Heading into the final regular season Saturday of ACC basketball, UNC's seeding for the ACC Tournament boils down to what happens between Louisville and Virginia.
At present UNC is tied for fourth with Louisville with each team holding an 11-6 record in league play. For seeding purposes, UNC's game versus Duke is inconsequential. What does matter is whether Louisville beats Virginia or not in the game set tip at 6:30 PM just prior to UNC-Duke's 9 PM start.
If Louisville wins and UNC beats Duke, Louisville wins the tiebreaker based on having gone 1-0 versus Virginia. UNC lost its only game against the Cavaliers.Obviously if Louisville wins and UNC loses, UNC finishes fifth and Louisville would take fourth place based on record.
If Louisville loses to Virginia, UNC gets the #4 seed and a double-bye regardless of what happens versus Duke. A win over the Blue Devils would give UNC fourth place outright at 12-6 while the Cardinals would be fifth at 11-7. A loss by both teams would have UNC and Louisville tied at 11-7. The tiebreaker would be based on record versus whoever wins the NC State-Syracuse game on Saturday afternoon. UNC is 1-1 vs NC State and 1-0 against the Orange while Louisville lost its only meeting against both.
A fifth seeded UNC team would play next Wednesday at approximately 2:30 PM against the winner of the #12 vs #13 game from Tuesday. Boston College is locked into the #12 seed. If Virginia Tech beats Miami, the Hokies will be the #13 seed, if not it will be Georgia Tech.
Should the Heels get the #4 seed and a double-bye, UNC would face the winner of Louisville vs Boston College/Georgia Tech/Virginia Tech next Thursday at approximately 2:30 PM.