ACC Basketball: 2021 Conference Tournament preview and predictions

Although it may not have been as strong as the Big Ten and Big 12, ACC Basketball had plenty of storylines this 2020-21 season. Many eyes were on the North Carolina Tar Heels as they were coming off a historically bad campaign in the previous year.

UNC did fine overall this year, finishing the regular season at 16-9 overall, 10-6 in league play. But at least the Tar Heels are projected to make the NCAA Tournament. As for their rivals across the road in the Duke Blue Devils, their fates will be determined in the upcoming ACC Tournament. They’re 11-11 (9-9) with a rough resume but never count out head coach Mike Krzyzewski to find a way.

At the top of the ACC, it was a two-way battle for the regular-season crown, especially once Virginia Tech was taken out of the equation due to multiple late pauses due to covid. Florida State had the upper hand but a loss to Notre Dame allowed Virginia to beat Louisville to win another regular-season title. The Cavaliers will be the 1 seed for the ACC Tournament, while the Seminoles get the No. 2 spot.

Despite the very unbalanced schedules overall, all but three of the ACC teams were able to get at least 14 conference games played. The seedings are set and the tournament will begin on Tuesday, featuring Duke shockingly in an opening-round matchup against Boston College.

Can the Blue Devils make a Cinderella-like run this week? And who else needs to win to make the NCAA Tournament? Here’s a look at the top storylines and key teams/players to watch, along with predicting how the event will go.