Updated Syracuse men’s basketball ACC Tournament seeding scenarios

While we remain pretty worried about the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament chances, they at least started down the right path this week. Following a surprising win over UNC, they picked up yet another needed victory over the Clemson Tigers. That wraps up SU’s regular season at 9-7 in the ACC.

And now, we wait...

Kevin will get into the bubble conversation, but we’ll just limit this conversation to ACC Tournament seeding situations. Things have changed a bit since Tuesday. First, the current standings:

1. Florida State Seminoles (11-3)
2. Virginia Cavaliers (12-4)
3. Virginia Tech Hokies (9-4)
4. Louisville Cardinals (8-4)
5. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-6)
6. Clemson Tigers (9-6)
7. North Carolina Tar Heels (9-6)
8. Syracuse Orange (9-7)
9. Duke Blue Devils (9-8)
10. N.C. State Wolfpack (9-8)
11. Pittsburgh Panthers (6-9)
12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-11)
13. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-14)
14. Miami Hurricanes (3-15)
15. Boston College Eagles (2-10)

And here’s what needs to happen for the two possible outcomes:

7th Place

How they get there:

• North Carolina loses to Duke, AND
• Clemson loses to Pittsburgh

In this scenario, all three teams finish 9-7 in league play and would need to consult the three-way tiebreaker to determine who finishes sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively. There, Clemson is sixth because of a 2-1 record against the other two. Then Syracuse is seventh at 2-2 (having split both meetings with both teams). UNC’s 1-2 record slots them into the 8-seed.

8th Place

How they get there:

• Either Clemson beats Pittsburgh or North Carolina beats Duke

Much simpler here. If the Tigers win, they’re 10-6 and then no matter what happens, UNC is either 10-6 a well or wins a tiebreaker with Syracuse due to a Heels win over Florida State. If UNC wins and Clemson loses, Clemson also takes that tiebreaker with Syracuse due to their own win over the top-seeded ‘Noles.

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Ultimately, no matter which of the seeds they wind up getting, it sets up a tough matchup with either Florida State (No. 1) or Virginia (No. 2) in the ACC quarterfinals — even they even win that second round matchup with team TBD.

Being a seventh seed means getting the winner of the 10/15 game. That 10-seed could be NC State, as the Blue Devils would’ve beaten UNC to make that happen.

If Syracuse is the eighth seed — the more likely outcome — then they’ll either face one of those teams as the 9-seed. Duke makes it happen by just beating UNC. NC State is No. 9 with a win over ND and a Blue Devils loss.

Obviously we’d rather face State. Though the Blue Devils have seemed to be in a bit of a tailspin of late, the matchup’s bad for Syracuse. The Orange need wins most importantly, so we’ll face whoever. SU’s odds of making the NCAA Tournament won’t change a ton beating either Duke or NC State. Things would shift considerably if they can defeat UVA or FSU.

What would you prefer here? Share your own seeding thoughts below.