Friends.
The ACC Tournament has begun.
So first, let’s all tip our hats to Greensboro, the city where dreams, every now and then, come true.
Now, the teams to watch:
North Carolina State – 78.3% NIT-Likely, Projected 2-Seed Entering Play Today
We knew Kevin Keatts had it in him way back in 2017, when we were at All Things NIT and Kevin Keatts was just leaving whichever school in the UNC system he came from (Wilmington?). We said back then that this man could lead a team to NIT glory, comparing him to Josh Pastner, who’d just led an unheralded Georgia Tech team to the biggest stage in sports.
Last year, Keatts nearly got the job done. Now, the time has arrived to try again.
Notre Dame – 81.7% NIT-Likely, Projected 4-Seed
Notre Dame’s pretty close to a lock at this point. Probably needs to beat Boston College, but might be able to get away with a loss. We’ll find out. Or we won’t. One of those two things.
Will the Irish avenge 2018, when they were the top overall seed but Bonzie Colson’s foot proved just a bit too injured, and Penn State proved a bit too actually-good?
Syracuse – 51.0% NIT-Likely
The first team projected to land off the bubble, according to my colleague Joe Stunardi. But where you see “off the bubble,” I see that 51% number. Jim Boeheim’s glass is half-full, even if his heart is writhing with hatred for the city where he’s spending at least the next two days.
Clemson – 27.8% NIT-Likely
Clemson, like NC State, is looking to finish what they started last year, when they were a high seed but lost in the second round to an eventual Final Four appearer. They’re also trying to finish what they started in 2014, when they lost in the Final Four, and what they started in 2007, when they lost in the championship, and what they started in 1999, when they also lost in the championship, and a few other times where they lost in the quarterfinals or earlier.
To get that opportunity, they probably need to do more than beat Miami. Probably. Might not need to. But probably need to. They probably need to beat Florida State (or get help from teams failing to capture auto-bids). And the funny thing about Clemson is they’ve had more success beating FSU than the U this year. Wild, right?! Those guys.
North Carolina – 12.0% NIT-Likely
There’s not a lot of hope here, but there’s some. Of course, in addition to going on a little run this week, UNC would need the NIT committee to accept a sub-.500 team, which they haven’t done since first being allowed to (according to Wikipedia) prior to the 2017 tournament. We just don’t know.
Virginia Tech – 10.8% NIT-Likely
Miami – 10.5% NIT-Likely
Lumping these two together because there’s only so much one can say. It’s possible. Not likely. But within the realm of reasonable possibility.
Wake Forest – 0.9% NIT-Likely
Pittsburgh – 0.8% NIT-Likely
Aaaaand now we’ve left that realm of reasonable possibility. Into the impossible zone. Or at least highly improbable. But don’t stop hoping, folks. Hope is one of the many things that makes the NIT go ‘round.
