We know the top team in the ACC, the rest not so much!

Even if the ACC season is not over, the first four seeds, which will have a double by in the conference post season tournament, are known. As a matter of fact the least talked about team of the Atlantic Coast Conference , Virginia (16 & 1), will be the top seed no matter what happens from here to the end of the season. The other three teams in the mix, Syracuse … North Carolina … Duke, all have a chance to be the second seed, or the third, or could end being the fourth seed. All of this makes for some great drama going into the last few days of the regular season.

The program in the fourth spot right now, Duke (12 & 4), and the only one with two games left is the only program with the reality that if they win both games they will be the second seed in the tournament. If Coach K’s squad should lose tonight to Wake Forest and beat arch-rival North Carolina they would then be a three seed. They would also have that same seed if they were to win tonight, lose vs UNC and Syracuse was to win their last game of the season (vs FSU). The Blue Devils would end up on the four line if they lost both games or with a loss to UNC and a SU win.

Syracuse (13 & 4) has two possibilities to be the second best team in the conference. One if they win against Florida State and Duke loses either of their games. The other would be with the Orange losing while Duke losing to Wake Forest and Carolina losing to Duke. Coach Boeheim’s squad would slide to the three slot if Duke was to win both games, no matter what they do against FSU. SU would end up as the fourth seed in the ACC Tournament if they lose to FSU, Duke beats Wake and then loses to Carolina.

The fourth squad in the mix, North Carolina (13 & 4) can be a two seed with a win over their arch-rival and a SU loss. They would drop to 3rd if both the Heels and the Orange win their last match ups. And finally, they would be the fourth squad of the tourney if they loss to Duke. So, UNC does hold their destiny in that if they lose they are fourth, but if they win they will have to see what SU does.

Having said that, here are the last games for these teams…

Tonight @ 7:00 p.m. EST:
#4 Duke (23 & 6 ~ 12 & 4 in ACC) vs Wake Forest (15 & 14 ~ 5 & 11 in ACC)
Televised on: ESPN2/WatchESPN
The Blue Devils are a 12 points favorite. A loss tonight takes the program from being a #2 seed.

Saturday @ 9:00 p.m. EST:
#14 North Carolina (23 & 7 ~ 13 & 4 in ACC) vs #4 Duke (23 & 6 ~ 12 & 4 in ACC)
Televised on: ESPN/WatchESPN
For Duke we will have to wait for the result from tonight. While for UNC if they lose they will be fourth and if win they will have to wait until the next day to see where they end up.

Sunday @ 2:00 p.m. EST:
#7 Syracuse (26 & 4 ~ 13 & 4 in ACC) vs Florida State (18 & 11 ~ 9 & 8 in ACC)
Televised on: ESPN3
When this game is played SU will know what their game will mean. If Duke was to win both games SU would be playing for the three slot, win or lose.

Now, this is the great part about this. The two games over the weekend are going to be hard fought, since all four teams need the win, and not just for the seeding. Duke/UNC is the rivalry of the conference, no matter what the world wide leader in sports is trying to say. Both teams want to have the bragging rights of this victory. On the other hand the SU/FSU game is a game both programs want, since SU does not want to slide anymore before the beginning of the post season, while FSU needs a good win on their resume. This would put the `Noles with 19 wins overall and 10 in the conference. A couple of more wins in the ACC Tournament and Florida State could be in the Big Dance.

Not a bad way to finish up the first season of the new and bigger (and maybe improved) Atlantic Coast Conference. And if this is a prelude to how the post season tournament could be like, it’s a great time to be part of the ACC.

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