All season, despite having two teams consistently ranked in the top ten, the national narrative has been that the ACC has fallen off. Some even questioned whether the conference would send more than two teams to this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Well, not only did five teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament. All of them, with the exception of Virginia who lost in the First Four, are still dancing – the most Sweet 16 teams of any conference.
Clemson, Duke, North Carolina and NC State will compete in the round of 16 on Thursday and Friday, March 28 and 29. ACC teams are now 8-1 in the 2024 tournament, with the eight wins coming by an average of 18.4 points per game, including six by double figures.
On Thursday in Los Angeles, No. 6 seed Clemson will play No. 2 seed Arizona at 7:09 p.m. ET on CBS, and No. 1 seed North Carolina will then take on No. 4 seed Alabama in the second game on CBS. On Friday in Dallas, No. 11 seed NC State will play No. 2 seed Marquette at 7:09 p.m. on CBS, with No. 4 seed Duke playing the winner of No. 1 seed Houston and No. 9 seed Texas A&M in the second game on CBS.
The ACC has a team in the Sweet 16 for the 45th consecutive season dating to 1979, by far the longest streak of any league. Over the last nine tournaments (since 2015), 31 of 60 (51.7%) of the ACC’s NCAA tournament teams have reached the Sweet 16 – also the most of any conference. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, 214 ACC teams have earned NCAA bids, with 105 advancing to the Sweet 16 (49%).
The No. 1 seed in West Region, North Carolina (29-7) rolled to the Sweet 16 with a pair of big wins in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Tar Heels downed No. 16 Wagner, 90-62, on Thursday in the first round before ousting No. 9 Michigan State, 85-69, in a second-round game on Saturday.
Duke (26-8), the No. 4 seed in the South Region, was impressive in its wins in Brooklyn, New York, as the Blue Devils downed No. 13 Vermont, 64-47, Friday before a dominating win over No. 12 James Madison, 93-55, on Sunday.
The No. 6 seed in the West Region, Clemson (23-11) cruised past No. 11 New Mexico, 77-56, on Friday in Memphis, Tennessee. The Tigers never trailed in topping No. 3 Baylor, 74-66, on Sunday to punch their first ticket to the Sweet 16 since the 2018 season.
The No. 11 seed in the South Region, NC State (24-14) continued its remarkable run by posting a pair of wins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to move on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015. After winning five games in five days to capture the 2024 ACC Championship, the Wolfpack defeated No. 6 seed Texas Tech, 80-67, on Thursday before outlasting No. 14 Oakland on Saturday in an overtime thriller, 79-73.
Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t. That ACC doesn’t have down years and their performance in March proves it.
Per Release
