2018 ACC Tournament projections for Clemson

Projections are split on the ACC favorite, but they agree that Clemson is right in that top tier with a crack at the title.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Sun Mar 04 12:48:28 GMT-04:00 2018

Clemson’s enters the 5-day ACC Tournament event in Brooklyn with the fourth-best odds to win the conference crown.

The metrics fall in line with their seeding, as the 4-seed Tigers (22-8, 11-7 ACC) await the Wednesday winner between (5) NC State and (12) Boston College/(13) Georgia Tech in an afternoon start Thursday (2 p.m. approx./ESPN).

KenPom’s efficiency model forecasts an 8.3 percent chance to win the ACC crown, trailing No. 1 overall Virginia (38.9), 2-seed Duke (31.4) and 6-seed UNC (10.1). There's some distance then to the fifth-best shot (Miami, 3.2).

Clemson is rated as No. 18 overall by KenPom with the fifth-best adjusted defense and the No. 55 offense. Potential ACC quarterfinal opponents check in at No. 41 (NC State), No. 78 (Boston College) and No. 113 (Georgia Tech). Virginia ranks No. 1 in the metric (No. 39 offense/No. 1 defense), Duke is third (No. 3 offense/No. 10 defense) and UNC is seventh (No. 5 offense/No. 49 defense).

TeamRankings.com has similar findings as KenPom, giving Clemson a 7.33 percent chance at taking the ACC title Saturday. Duke, however, is favored there (37.58), followed by Virginia (30.79) and UNC (13.13).

Clemson went 3-1 on neutral courts this season, going 1-1 versus RPI Group 1 teams (win over Florida, 39; loss to Temple, 46).

Check out the full bracket below:

2018 ACC Tournament matchups

(In Brooklyn’s Barclays Center)

March 6 (Tuesday)

Noon ET - (12) Boston College vs. (13) Georgia Tech; 2 p.m. - (10) Notre Dame vs. (15) Pittsburgh; 7 p.m. - (11) Syracuse vs. (14) Wake Forest.

March 7 (Wednesday)

Noon - (8) Florida State vs. (9) Louisville; 2 p.m. - (5) NC State vs. (12) Boston College/(13) Georgia Tech; 7 p.m. - (7) Virginia Tech vs. (10) Notre Dame/(15) Pittsburgh; 9 p.m. - (6) North Carolina vs. (11) Syracuse/(14) Wake Forest.

March 8 (Thursday)

Noon - (1) Virginia vs. Wednesday noon game winner; 2 p.m. - (4) Clemson vs. Wed. 2 p.m. winner; 7 p.m. - (2) Duke vs. Wed. 7 p.m. winner; 9 p.m. - (3) Miami vs. Wed. 9 p.m. winner.

March 9 (Friday)

7 p.m. - Thursday afternoon session game winners; 9 p.m. - Thursday evening game winners.

March 10 (Saturday)

8:30 p.m. - ACC Championship

(Games will be on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and also ACC Network; times are approximate).