While it is almost certain that each and every one of us will miss multiple games in our predictions, the staff picks feature a variety of views in a tournament that is really up for grabs amongst the top four or five teams. Each of the teams receiving a double bye to the quarterfinals received at least one pick to hoist the Tournament trophy on Sunday and the final three days of the event are truly setting up to be a spectacle with newcomer Syracuse at the two seed, traditional titans Duke and North Carolina at the three and the four, and upstart Virginia sitting perched atop the ACC standings with the one seed and the mythical crown of ACC regular season champion.
We’ll be having a little contest amongst ourselves to see who did their best interpretation of Nostradamus. Each person who picks a winner correctly on Wednesday gets one point, each person who picks a winner correctly on Thursday gets two points, Friday you get three points, Saturday you get four points, and Sunday you get five points. I expect absolute carnage by Friday but we shall see how good the staff is at making wild predictions. Without further ado let’s get to the game picks from the BSD crew:
Live Standings
Bart: 22
Matt: 22
Shayn: 20
Jake: 19
Rob: 18
Griffin: 17
Riley: 11
Through the first two days, Griffin took a one point lead on the rest of the field. Behind a perfect 4-4 Thursday, he was able to jump over Bart when Clemson took down Georgia Tech in the night cap. After the first game on Quarterfinal Friday Griffin's upset pick of FSU over Virginia proved to be only fool's gold as everybody except for the leader took the Cavs to make the semifinals, dropping Griffin into a tie for fourth. The standings started to come a little bit more into focus after Pitt knocked off UNC to give Jake, Shayn, and Bart a well-needed three points. Bart sits atop the standings with Shayn a mere two points behind. With everyone picking Syracuse-Duke for a seminfinal matchup, Semifinal Saturday looked to be critical in determining a winner after N.C. State stunned the Orange and Duke snuck by Clemson in dramatic fashion.
With only the title game remaining entering Sunday, Matt and Bart are tied, but a Virginia title would bring Jake all the glory and the BSD Staff Championship.
Predicted Thursday Matchups (spoiler: everyone picked FSU-Maryland)
Rob:
Florida State v. Maryland
Notre Dame v. Pittsburgh
Miami v. N.C. State
Georgia Tech v. Clemson
Matt:
Florida State v. Maryland
Notre Dame v. Pittsburgh
Miami v. N.C. State
Georgia Tech v. Clemson
Bart:
Florida State v. Maryland
Wake Forest v. Pittsburgh
Miami v. N.C. State
Georgia Tech v. Clemson
Shayn:
Florida State v. Maryland
Notre Dame v. Pittsburgh
Miami v. N.C. State
Boston College v. Clemson
Riley:
Florida State v. Maryland
Notre Dame v. Pittsburgh
Miami v. N.C. State
Boston College v. Clemson
Griffin:
Florida State v. Maryland
Notre Dame v. Pittsburgh
Miami v. N.C. State
Georgia Tech v. Clemson
Jake:
Florida State v. Maryland
Notre Dame v. Pittsburgh
Miami v. N.C. State
Georgia Tech v. Clemson
Friday Quarterfinal Matchups
Rob:
Maryland v. Virginia
Pittsburgh v. North Carolina
N.C. State v. Syracuse
Clemson v. Duke
Matt:
Maryland v. Virginia
Pittsburgh v. North Carolina
N.C. State v. Syracuse
Clemson v. Duke
Bart:
Florida State v. Virginia
Pittsburgh v. North Carolina
N.C. State v. Syracuse
Georgia Tech v. Duke
Shayn:
Florida State v. Virginia
Pittsburgh v. North Carolina
N.C. State v. Syracuse
Boston College v. Duke
Riley:
Maryland v. Virginia
Pittsburgh v. North Carolina
Miami v. Syracuse
Clemson v. Duke
Griffin:
Florida State v. Virginia
Pittsburgh v. North Carolina
N.C. State v. Syracuse
Clemson v. Duke
Jake:
Maryland v. Virginia
Pittsburgh v. North Carolina
Miami v. Syracuse
Clemson v. Duke
Saturday Semifinal Matchups
Rob:
Virginia v. North Carolina
Syracuse v. Duke
Matt:
Virginia v. North Carolina
Syracuse v. Duke
Bart:
Virginia v. Pittsburgh
Syracuse v. Duke
Shayn:
Pittsburgh v. Virginia
Syracuse v. Duke
Riley:
Virginia v. North Carolina
Syracuse v. Duke
Griffin:
Florida State v. North Carolina
Syracuse v. Duke
Jake:
Virginia v. Pittsburgh
Syracuse v. Duke
Sunday’s Championship
Rob:
North Carolina v. Duke (Duke Champion)
Matt:
Virginia v. Duke (Duke Champion)
Bart:
Pittsburgh v. Duke (Duke Champion)
Shayn:
Virginia v. Syracuse (Syracuse Champion)
Riley:
North Carolina v. Syracuse (Syracuse Champion)
Griffin:
North Carolina v. Duke (North Carolina Champion)
Jake:
Virginia v. Syracuse (Virginia Champion)
If Friday’s matchups are all chalk, the Greensboro Coliseum will be packed from Friday until Sunday. A night session with N.C. State, Syracuse, Duke, and Clemson would be close to a sellout. Furthermore, a semifinal Saturday with Virginia, North Carolina, Syracuse, and Duke would be a very difficult ticket to get. In short, if the favorites hold serve then ACC fans and basketball fans at large are in for a fantastic weekend of basketball. Let’s hope our Deacs throw a wrench in those plans and can make a run to at least the quarterfinals!