ACC Basketball has been in the spotlight, for mostly wrong reasons outside of the Duke Blue Devils. From a Bracketology standpoint, there are very few locks and even more teams all but eliminated from an at-large bid. But who is still in contention?
Here's a look at who has the best odds of getting an at-large bid in the ACC.
1 – Duke looks like a lock at this point. They have too much talent for the other ACC teams and so far have taken care of business within the league. Although unlikely they will go unbeaten in the league, I don’t see over a couple of losses and that will surely entitle them to a tournament bid.
2 – Clemson has done enough so far, but must continue to take care of business to get a bid. Their schedule gets a little more difficult from here, so they are by no means a lock. They don’t have a lot of Q1 wins to date so their margin for error is not great. They are probably 70/30 to get a bid.
3 – Louisville is certainly a surprise within the league. They have done what has been necessary do far, but will have to continue to perform at their current level to have a chance for a bid. As with Clemson, the schedule gets a little more difficult from here on, so they still have work to do. Their probability of a bid is around 60/40 in favor of a bid.
4 – Wake Forest has won their league games against lower teams, so much more work is necessary. The next couple of weeks will tell us much more about this team. Their only Q1 win presently is Michigan, so they need success against some of the upper echelon teams in the league. 50/50 to get a bid.
5 – North Carolina has a lack of Q1 wins and not many more opportunities to get any. They will need to finish high in the league and not stumble against the conference’s lower ranked teams. Their pedigree helps, so the probability is 60/40 in favor of a bid
6 – SMU has shown flashes of brilliance but also has struggled at times. As with most of the other teams on the list, they need to beat the teams on the list. The chances of a bid are around 50/50.
7 – Florida State has the same characteristics as SMU: good at times, mediocre at times. A very athletic team (as is usual with Leonard Hamilton teams). They still need marquee wins. Chances of a bid are maybe 40% of receiving a bid.
8 – Pitt has not handled their business at home with losses to Clemson and Louisville and a big road loos at Duke. They need to turn things around quickly to have a chance of receiving a bid. Their possibility of going to the big dance now is about 30%.
9 – All others would need to win the tournament to receive a bid. The chances of one of these teams winning the tournament and receiving a bid are less than 25%.
I see the league only getting 3-5 bids with only Duke getting a high eed.