Do All Roads Lead to Duke for Jai Lucas and the Miami Hurricanes?

The ACC Tournament is here, and the Miami Hurricanes are back at the top of the league after one year with head coach Jai Lucas.

The former Duke assistant coach has plenty of experience in this situation, but only he knows the real path the Canes must take if they can get to the Championship game. Furthermore, a matchup with his former school, No. 1 Duke, would be the likely outcome for the Canes to overcome.

The Hurricanes have found themselves winning the right situations and going down to the wire in most of their games against some of the best teams in the country. The only team they clearly had a disadvantage against was Florida. However, that was early in the season, with a team that had no chemistry and no real identity.

Now with an identity, a star point guard and power forward leading the charge, everything points to a matchup with the Blue Devils.

Duke is the only team in the likely final eight of the tournament that the Canes have not faced all season. With a Win over NC State, North Carolina, and one-possession losses to Virginia and Louisville, the Canes are nearly there, next to the top of the ACC.

It helps that they have a double-bye, but all signs point to a dated matchup between Lucas and his former school. First, they will return to face off against the winners between SMU, Syracuse, or Louisville before they even get a chance to reach that point.

Then it would be another rematch in the semifinals.

ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament Matchups and Schedule

Tuesday, March 10: First round

Game 1: No. 10 Stanford vs. No. 15 Pitt 2 p.m. ACCN, ESPN app
Game 2: No. 11 SMU vs. No. 14 Syracuse 4:30 p.m.ACCN, ESPN app
Game 3: No. 12 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 Wake Forest 7 p.m.ACCN, ESPN app

Wednesday, March 11: Second round

Game 4: No. 7 NC State vs. Game 1 winner 12 p.m. ESPN or ESPN2, ESPN app
Game 5: No. 6 Louisville vs. Game 2 winner 2:30 p.m. ESPN or ESPNU, ESPN app
Game 6: No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 9 Cal 7 p.m. ESPN2 or ESPNU, ESPN app
Game 7: No. 5 Clemson vs. Game 3 winner 9:30 p.m. ESPN2 or ESPNU, ESPN app

Thursday, March 12: Quarterfinals

Game 8: No. 2 Virginia vs. Game 4 winner 12 p.m.ESPN or ESPN2, ESPN app
Game 9: No. 3 Miami vs. Game 5 winner 2:30 p.m.ESPN or ESPN2, ESPN app
Game 10: No. 1 Duke vs. Game 6 winner7 p.m.ESPN or ESPN2, ESPN app
Game 11: No. 4 North Carolina vs. Game 7 winner9:30 p.m.ESPN or ESPN2, ESPN app

Friday, March 13: Semifinals

Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner7 p.m.ESPN or ESPN2, ESPN app
Game 13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner9:30 p.m.ESPN or ESPN2, ESPN app

Saturday, March 14: Championship

Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner8:30 p.m.ESPN, ESPN app