink |
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