BC Interruption: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
New Blog: Along The Olentangy for Ohio State Fans!

Projecting the ACC Tournament Field

Brian: Watching the BC-UNC game on Saturday and hearing CBS's famous Road to March Madness jingle as the network cut to commercial break, I couldn't help but get depressed over the thought of the Eagles not making this year's NCAA basketball tournament.

The only real shot this team has at making the NCAA Tournament, of course, is winning the ACC Tournament in Greensboro and receiving the conference's automatic bid.

So where are we at in terms of seeding for this year's ACC Tournament? Here's a look at the current ACC Standings. If the season ended today, BC would be the #9 seed in Greensboro.


Atlantic Coast Conference Standings

(updated 2.22.2010 at 12:20 AM CST)

Conf Overall
W L W L
1. Duke Blue Devils 11 2 23 4
2. Maryland Terrapins 9 3 19 7
3. Virginia Tech Hokies 8 4 21 5
4. Wake Forest Demon Deacons 8 5 18 7
5. Clemson Tigers 7 5 19 7
6. Florida St. Seminoles 7 5 19 7
7. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 6 7 18 9
8. Virginia Cavaliers 5 7 14 11
9. Boston College Eagles 4 8 13 13
10. Miami Hurricanes 3 9 17 9
11. North Carolina Tar Heels 3 9 14 13
12. N.C. State Wolfpack 3 10 15 13


Looking ahead to the end of the season, and using kenpom projections for the final games of the ACC regular season, here is how the regular season will play out in the ACC:


Projected Atlantic Coast Conference Standings

 

Conf Overall
W L W L
1. Duke Blue Devils 13 3
26 5
2. Maryland Terrapins 11 5 21 9
3. Virginia Tech Hokies 10 6 23 7
4. Wake Forest Demon Deacons 10 6 20 8
5. Florida St. Seminoles 10 6 22 8
6. Clemson Tigers 9 7 21 9
7. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 8 8 20 10
8. Boston College Eagles 6 10 15 15
9. Virginia Cavaliers 6 10 15 14
10. Miami Hurricanes 5 11 19 11
11. North Carolina Tar Heels 4 12 15 16
12. N.C. State Wolfpack 4 12 16 15

 

A win over Virginia at home would give BC the tiebreaker over the Cavs, moving them up one spot to the #8 seed. The top 4 teams remain unchanged, while Clemson and Florida St. swap spots at #5 and #6. Looking ahead to the ACC Tournament pairings, that would leave the following matchups on the first day:

#5 Florida State vs. #12 N.C. State
#6 Clemson vs. #11 North Carolina
#7 Georgia Tech vs. #10 Miami (Fla.)
#8 Boston College vs. #9 Virginia

The winner of the BC-Virginia game would then play #1 Duke and you'd have the below four games in the ACC Quarterfinals:

#1 Duke vs. Boston College / Virginia Winner
#2 Maryland vs. Georgia Tech / Miami (Fla.) Winner
#3 Virginia Tech vs. Clemson / North Carolina Winner
#4 Wake Forest vs. Florida State / N.C. State Winner

Let's assume for a moment that the top 4 teams will hold serve and get first round byes in Greensboro. As the Eagles jockey for ACC Tournament seeding in their final four regular season games, where would you ideally have BC seeded for this team to pull off the improbable and win 4 games in 4 days?

Jeff: I'd really like to see the Eagles get to 7-9 in conference and somehow win a tiebreaker and get to the #7 seed. That way the Thursday game is more of a given that they'll win and the Friday game is against a team other than Duke who is clearly the cream of the crop in the ACC.

But if you look at who the projected #2 seed is we'd be looking at playing Maryland who dominated BC in Chestnut Hill far worse than any other team this season so that is not exactly a matchup I'd get excited about. So really we need BC to move up to the #7 spot with somehow Virginia Tech moving up to #2. If Boston College plays Miami in the first round and Virginia Tech in the second round, I'd really like the Eagles' chances to make it to the semifinals. At that point the tournament would up for grabs with BC having a very legitimate chance of winning.

More realistically though, BC will stay playing in the #8 vs. #9 game and face Duke on Friday. This is not the worst-case scenario for this team because they have outplayed Duke for 2 of the 4 halves they played against them this season. Duke will have nothing to play for as far as NCAA tournament seeding since they will likely be a 2 seed with little chance of moving to a #1. Conversely, the Eagles should have the confidence they need to pull off the upset in an arena where every non-Duke fan will become an Eagles fan for a brief two hour period.

Either way, with the mediocrity in the ACC, if BC can enter the conference tournament having won 3 or 4 of their final 4 games, this year gives them as good of a chance as any year to pull off a stunning four-win ACC Tournament Championship.

0 recs  |  Comment 2 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

I would love

to see this. We owe Miami and Maryland two swift punches downstairs. Both of ‘em beat us by buzzer beaters and put us on the outs with the NCAA bracketology. It’d be sweet payback to eliminate them from ACCT.

I spun around... and there I was, face-to-face with a six-year old kid. Well, I just threw my guns down and walked away. Little bastard shot me in the ass.

by BirdGT on Feb 23, 2010 1:59 PM EST reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Welcome to BC Interruption, a blog dedicated to Boston College athletics. Get BCI updates via Twitter.
Start posting about the Eagles »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

SBNation.com Recent Stories

Florida State's Christian Ponder, left, runs as Miami's Marcus Robinson gives chase during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Monday, Sept. 7, 2009, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

2010 ACC College Football Preview: Deep Conference Should Make For Highly Competitive Season

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany speaks in Lincoln, Neb., Friday, June 11, 2010, in front of a Big Ten and a Nebraska backdrop. Nebraska made it official Friday and applied for membership in the Big Ten Conference, a potentially crippling blow to the Big 12 and the biggest move yet in an off season overhaul that will leave college sports looking much different by this time next year.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik) +5 updates

Big Ten Announces Conference Divisions For 2011

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2009 photo, South Carolina's head coach Steve Spurrier stands with his quarterback Stephen Garcia (5) before the start of their NCAA college football game against Mississippi at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.    A year ago, first-time postseason starter Stephen Garcia got chewed out by South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier for playing video games the night before the Outback Bowl game. These days, Garcia putting all his focus where it counts most _ on the Gamecocks.  (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain, File)

College Football Kickoff: 2010 Season Gets Underway With Southern Mississippi At South Carolina

More from SBNation.com >


Managers

Bc99_small bcinterruption

N1604407_33181002_7167_small Brian @ BCI

Bci-lg_small Jeff @ BCI