NCAA Tournament Projections for ACC: Clemson Rising; UNC, Wake Forest Hoping

Three ACC teams in. Duke a No. 1 seed. Clemson up to No. 4. North Carolina close. SMU in desperation mode

Clemson and North Carolina battle for NCAA tournament positioning | Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The ACC tournament starts Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, and there will be a lot at stake for several teams.

It’s simple for Cal. For the Bears to get an NCAA tournament berth they must win five games in five days, starting with Tuesday’s game against Virginia Tech.

It’s different for North Carolina, Wake Forest and SMU, which must do something impressive this week to earn at-large berths.  The Tar Heels are right on the cusp of getting into March Madness based on projections. Wake Forest is clinging to life on the bubble, but SMU has slipped to desperation mode. The Mustangs are not even mentioned in most NCAA tournament projections now.

Meanwhile, Clemson may have moved into a top-four seed. At least that’s what three of the six sites we cite project at the moment.

Here’s the projected NCAA tournament seedings of ACC teams from six experts:

ESPN (Joe Lunardi, posted March 8, 11:30 p.m.)

Duke – No. 1 seed

Clemson – No. 4 seed

Louisville – No. 6 seed

North Carolina – First four out

Wake Forest – Next four out

SMU – Not mentioned

.

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm, posted March 9)

Duke – No. 1 seed

Clemson – No. 5 seed

Louisville – No. 7 seed

North Carolina – First four out

Wake Forest – First four out

SMU – Not mentioned

.

Fox Sports (Mike DeCourcy, posted March 9)

Duke – No. 1 seed

Clemson – No. 4 seed

Louisville – No. 6 seed

North Carolina – First four out

Wake Forest – Not mentioned

SMU – Not mentioned

.

On3 (James Fletcher III, posted March 9)

Duke – No. 1 seed

Clemson – No. 4 seed

Louisville – No. 5 seed

North Carolina – First four out

Wake Forest – Not mentioned

SMU – Not mentioned

.

College Football News (Pete Fiutak, posted March 9)

Duke – No. 1 seed

Clemson – No. 5 seed

Louisville – No. 6 seed

North Carolina – First four out

Wake Forest – True bubble team

SMU – Four that might screw everyone up

.

T-Racketology (Bart Torvik, posted March 9)

Duke – No. 1 seed

Clemson – No. 6 seed

Louisville – No. 7 seed

North Carolina – No. 11 seed, play-in game

SMU – Third team out

Wake Forest – Sixth team out

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