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ACC Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview and predictions

By Bill McCarthy

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 07: Souvenir basketballs are displayed for sale at the New York Life 2017 ACC Tournament logo at center court at Barclays Center on March 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 07: Souvenir basketballs are displayed for sale at the New York Life 2017 ACC Tournament logo at center court at Barclays Center on March 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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ACC Basketball
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 16: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils cuts down a piece of the net after defeating the Florida State Seminoles (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

The 2019-20 ACC Basketball Tournament tips off Tuesday. Here’s everything you need to know before the battle to cut down the nets begins in Greensboro, North Carolina.

A down year for college basketball has been an especially down year for ACC Basketball, as the same league that sent seven teams and three No. 1 seeds to the NCAA Tournament a year ago is only projected to land four or five teams in the big dance this go-around.

This year, there’s no Zion Williamson. There’s no lights-out North Carolina offense. And there’s no dominant Virginia team hunting for redemption after a historic tournament upset.

But there’s still plenty to get excited about. When the 2019-20 ACC Tournament tips off Tuesday in Greensboro, North Carolina, a number of teams will have their seasons on the line.

Entering the tournament, just three ACC schools — Florida State, Duke and Louisville — rank in the top 40 of Kenpom’s adjusted efficiency ratings. Along with a red-hot Virginia, they’re the only teams that are considered locks for the NCAA Tournament, according to Bracket Matrix.

Ultimately, Florida State finished on top of the conference standings for the first time in program history. Virginia, Louisville and Duke tied for second place, with the Cavaliers and Cardinals earning the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the ACC Tournament through tiebreakers.

It’s the first time Florida State has won the regular season outright, and it’s also the first time neither Duke nor North Carolina has been a top-three seed in the conference tournament.

But the top four seeds aren’t the only dangerous teams this March. NC State is on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and Notre Dame could potentially steal an at-large bid with a deep run in the ACC Tournament. Syracuse and Clemson — which beat Duke, Louisville and Florida State this season — are also NCAA Tournament longshots that could make noise in Greensboro.

Georgia Tech, which finished fifth in the ACC standings this season after years spent at the bottom of the league, will sit out the ACC Tournament due to a postseason ban.

Missing from the competitive fray this season is North Carolina, which plummeted to the bottom of the conference standings after ranking No. 9 in the preseason AP poll. Hamstrung by injuries and what coach Roy Williams called the “least gifted” roster he’s had, the Tar Heels finished the season 6-14 in ACC play and 13-18 overall.

They, like most other teams in the conference, will be looking to shake things up in the ACC Tournament — and it shouldn’t register as a shock if they do. If this season has taught college basketball’s players, fans and coaches anything, it’s that anybody can beat anybody.

The same Duke team that strung seven wins in a row got smacked by NC State on the road. The same Syracuse squad that scored just 34 points in its first game ended the season 17-14. And the same Virginia team that dropped four out of five in January enters the tournament on an eight-game winning streak.

The stage is set for an exciting five days in Greensboro. The opening matchup — No. 12 seed Wake Forest vs. No. 13 seed Pittsburgh — is scheduled to tip off Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. EST. All games will be carried on ESPN, ESPN2 or the ACC Network.