NCAA Tournament Tickets - Sifting through the ACC Chase Pack

The ACC looks like it could send up to seven, possibly eight teams to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. In the February 16, 2009 edition of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology Scroll, one of the foremost predictors of who will be invited to the Tourney, eight teams from the ACC are slated to make the Dance, the most of any other conference besides the Big East. There are a lot of great teams in the middle of the pack in the ACC, but some are bound to rise to the occasion and some will probably bounce out of Tourney contention. With just a couple more weeks of hoops left to play, let's take a look at some of the ACC teams you're most likely to see with some NCAA Tournament tickets.

-The Locks-
The guarantees are a good place to start. The ACC has been one of the most glorified conferences in the nation this season and for a couple main reasons. North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest have all been ranked in the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 Poll, and although they were all ousted from the hilltop, we're counting them as locks to make the Tournament, based on their impressive seasons to date. Barring Hindenburg-style collapses by these teams in the last few games and the ACC Tournament, UNC, Duke and Wake will make the cut. It's just a matter of where.

-The Messy Middle-
The middle of the ACC is messy indeed. If you look at the conference's standings as of February 17, 2009, there are five teams with a total of four ACC losses. Two more teams have five losses. Clemson seems to be right on the edge of locking in an NCAA Tourney invite, no matter their performance in the conference tournament. The Tigers are 20-4 overall and 6-4 in-conference. With the exception of North Carolina they have the best offensive numbers in the ACC, and they have solid non-conference wins over South Carolina and Illinois. Florida State has looked very strong heading into the last two weeks of February, but their schedule will not be kind, as matchups with Miami, Boston College, Clemson and Duke await.

The Seminoles have one of the least impressive offensive efficiency ratings in the ACC, despite playing elite-level defense. Boston College has been given high marks for knocking off giants like North Carolina and Duke, but will their lack of interior defense and rebounding keep them from securing the best Tourney seed? Virginia Tech has found a home in the middle of the ACC chase pack, but they face a daunting gauntlet to end the year- Clemson, Duke, North Carolina and Florida State in successive games to end the season. Will fans get to purchase NCAA Tournament tickets at StubHub to see VT playing in March Madness?

-The Long Shots-
Miami and North Carolina State make up the ACC's long shots. Without the clear advantage in wins and losses, these two programs have some winning to do before they can get into the Dance. Miami is just 4-7 in the ACC and has nine overall losses. NC State also has nine overall losses, with a 4-6 conference record. However, if you look at Miami's schedule, it's certainly promising. The Hurricanes got most of the tough ones out of the way early. NC State is coming off of two big conference wins against Wake and Georgia Tech, and could be getting hot at just the right time.

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