Highlighted by the return of Zion Williamson, one thing is for sure after the ACC Tournament, the ACC is absolutely loaded and Louisville basketball should just be happy to be out of ACC play.
March never disappoints. If you consider yourself a sports fan and didn’t spend the last several nights watching college basketball, you are missing out on some great sports action.
Not only does the ACC have multiple teams capable of making a Final Four run, it’s safe to say that you can take the ACC over the field when it comes to who’s the last team cutting down the nets in early April.
Virginia, North Carolina, and Duke should all be 1 seeds. Conference affiliation aside, each of those teams are simply one of the four best teams in the country and deserve a 1 seed. It’s silly that people are scared to put 3 ACC teams on the 1 seed line; If they deserve it, they should get it.
While everybody is talking about those 3 teams from the ACC, and rightfully so, Syracuse and Florida State showed some real sleeper potential in the ACC Tournament.
Florida State is one of the most talented teams in the country, and not enough people talk about them. I think they’re really underrated and have shown that they can bust some brackets again this year after knocking off our very own Coach Mack and his No. 1 seeded Xavier Musketeers a year ago.
According to Bracket Matrix, Florida State is looking at a 4 seed right now, and I think they have some real Elite 8 potential, especially if they get the type of draw that Joe Lundardi is predicting. I think Auburn is as phony as it gets, and I like Florida State’s chances against Gonzaga.
Nonetheless, this FSU team is really good and they proved it on Friday night when they handed Virginia their just 3rd loss of the season.
Syracuse, always a tough out in March because of that tricky 2-3 zone, has some impressive wins this year and some really questionable losses. But this team has length, talent, and some great guard play. They gave Duke a scare on Thursday night even with Tyus Battle out and with Zion Williamson going full godmode.
Bracket Matrix says Syracuse is likely a 9 seed, but there’s a good chance they end up as a 10 or even 11 seed. I could see Syracuse busting some brackets if Tyus Battle can get healthy and they end up being a 10 or 11 seed. Based on the NET, I think they’ll be a 10 seed.
This is a good team that can give anybody a scare if they show up to play, for a minute there it looked like they were gonna beat Duke again, but Zion wasn’t gonna let that happen.
Even though North Carolina lost in an instant classic against Duke, I still think they’re the most complete team in the country and the ACC team that has the best chance to cut down the nets. They have a perfect mixture of talent, experience, and great guard play which I think are the 3 things needed to have success in March.
This finish from Coby White avoiding Zion Williamson's block was BEAUTIFUL pic.twitter.com/kHxZLCr0pO
— Chris Montano (@gswchris) March 16, 2019
Coby White has improved tremendously and has become the best point guard in the ACC. I think he’s what Duke is missing and is the sole reason why I’m picking UNC over Duke as my favorite to win the title.
Not to mention, Cameron Johnson is arguably the best shooter in the country, combined with the leadership of Luke Maye and a talented player like Nassir Little coming off the bench.
This is a great team that knows how to play together, and even with Zion overshadowing everything else in the ACC Tournament, I still think it was UNC that looked like the best team coming out of the tournament- Especially with how they dispatched our Louisville Cardinals again.
Speaking of Louisville, where does all of this leave our guys?
Well, it looks like Louisville is almost unanimously going to be a 7 seed.
Or maybe not?
Louisville had absolutely one of the toughest schedules in the country, and along with that one of the most impressive resumes in the country.
The computer rankings all really like Louisville:
While Louisville’s record might not be that pretty, it’s resume and statistical rankings are. Louisville has played a really tough schedule and has some really good wins. I think the Cards ultimately deserve a 6 seed. But that’s up for the NCAA Committee to decide.
Either way, the Louisville Cardinals will be dancing again without question, and all the credit in the world should go to Coach Mack and the team for silencing the doubters and getting it done this season. A lot of people said that Louisville would be lucky to make the tournament this year because of the state of the program, and here we are.
It’s only going to get better from here.