Tuesday at the ACC Tournament featured 3 teams that still harbored realistic hopes to reach the NCAA tournament. 2 of those teams’ hopes came to a brutal end.
Stanford had won 4 games in a row, including a win at NC State. They faced a Pitt team that is likely going to fire their coach, but a last-second 64-63 loss dropped Stanford to 20-12 (9-9) NET 59. They were actually 9-8 against the Q1/Q2, and I think they would have gotten serious consideration if they had won Tuesday. They didn’t, and I only give them a 15% chance of making the field now. That NET is a huge anchor.
Virginia Tech, after losing to Wake Forest in OT dropped to 19-13 (8-10) NET 55, but just 8-13 against Q1/Q2 isn’t going to cut it. If the Hokies had won Tuesday and beat Clemson, they would be dancing. I liked Virginia Tech in that matchup, too, as Clemson really struggled in their home loss to Virginia Tech to handle the Hokie guards. We never got there, and Virginia Tech is headed to the NIT.
SMU was the one ACC team to enhance its NCAA chances today. A win over Syracuse gets them to 20-12 (8-10) NET 39 with a 9-12 Q1/Q2 record. They have a OOC win over 21 win Texas A&M, North Carolina, and Louisville. I think SMU has got a spot if Selection Sunday were tomorrow. A win on Wednesday over Louisville would be some insurance.
Cal at 20-10 (9-9) NET 64 gets their shotWednesday. They have to beat Florida State to have any NCAA chance.
