Virginia Conference Tournament Hub: Schedule, Bracket, Predictions

The Cavaliers will be in action this week for the ACC tourney in Charlotte, North Carolina. Virginia clinched the No.2 seed after defeating Wake Forest last week and handling business. The Hoos were predicted to finish fifth in the ACC Preseason poll, but did much better than the predictions and have a chance to capture an ACC tournament championship and automatic bid in the NCAA tourney.

It is the first year under head coach Ryan Odom, who has done a marvellous job assembling the team and has them playing at a high level. The Cavaliers are battle-tested and a team capable of making a deep run in March, but it all starts with handling business in the conference tournament. Let’s take a deeper look at the complete ACC tournament bracket.

First round

2 p.m. – No. 10 Stanford vs. No. 15 Pitt (ACC Network)

4:30 p.m. – No. 11 SMU vs. No. 14 Syracuse (ACC Network)

7 p.m. – No. 12 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 Wake Forest (ACC Network)

Second round

Noon – No. 7 NC State vs. Stanford-Pitt winner (ESPN/ESPN)

2:30 p.m. – No. 6 Louisville vs. SMU-Syracuse winner (ESPN/ESPNU)

7 p.m. – No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 9 California (ESPN2/ESPNU)

9:30 p.m. – No. 5 Clemson vs. Virginia Tech-Wake Forest winner (ESPN2/ESPNU)

Quarterfinals

Noon – No. 2 Virginia vs. Wednesday Noon winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

2:30 p.m. – No. 3 Miami vs. Wednesday 2:30 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

7 p.m. – No. 1 Duke vs. Wednesday 7 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

9:30 p.m. – No. 4 North Carolina vs. Wednesday 9:30 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

Schedule for Virginia

Thursday- Noon – No. 2 Virginia vs. Wednesday Noon winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

*Friday- 7 p.m. – Thursday afternoon winners (ESPN/ESPN2)

*Saturday- 8:30 PM ACC Championship

*-If they win

How far can the Cavaliers go?

As the worst-case scenario, the Hoos should be in the ACC title game. They would only have to get two wins to make that a reality. The ACC is an improved conference, so it won’t be a cakewalk, but the Cavaliers have played a balanced schedule with a mix of road and neutral games where they had to battle until the end to come out with a victory. The Cavaliers have played in so many close games and made the necessary plays every time to come out with a win. They are built for it.

Virginia has also shown they have one of the best benches in the country that can score at a high level and complement the team. Ugonna Onyenso continues to prove he is one of the best shot-blocking big men in the NCAA. Jacari White is a shot creator and a microwave capable of going off in any game. True freshman Chance Mallory runs the show and is a gritty defender who always makes it tough on perimeter players. Virginia has the perfect formula to make a run to the ACC title game. We didn’t even talk about their best player, who is a true freshman Thijs De Ridder and leads the Cavaliers in scoring this year. He makes it tough for defenses with his versatility and high basketball IQ.

It is now time to prove it and show why they can be a contender and get revenge against Duke, who blew them out a few weeks ago. Coach Odom is focused on getting his team ready to do battle.

“We did talk about the NCAA tournament seating, and just painted a picture for them that we are playing for something right now. Even though this thing is set in Charlotte, it's not set, you know, past that. And so we wanted to do our part here at home. And you want to play well going into that anyway. You want to be playing your best basketball down the stretch,” said Odom.