Syracuse Locked in as 8-seed in ACC Tournament
Pittsburgh hung around for a while, but Clemson pulled away from the Panthers to wrap up the regular season with a win. The Tigers victory means Syracuse's ACC Tournament seed has been finalized. The Orange will be the eight seed and play on noon Wednesday.
What has not been set is Syracuse's opponent and path. As the eight seed, Syracuse will play the nine seed Wednesday. Who that will be depends on the result of the Duke at North Carolina game Saturday night. If Duke wins, the Blue Devils will Syracuse's opponent. If North Carolina wins, Syracuse gets a third matchup with NC State. The Orange beat the Wolfpack twice in the regular season.
If Syracuse is able to get a win in its first ACC Tournament game, the one seed will be the Orange's foe. Notre Dame pulled off a surprising upset of Florida State, knocking the Seminoles off the top spot in the ACC regular season standings. FSU's only hope of retaining it was for Virginia to lose at Louisville. The Cavs had other plans. Virginia led throughout and was able to get a double digit victory on the road 68-58. That makes the Cavs the one seed in the ACC Tournament, and Syracuse's quarterfinals opponent should the Orange win its first game.
With wins over North Carolina and Clemson to close out the regular season, Syracuse put itself back on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Two wins in the ACC Tournament should solidify its position in the field, whereas one would put things up in the air. Still, Syracuse fans should be hoping for other bubble teams to falter to help the Orange's case.
