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NCAA basketball: Predicting who wins every major conference tournament

By Mike Phillips

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 07: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts during the second half of their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 07, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 89-76. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 07: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts during the second half of their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 07, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 89-76. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – MARCH 04: Trent Forrest #3 of the Florida State Seminoles dribbles the ball against Prentiss Hubb #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion on March 4, 2020 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – MARCH 04: Trent Forrest #3 of the Florida State Seminoles dribbles the ball against Prentiss Hubb #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion on March 4, 2020 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

ACC

  • Dates: March 10-14
  • Location: Greensboro, NC
  • Top Seed: Florida State

The ACC is top-heavy this season, but that doesn’t mean the conference tournament doesn’t have some potential for drama. The top seed here is Florida State, which held off Virginia, Louisville and Duke for the regular-season crown by just a game.

All four of those teams will receive byes directly into the quarterfinals, and five seed NC State is likely playing for its tournament lives. The Wolfpack need to survive their first game against either Pittsburgh or Wake Forest and then put up a good effort against Duke to help their own at-large chances.

There are also potential pitfalls for the top seeds, like Clemson, who has already scored victories over Duke, Florida State and Louisville. Notre Dame is also playing reasonably well entering the conference tournament while last-place North Carolina features freshman sensation Cole Anthony who has the ability to wreck a game if he gets going.

When everything is so up in the air, the most logical pick is to take the team that is playing the best basketball entering the tournament. That distinction belongs to Virginia, which has won eight straight games and wrapped the regular season with a win over Louisville to earn the two seed in Greensboro.

Prediction: Virginia