TNIAAM ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament first round Open Thread

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team won’t suit up for the ACC Tournament until Wednesday, but the action gets started today down in Charlotte.

You can check out the whole bracket here, however, we dive into each game a little bit more below. If you have the ability to work from home or have an extra screen up, we’ve also provided TV info.

(all times ET)

No. 12 Miami Hurricanes vs. No. 13 Wake Forest Demon Deacons, noon (ESPN/Raycom)

Miami’s been ravaged by depth issues, while Wake Forest deals with the continued lack of return on coach Danny Manning. The Deacons won the regular season matchup in Winston-Salem by a score of 76-75 less than a month ago, but little can be taken from a one-point win. If Miami wins, it’s because they stayed out of foul trouble and hit reasonably well from outside. Should Wake pull off the minor upset, it’ll be due to someone other than Brandon Childress contributing on the offensive end.

No. 10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 2 p.m. (ESPN/Raycom)

Another rematch from some close regular season games — Tech beat the Irish 63-61 in Atlanta and Notre Dame won the rematch in South Bend, 69-59. This one could be a similar defensive struggle. Notre Dame has very little depth to speak of and is reliant on a two-man offense (sound familiar?). Though the Yellow Jackets may have more depth, they’re similarly limited with the basketball. Tech ended the season on a two-game win streak, while ND lost seven straight to end the year (every game since beating the Wreck). Would expect the Yellow Jackets to prevail, but Notre Dame’s a better team than the last seed would normally indicate.

No. 11 Boston College Eagles vs. No. 14 Pittsburgh Panthers, 7 p.m. (ESPNU/Raycom)

The game we really care about — though normally would not in any way. BC beat Pitt by nine in the first iteration of this game, and is certainly the better team with a capable offense and Ky Bowman always a hot streak away from potentially taking over the game. The Panthers own impressive wins over Louisville and Florida State this year... but also rode a 13-game losing streak into the season finale before beating Notre Dame by two. Pitt basically goes as Xavier Johnson goes. That’s not a recipe for success against the Eagles.

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

If you’re looking for more reading in advance of the ACC Tournament, might we recommend these selections as well:

• Syracuse needs to beat an opponent for a third time to make ACC quarterfinals
• Syracuse’s less-than-stellar history in the ACC Tournament
• Bracketology: Another loss means Syracuse trending down to 9-seed
• Podcast: ACC Tournament preview, plus Syracuse on the bubble again?

So who are we rooting for here? I’m fine with the ‘Canes beating Wake, and Tech is probably going to beat Notre Dame. Probably want Syracuse to face Pitt in the next round, however.