2025 ACC Baseball Tournament Preview and Predictions

Tomorrow kicks off the 2025 edition of the ACC Baseball Tournament. Last year, Duke snagged its second ACC Championship in four years, with North Carolina and Clemson sandwiching between the Blue Devils' Championships.

This year sees a surprising top dog leading the ACC, with Georgia Tech recently snagging the ACC Championship for its first league championship in 10 years.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐀 𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐇 𝐘𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐀𝐂𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒!!!!#StingEm🐝 x #WreckHavoc pic.twitter.com/AWzV9f9tPK
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 17, 2025

Tuesday will see the first four games played with the matchups listed below.

Game 1: No. 9 Miami (Fla.) vs. No. 16 Cal, 9 a.m. | ACC Network
Game 2: No. 12 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 Stanford, 1 p.m. | ACC Network
Game 3: No. 10 Louisville vs. No. 15 Pitt, 5 p.m. | ACC Network
Game 4: No. 11 Notre Dame vs. No. 14 Boston College, 9 p.m. | ACC Network

Day two (Wednesday) will see these matches.

Game 5: No. 8 Wake Forest vs. Winner of Game 1, 9 a.m. | ACC Network
Game 6: No. 5 Clemson vs. Winner of Game 2, 1 p.m. | ACC Network
Game 7: No. 7 Duke vs. Winner of Game 3, 5 p.m. | ACC Network
Game 8: No. 6 Virginia vs. Winner of Game 4, 9 p.m. | ACC Network

Thursday will mark day one of the quarterfinals.

Game 9: No. 1 Georgia Tech vs. Winner of Game 5, 3 p.m. | ACC Network
Game 10: No. 4 NC State vs. Winner of Game 6, 7 p.m. | ACC Network

Friday will finish the trimming of the final eight teams.

Game 11: No. 2 Florida State vs. Winner of Game 7, 3 p.m. | ACC Network
Game 12: No. 3 North Carolina vs. Winner of Game 8, 7 p.m. | ACC Network

That will leave two games on Saturday and the title bout on Sunday at 12 p.m.

How do the Hokies Look?

Virginia Tech has had an up-and-down season, which most will look at as filled with more downs than ups, and that can best be epitomised as the Hokies finished with a 12-18 record, including a slump that saw the Hokies drop their last five ACC series.

While the ACC will always hold pedigree as one of the most powerful baseball conferences, it will always be hard to accept the Hokies taking a seed as low as 12th, like Tech has accomplished this season.

As of D1 Baseball's latest projections, Virginia Tech is out of the scope of an NCAA Tournament appearance.

With the bracket locked in, the Hokies have now learned the path they must take to get their second NCAA Tournament in the tenure of head coach John Szefc, and their first since 2022, where they made the NCAA Super Regional.

Game one will take place against Stanford. If the Hokies take down the Cardinal, then it is a daunting matchup against No.5 Clemson. Should Szefc's side beat the Tigers, then things only get harder with a matchup against the No.4 NC State Wolfpack, before things are uncertain, yet a matchup against the No.1 Yellow Jackets does not look completely out of the picture in the semifinals.

As previously mentioned, the ACC poses a stern test to any other conference in the nation, so if the Hokies can make an impression in this year's slate, they could maybe slide back into contention. Yet, unless the Hokies can rake in their first-ever ACC title, expect the Hokies to miss out on their third-straight NCAA Tournament.

Day One Predictions

No. 9 Miami (Fla.) vs. No. 16 Cal

No. 12 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 Stanford

No. 10 Louisville vs. No. 15 Pitt

No. 11 Notre Dame vs. No. 14 Boston College

I tip Miami, Virginia Tech, Pitt, and Boston College to move on to round two. The Hurricanes and the Golden Bears are a near-even matchup with similar hitting stats, yet Miami has shown a much better ability to close out tight games with a 15-14 record compared to Cal's 9-21 ACC record

Both Pitt and Louisville have ERAs higher than five, possibly leading to a high-scoring affair. The Hokies should have enough strength to push past Stanford, and the Eagles and the Irish will be another close-knit matchup

Day Two Predictions

No. 8 Wake Forest vs. No.9 Miami

No. 5 Clemson vs. No.12 Virginia Tech

No. 7 Duke vs. No.15 Pitt

No. 6 Virginia vs. No. 14 Boston College

As the depth between the two sides grows. The quality shown throughout the season in a majority of these matchups will push the favorites through.

Wake Forest, Clemson, Duke and Virginia will likely be earning bids to the quarterfinals.

The Demon Deacons pose a top-five finish in batting average with a .308 tally, Tech's unreliable defense, and Duke and UVA's pedigree will likely be enough to push them to the next stage.

Day Three & Four Predictions

No. 1 Georgia Tech vs. No. 8 Wake Forest

No. 4 NC State vs. No. 5 Clemson

No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 7 Duke

No. 3 University of North Carolina vs No. 6 University of Virginia

Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State and UNC are en route to the semifinals.

The Yellow Jackets have their first chance to prove their regular-season championship was not in vain.

Clemson's .248 batting average against ranks fifth-best in the ACC, so while their offense is middle-of-the-pack for most offensive stats, they could be an upset candidate.

Florida State will be rearing to erase their ACC Championship shortcomings from last year, which saw Duke smack the Seminoles in a 16-4 rout.

The Tar Heels' superb defense, which ranks first in ERA (3.44) and UNC's second in conference, .224 batting average against should be enough to push past a UVA team in a downturn of season results.

Semifinal Predictions

No. 1 Georgia Tech vs No. 5 Clemson

All season, Georgia Tech has been able to get the bat to the ball. The Yellow Jackets posted a .317 BA, which has seen the regular-season champs mark the most hits in the ACC (582). Eventually, Clemson's .276 BA will be caught out, and Georgia Tech will be the team to do that. The Yellow Jackets advance.

No. 2 Florida State vs No. 3 North Carolina

The .033 difference between FSU and UNC in BA is something to take note of, however, it is also worth noting that the 1.4 difference in ERA, which favors UNC, could be the difference in this semifinal. Since 2017, four of the previous seven conference championships have been taken by either the 'Noles or the Tar Heels. North Carolina's defense may just have the edge between the two ACC powerhouses.

ACC Championship

No. 1 Georgia Tech vs No. 3 North Carolina

This will be a matchup between two polar opposites, the high-power Georgia Tech and the gritty defense North Carolina possesses.

Since 2000, there has been a rounded average of 12.5 runs per championship. At the end of the regular season, there stands a 75-run differential in favor of the Yellow Jackets. Utilizing these two stats puts the odds firmly in favor of Georgia Tech.

These two sides did not meet during this season. When the teams met last season, UNC stomped Georgia Tech over their three-game series as the Heels won by 14 runs.

That was a Yellow Jacket side that saw Tech compile six less total wins and four fewer ACC wins than this year.

While UNC's strong defense will prove a tough test, I favor Georgia Tech to take the crown this season.