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ACC Roundup - Virginia, State Need Wins To Boost Their Resumes

The ACC can still get five teams in but State and Virginia need to keep moving.

By JD King
Virginia v Louisville
 LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 08: Steven Enoch #23 of the Louisville Cardinals collides with Francisco Caffaro #22 and Braxton Key #2 of the Virginia Cavaliers during the second half of the game at KFC YUM! Center on February 08, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images

In Saturday’s ACC play, Virginia visits Pitt, State gets a chance to impress the NCAA committee again if it can upset Florida State after knocking off Duke, Georgia Tech goes up to Syracuse, Clemson hits BC and UNC hazards Louisville.

Although UNC hasn’t been able to close out games, generally speaking the Tar Heels have improved.

It may not matter much at Louisville.

Saturday’s ACC Action

  • Virginia @ Pitt || 12:00 || ESPN2
  • Florida State @ NC State || 4:00 || ACCN
  • UNC @ Louisville || 4:00 || ESPN
  • Georgia Tech @ Syracuse || 4:00 || ACCNX
  • Clemson @ Boston College || 6:00 || ACCN
  • Virginia Tech @ Duke || 8:00 || ESPN2

ACC Standings

The Cards defend well and should be able to shut UNC down on the perimeter as well as defend them inside. It’s hard to see UNC winning a major game on the road at this point in this broken season without some luck

At 18-7, Virginia is closing in on an NCAA bid and can’t afford to lose games they should win. Pitt falls into that category. Don’t expect Virginia to let up now. Jeff Capel has seen UVA enough to know what they do. Stopping it is another matter. We’d keep an eye on Jay Huff in this one.

The Duke win was huge for NC State. They haven't secured a bid yet though. Beating FSU would put them firmly back into the conversation. The interesting thing is that we don’t think FSU has been playing all that well lately so it’s possible State could snag a second straight upset.

Georgia Tech and Syracuse are both capable of big games. Tech is playing pretty well lately and we think they should win this one particularly if they defend the perimeter well. Our guess is that this will be an ugly game unless you love a good tactical matchup.

Same goes for BC and Clemson. Both teams have had terrific games this season but haven’t been able to sustain it.

We could see either team winning here but if Derryck Thornton is out again it’ll be tough for the Eagles.

When you look at the ACC standings, you pretty quickly see that only five teams have a chance at a bid. Ten teams - ten! - could only make it if they get hot in the ACC Tournament.

This has been a rough year in many ways around the ACC but next year, almost everyone, including some of the top teams, should be much, much better.

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