It’s the greatest postseason in sport – March Madness!
How did the ACC fair? Well, the conference only got 4 bids, but you really can’t argue that it should have been more.
Duke, Clemson, and Louisville were the locks. Then there was one more potential bid and that was North Carolina. As we said earlier this week, UNC’s resume was better than you’d think, and the committee agreed. It was the right decision. Yes, UNC’s Q1 record at 1-12 is a problem, and that’s why the Heels are last 4 in. They were punished for that, but so many other metrics were in their favor, that it only made sense.
Duke was easily a number 1 seed, but I think they should have been the number one overall seed as Auburn lost 3 of their last 4 games and the Blue Devils won the head-to-head matchup. That’s splitting hairs and I don’t have a big problem with that. Duke is still the #1 seed in the East and should be able to cruise to at least the Elite 8, where a talented but defensively challenged Alabama team may await.
Clemson is a #5 seed, and that is about where I expected.
Louisville is the one ACC team with a gripe. As an 8 seed, they were badly underseeded, 27-7 with a NET of 23 with 4 Q1 wins, and beat Clemson twice. There’s a good argument Louisville should have been seeded on the line with Clemson or no worse than 6. This one is hard to follow, but also oddly Auburn could face Louisville in the state of Kentucky in the 2nd round which does Auburn no favors.
That would be the one ACC entry though that was clearly wrong, otherwise pretty decent job by the committee for the ACC.
Make your viewing plans for the NCAA tournament below.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TIP TIMES
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— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 17, 2025
