With the close of the regular season, the pairings for the ACC Tournament are set.
Thursday, March 10 - First Round
#8 seed Virginia vs. #9 seed Miami noon ACC Network
#5 seed Boston College vs. #12 seed Wake Forest 2:00 p.m.* ACC Network
#7 seed Maryland vs. #10 seed NC State 7:00 p.m. ESPN2
#6 seed Virginia Tech vs. #11 seed Georgia Tech 9:00 p.m.* ACC Network
Friday, March 11 - Quarterfinals
#1 seed North Carolina vs. Game 1 Winner noon ACC Network/ESPN2
#4 seed Clemson vs. Game 2 Winner 2:00 p.m.* ACC Network/ESPN2
#2 seed Duke vs. Game 3 Winner 7:00 p.m. ACC Network/ESPN2
#3 seed Florida State vs. Game 4 Winner 9:00 p.m.* ACC Network/ESPN2
Saturday, March 12 - Semifinals
ACC Semifinal 1 1:00 p.m. ACC Network/ESPN
ACC Semifinal 2 3:00 p.m.* ACC Network/ESPN
Sunday, March 13 - Championship
Championship Game 1:00 p.m. ACC Network/ESPN
For UNC the quarterfinals on Friday will be against either Virginia or Miami. If the Heels win then it will be the winner of the Clemson-Boston College game. Since BC plays Wake Forest, which might be one of the worst teams in ACC history, a Clemson-BC matchup on Friday is a lock. The quarterfinals should not be a huge issues though UNC did have tough games on the road versus both Miami and UVa during the regular season. A potential semifinals games versus Clemson or BC will be interesting. Beating a team three times in one season is a tough feat. Between BC's tempo and Clemson matching up well with the Heels, if UNC makes it to Saturday, they will be in for a challenge.
On the other side of the bracket, Duke will play either Maryland or NC State in the quarterfinals. Duke rolled both teams, twice, during the regular season. After that it could be FSU or Virginia Tech who both beat Duke at home. Virginia Tech will play Georgia Tech and I would not bet on the Hokies at this point if I had a gun to my head. In all honestly, for Duke the opponent probably matters less than Kyle Singler finding some semblance of a working jumpshot.
Roy Williams was asked about the ACC Tournament following the Duke game. He repeated his assertion that the ACC Tournament is a "cocktail party." However he did say UNC was going to Greensboro to try and win it. To me it struck me that UNC would be more focused on winning the three day event than maybe in the past. Of course they may have something to do with the fact the more UNC wins, the more it helps their NCAA Tournament seeding. If UNC can win the ACC Championship they might be in the conversation for a #1 seed or at worse get the first spot on the #2 seed line.