ACC Tournament snapshot — Feb. 16

The ACC Tournament begins Tuesday, March 7 with teams seeded 10 through 15. The winners of those games will meet seeds 5 through 7 in the second round a day later while seeds 8 and 9 will also play each other.

Those who make it out of Wednesday advance to the quarterfinals against seeds 1 through 4, which receive a coveted double bye.

Tiebreakers in the standings are decided by head-to-head results, and if needed after that, starting with the top seed, using the comparative records against the best teams in the league.

Here’s how the tournament currently shapes up:

ACC Tournament Double Byes

1. Pittsburgh (12-3)

What is unfolding is what readers of this feature saw coming. The success Pitt enjoyed in the first half of the conference play is paying off with a backloaded schedule that is much softer.

The Panthers are on a six-game winning streak, with the last three coming against likely first-day ACC Tournament participants Louisville, Florida State and Boston College. Three of the next four are also against the other three teams likely to join that trio on Tuesday.

Pitt also owns head-to-head tiebreakers, at the moment, with Virginia, Miami and NC State. The Panthers are in commanding position for a double bye and potential top seed.

Remaining schedule: at Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, at Notre Dame, at Miami

2. Virginia (12-3)

Virginia averted disaster with an unimpressive, narrow win at Louisville Wednesday evening. This came after a controversial home win over Duke where the ACC admitted an officiating error after-the-fact that cost the Blue Devils an opportunity to potentially shoot game-winning free throws at the end of regulation.

Nevertheless, the Cavs have a favorable schedule the rest of the way. Three of five down the stretch are against sub-.500 teams in the ACC likely to be playing on Tuesday in the tournament, including another versus 1-ACC win Louisville.

Remaining schedule: Notre Dame, at Boston College, at North Carolina, Clemson, Louisville

3. Miami (12-4)

The Hurricanes have won five in a row, including wins at Clemson and North Carolina and trouncing Duke at home. Coming up, three of four remaining games are at home, including Pittsburgh.

A win over the Panthers to end the year, coupled with taking care of business elsewhere, would put the Canes in a strong position in any tiebreaker scenario with the top teams.

The ACC looks likely to be a three-team race at the top between Miami, Pittsburgh and Virginia.

Remaining schedule: Wake Forest, at Virginia Tech, Florida State, Pittsburgh

4. Clemson (11-4)

The Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak with a get-right moment at home against Florida State, crushing the Seminoles on Wednesday evening by 40 points.

Clemson still has more favorable games left and is likely favored in three of five contests remaining on the schedule. With NC State’s loss at Syracuse and the Tigers being in a good position for tiebreaker scenarios with the Pack, Clemson has the inside track on a double bye.

Remaining schedule (in order): at Louisville, Syracuse, at NC State, at Virginia, Notre Dame

One-Round Bye

5. NC State (10-6)

The Wolfpack’s hope for a double bye took a hit with the loss Tuesday evening at Syracuse, especially considering the Pack, with all four remaining opponents being teams with above .500 records in the ACC, has a more challenging schedule than the frontrunners in the conference.

Thus, NC State’s best bet for a double bye is to have Clemson slide while the Pack finishes impressively down the stretch (including beating the Tigers at home). Also helping would be Miami rising to the top of the standings. NC State has a win over the Hurricanes while Clemson does not, and that’s one of the rare tiebreaker scenarios that could favor the Wolfpack over Clemson if NC State beats the Tigers at home.

Remaining schedule: North Carolina, Wake Forest, Clemson, at Duke

6. Duke (9-6)

The Blue Devils snapped a two-game losing streak with a home win over Notre Dame, and are locked in a three-way tie with Syracuse and Wake Forest for sixth. At the moment, the Blue Devils’ win over Pittsburgh breaks that logjam.

Duke and Wake Forest split games this season, while Syracuse has yet to play either team. Wake Forest’s best win in the ACC standings is a home triumph over Clemson, while Syracuse’s is the win against NC State.

Remaining schedule: at Syracuse, Louisville, Virginia Tech, NC State, at North Carolina

7. Wake Forest (9-6)

The Demon Deacons face two challenging upcoming assignments, road dates at Miami and NC State. Those results may answer where Wake Forest will finish in the ACC standings.

Remaining schedule: at Miami, at NC State, Notre Dame, Boston College, at Syracuse

9. Syracuse (9-6)

Syracuse notched its first win over an ACC team with a winning record by beating NC State at home. The Orange also have the advantage of facing Duke and Wake Forest at home, meaning that all three of the other league teams with six conference losses will have games against SU in their dome.

That could loom large in tiebreaker scenarios down the stretch, but Syracuse also has road dates at Clemson and Pittsburgh amongst a challenging slate down the stretch.

Remaining schedule: Duke, at Clemson, at Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest

9. North Carolina (8-7)

North Carolina’s home loss to Miami on Monday, coupled with other results, has the Heels three games behind the teams currently in the double bye. With five games left and a poor tiebreaker standing against the squads at the top of the league, UNC seems destined for a one-round bye.

Remaining schedule: at NC State, at Notre Dame, Virginia, at Florida State, Duke.

Playing On Tuesday

10. Florida State (6-10)

FSU owns a tiebreaker over Boston College because the Noles have a win against Pittsburgh to its credit. However, BC and FSU will play each other this weekend and will break the tie for 10th in the league.

As a mere formality, results this week ensured that Florida State is eliminated from double-bye consideration.

Remaining schedule: Boston College, at Miami, North Carolina, at Virginia Tech

11. Boston College (6-10)

Boston College travels to Florida State Saturday in a game that will help tell the order of 10 through 12. A sweep over Virginia Tech means that with a win in Tallahassee, BC would be in a strong position to be the 10th seed.

Remaining schedule: at Florida State, Virginia, at Wake Forest, Georgia Tech

12. Virginia Tech (5-10)

The Hokies have lost two of three against those in the group of teams destined to play on day one of the ACC Tournament, and in the process likely doomed the possibility of getting back on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Remaining schedule: Pittsburgh, Miami, at Duke, at Louisville, Florida State.

14. Georgia Tech (3-13)

The Yellow Jackets have played well the last four games, with narrow losses at NC State and Wake Forest sandwiching a win at the buzzer over Notre Dame. Then on Wednesday, the Jackets knocked off Virginia Tech.

Georgia Tech still has a home date with Louisville on the schedule, and by owning the tiebreaker against the Irish, GT looks like a safe bet to be the 14 seed.

Remaining schedule: at Pittsburgh, Louisville, at Syracuse, at Boston College.

13. Notre Dame (2-13)

Notre Dame has a brutal schedule down the stretch. Odds are good the Irish are the 14 seed when the final ACC Tournament field is set.

Remaining schedule: at Virginia, North Carolina, at Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, at Clemson

15. Louisville (1-14)

Besides the fact Louisville has had an awful season, its remaining slate is one of the more challenging ones in the ACC. Georgia Tech’s gaining a third ACC win may have doomed the Cards’ realistic chances of getting out of last place in the seedings. Louisville loses a tiebreaker with Notre Dame.

Remaining schedule: Clemson, at Duke, at Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, at Virginia