By WRAL

On Saturday night, North Carolina emerged as champions of the ACC regular season for the first time since 2017 and claimed the top seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament by defeating Duke.

UNC (25-6, 17-3 in the ACC) finished two games clear of the field. The Blue Devils (24-7, 15-5) are the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, which begins Tuesday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

This is the 71st ACC Tournament and the third time it is being held in Washington, D.C. The University of North Carolina was the tournament winner in 2016, the previous time it was held in this location.

Virginia (22-9, 13-7) secured the third seed while Pittsburgh (21-10, 12-8), on a roll with nine wins in their last 11 games, claimed the fourth seed and a coveted double bye in the tournament.

NC State (17-14, 9-11) is the 10th seed and opens against No. 15 seed Louisville on Tuesday.

Saturday

The final game of the championship will take place on Saturday evening.

“Last season, Duke claimed their 22nd ACC Tournament championship in Greensboro. Despite having won 18 titles, UNC has not won since 2016 and is currently striving for their next one. NC State, on the other hand, has won 10 tournaments, but has not won since 1987.”

No other ACC school has won more than four titles (Wake Forest, Georgia Tech).

There are five current members who have not yet obtained an ACC Tournament championship: Clemson (a member since 1953), Boston College (since 2005), Syracuse (since 2013), Pittsburgh (since 2013), and Louisville (since 2014).

Tuesday, March 12

First Round

At 2 p.m., the game between No. 12 Notre Dame and No. 13 Georgia Tech will be broadcast on the ACC Network.

At 4:30 in the afternoon, the game between No. 10 NC State and No. 15 Louisville will be broadcasted on the ACC Network.

The match between Boston College and Miami, ranked 11th and 14th respectively, will be broadcasted at 7 p.m on the ACC Network.

Wednesday, March 13

Second Round

At noon, the 8th ranked Virginia Tech will face off against the 9th ranked Florida State on both ESPN and ESPN2.

The game between No. 5 Wake Forest and the winner of Notre Dame-Georgia Tech will be played at 2:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ESPN.

The game between Syracuse and the winner of NC State and Louisville will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 7 p.m.

The game between No. 6 ranked Clemson and the winner of the Boston College-Miami matchup will begin at 9:30 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN2 or ESPNU.

Thursday, March 14

Quarterfinals

The first-ranked North Carolina will face the winner of Wednesday’s noon game on ESPN/ESPN2.

2:30 in the afternoon – Pittsburgh (ranked fourth) versus the winner of Wednesday’s 2:30 p.m. match (broadcasted on ESPN/ESPN2).

The game between No. 2 Duke and the winner of Wednesday’s 7 p.m. match will be aired on ESPN or ESPN2 at 7 p.m.

At 9:30 p.m., the third-ranked team in the nation, Virginia, will face the winner of Wednesday’s 9:30 p.m. game, which will be broadcasted on ESPN or ESPN2.

Friday, March 15

Semifinals

Winners for Thursday afternoon will be announced at 7 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN2.

9:30 p.m. on Thursday night, the winners will be announced on ESPN or ESPN2.

Saturday, March 16

Championship

The winners of the semifinals will be shown on ESPN at 8:30 p.m.

Source: wralsportsfan.com