NCAA Tournament Predictions: ACC

Written March 5, 2009 by Jack Jones

teague-wake-forest There are two ways to look at this year’s ACC, either the teams are beating each other up because the league is so deep and anyone can win on a given night, or the conference is over-rated and not as good as people think. Handicapping expert Craig Trapp takes a look at who is going to make the NCAA Tournament from the ACC and then gives his thoughts on how they will perform.

North Carolina

The league favorite is North Carolina and they have lost three times. Most teams would be happy with only three losses but more was expected out of the Tar Heels. Only one of their losses is to another top ranked team as they have failed to be consistent enough on the defensive end of the floor. Every time they have gone down one opposing player has scored more than 25 points and single handedly beat them. Craig thinks this team will make the Final Four but a lack of depth in the backcourt will spell their doom in Detroit.

Duke

The Blue Devils have had a solid year and have only lost five games. The team doesn’t have a real presence inside, but can still split the conference crown if they win out. Coach K’s bunch has struggled in the NCAA tournament the last two years and will probably be stuck with a #3 seed this year. Craig thinks this team could run into trouble with a #6 seed from a power conference and is a team that could be upset before making it to the Sweet 16.

Wake Forest

This team has been a very nice surprise in the ACC this year. Jeff Teague has been dominant and should be the league’s player of the year. The Demon Deacons are athletic and tall up and down the lineup. Craig likes how this team is playing and thinks a strong conference tournament showing will net them a #2 seed. Craig is really high on Wake and thinks they have long shot potential to win the tournament and at least make the Final Four.

Clemson

For once the Tigers didn’t use a fast start to collapse down the stretch. This team needs to be more consistent on defense, but they can score with anyone. Most likely this team will end up as a #4 seed and a #1 seed without solid guard play could be ripe for Sweet 16 upset.

Florida State

The Seminoles have a player of the year candidate of their own in Tony Douglas. This team is young and was supposed to be a year away from contending, but their freshman and sophomores stepped it up. Florida State’s seed will fluctuate depending on how they close out the season but they’ll most likely be a #4 or #5. Not many teams will want to face the Seminoles right now.

Boston College

The Eagles have beaten both Duke and North Carolina but also lost to Harvard so inconsistent is the best word to describe this team. When Tyrese Rice goes cold so does the offense. This team should get in due to their big wins but should be a #9 seed that gets bounced out of the tournament in the opener.

Craig thinks that these six teams should all make the dance, but three more are on the bubble: Maryland, Miami, and Virginia TEch. None of the three teams have played consistent enough during the regular season and none of them should make it over the ninth best team in the Big East.

Trapp says that the ACC is one of the most over-rated conferences in college basketball and thinks that the real contender of the bunch is Wake Forest. If you want to win more with your NCAA basketball betting then take a look at the college basketball picks offered by Craig.

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