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ACC Basketball Tournament: Virginia, UNC and Duke fight for the title

ByBryan Manning|
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 11: Jay Huff #30 of the Virginia Cavaliers blocks a shot by Coby White #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half of a game at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 11: Jay Huff #30 of the Virginia Cavaliers blocks a shot by Coby White #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half of a game at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 10: Head coach Tony Bennett of the Virginia Cavaliers cuts down the net after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 71-63 during the championship game of the 2018 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 10, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 10: Head coach Tony Bennett of the Virginia Cavaliers cuts down the net after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 71-63 during the championship game of the 2018 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 10, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

It’s that time of the year: March is here. And ACC Basketball — college basketball’s premier conference — begins conference tournament play on Tuesday.

The regular season is over. And, much like in four of the past six years, the Virginia Cavaliers will enter the ACC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Wahoos finished the regular season with a 16-2 mark in conference play. Since ACC Basketball expanded to the 18-game schedule back in 2012-13, the Cavaliers have four of the five top records in this era with at least 16 wins in four different seasons. Only the North Carolina Tar Heels, this season, matched UVa’s 16 wins during this era.

Speaking of the Tar Heels, they, along with Florida State, are perhaps the league’s hottest teams entering the tournament, in large part due to their season sweep of hated rival Duke. It was North Carolina’s first sweep of the Blue Devils since the 2009 season. UNC finished tied for first with Virginia, however, due to the Cavaliers’ winning the only regular-season matchup between the two teams, UVa gets the top seed.

https://twitter.com/marchmadness/status/1104550244874969088

Speaking of Duke, most of the country is paying close attention to the situation involving star freshman Zion Williamson. Williamson, of course, went down with a knee injury in the opening minute of UNC’s win over Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 20. Williamson was diagnosed with a Grade 1 knee sprain and has been considered day-to-day since that time.

So, will the presumed No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft be ready for third-seeded Duke’s first ACC Tournament game on Thursday? Head coach Mike Krzyzewski sure sounds positive.

Tournament play begins on Tuesday in Charlotte with three games featuring the teams seeded 10th – 15th. The opening game, No. 12 Miami vs. No. 13 Wake Forest, is set for a 12 pm ET tip.