Conference tournament season is almost upon us. Multiple leagues across the country have already finalized their bracket and seeding, and the ACC is getting ready to join that list. Only 1 week remains until the regular season officially comes to a close for the conference.

And while the clock ticks down, North Carolina and Clemson especially are finding their last 2 games will be that much more important. According to Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology, both the Tar Heels and Tigers are outside the field looking in if the season ended today.

Lunardi has 5 teams safely in the field not including Clemson and North Carolina. They are listed below with their respective seeds:

  • Virginia – No. 4 Seed
  • Miami – No. 6 Seed
  • Duke – No. 7 Seed
  • Pitt – No. 9 Seed
  • NC State – No. 9 Seed

Both UNC and Clemson are currently in the Next Four Out, according to Lunardi.

Implications as we near March

North Carolina looks to do what Miami could not Monday evening: survive against a bad Florida State team.

The Tar Heels scored a massive win over Virginia on Saturday. All that’s left is to down Florida State and Duke to end the season and their NCAAT chances look solid. A loss to Florida State at this stage of the season would be disastrous.

Pitt is another very interesting team to consider out of the ACC. The Panthers were ranked No. 25 in the latest AP Poll and, according to Lunardi, will be automatic qualifiers into the dance – in other words, Lunardi has Pitt winning the ACC Tournament Championship.

The chances of that happening dwindle should Pitt falter at the end of the regular season. The Panthers are currently the 1-seed in the ACC with Virginia’s loss Saturday, if they can down Notre Dame and Miami, they’ll finish on top of the ACC for the first time since joining the conference.