Around the ACC: Bubble Watch

The ACC is experiencing a major down year and with only two weeks until March Madness, the conference only has three locks. North Carolina and Duke are comfortably some of the top seeds. Both teams sit at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.

Clemson is also a lock and despite a bad loss on the road to Notre Dame, the Tigers are still comfortably in the tournament.

Now to the bubble teams. Four teams are on the bubble, but some are closer to the bubble than others.

Virginia Cavaliers (21-9)

Despite a blowout loss to Duke in its most recent game, Virginia is sitting on the bubble, but in the tournament as of now.

The Duke loss is not too big of a loss despite how bad the Cavaliers lost. Duke has been in some controversy and in a game in Cameron Indoor, the Blue Devils wanted to prove something.

The schedule overall has some good and some bad on it. For instance, a road win against Clemson who is in the tournament is a very good win and the biggest win on the schedule.

However, a road loss to Notre Dame and a blowout loss on the road to Virginia Tech are not good for a team on the bubble.

This team can cause problems in the tournament with its stifling defense. It may not be fun to watch because a lot of their games are low-scoring but the Cavaliers know how to get it done on the defensive side of the ball.

Virginia has one more game against Georgia Tech before the ACC Tournament.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (18-11)

Wake Forest is very similar to Virginia but more on the offensive side.

The Demon Deacons have more impressive wins, but also some really bad losses.

A win at home to then-No. 8 Duke is an enormous win that is bumping them up big time.

However, a loss to Notre Dame is going to hurt Wake Forest significantly.

Currently in fifth in the ACC, the Demon Deacons have two more games before the ACC Tournament.

Syracuse Orange (20-10)

The Orange are on the rise, winners of their last four games. This team should be a lot higher on the bubble than what they are right now.

Multiple teams in front of Syracuse have losses to the Orange. This includes two wins against Pitt.

The biggest win on the schedule is a home upset win against then-No. 7 North Carolina. That win will look really good on their resumé.

The final game on Syracuse’s schedule is a big one as the team will travel to Clemson to take on the Tigers. Currently in fourth in the ACC, a win against Clemson will solidify the Orange’s regular season case for the tournament.

Pittsburgh Panthers (19-10)

Pitt has the most work to do out of all of the ACC teams on the bubble.

The Panthers have ranked wins against then-No. 7 Duke and then-No. 21 Virginia. Those wins are propelling an underperforming team from a season ago.

Offensively, Pitt will cause the most trouble out of these teams. Between Carlton Carrington and Blake Hinson, the team has two lethal threats on the offensive side.

However, a bad loss to Miami is going to hurt the Panthers' resumé.

They are going to have to win out and need a bit more help.

Currently sitting tied for fifth in the conference, Pitt has two more games before the conference tournament.

Each of these teams needs to win and some of them still need some help from other teams to sneak into the tournament.

Andrew Deal is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email asd5765@psu.edu