NCAA Basketball: Predicted Winners of last 17 Conference Tournaments of 2023-24
By Bryan Mauro
ACC
Dates: March 12th-16th
Location: Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
Top Seed: North Carolina Tar Heels
Winner: North Carolina Tar Heels
It is always hard to predict the power conferences especially when there are as many talented teams in the league. North Carolina has had a resurgence this year under head coach Hubert Davis and they are one of the teams still in contention for a top seed in the NCAA tournament. The ACC tournament is going to mean a lot to the Tar Heels because winning that and they will likely get the top seed. This Tar Heels team is different than in years past. They are experienced and have the best player in the ACC in guard RJ Davis.
North Carolina is one of the best rebounding teams in the country and leads the ACC in rebounding free throw attempts, and pace of play. They hold you to one and done on the defensive end and then get out in transition for easy baskets. They play fantastic defense and funnel everything inside to their big man Armando Bacot who forces turnovers and protects the rim. The Tar Heels are very hard to play but if they run into a hot shooting team, they can be vulnerable.
Sleeper: Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wake Forest is having a confusing season. They were good enough to make the NCAA tournament when they had a huge win over the Duke Blue Devils to get themselves firmly into the field. The Demon Deacons followed that up with three straight losses and two of them were bad losses. They lost to Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech. The losses to Notre Dame and Georgia Tech were bad losses that may have killed their at-large chances. Wake Forest is not going to stop there though they have a lot of talent, and they are good enough to go on a run through the ACC tournament.
Hunter Sallis leads an offense that scores almost 80 points per game. Efton Reid is a great defender in the paint and has given Wake Forest another dimension on that end of the floor. Will the Deacons be able to make enough shots and play at a high level all week? They have not been playing well coming into the tournament, but they do have a team that can make a run.