Bracket Watch: The ACC could be headed for a record

By Stewart Mandel
Published

Months after capping a triumphant football season with Clemson's national championship, the ACC could be eyeing more history come March Madness. My latest bracket includes 11 ACC teams. Were that to hold come Selection Sunday it would tie a record the old Big East set in 2011.

The ACC currently has one fewer team (15) than the Big East did that year.

Mind you, quite a few of those 11 are squarely in bubble territory. Wake Forest and Miami are two of my last four in, with the 'Canes joining the field this week thanks to their upset of North Carolina. That being said, two more ACC teams, Pittsburgh and NC State, are among my first eight out.

Georgia Tech, meanwhile, went from barely under consideration to comfortably in the field as a No. 9 seed following back-to-back wins last week over highly ranked foes Florida State and Notre Dame. With so many tourney-caliber teams in the same conference, opportunities to improve one's resume come up nightly.

By the same token, no ACC team has yet managed to stay hot enough to rise to one of my No. 1 seeds. But Louisville, Florida State and North Carolina all sit on the No. 2 line and could move up by Selection Sunday.

A reminder: Selection Sunday is March 12, and the tourney begins March 14. The Final Four is April 1-3 in Phoenix.

* — Denotes projected conference champion, automatic berth

This edition's bracket is East vs. West champions and Midwest vs. South champions in the national semifinals, based on the order of my No. 1 seeds.














BRACKET WATCH













































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































LAST FOUR IN: TCU, Wake Forest, Miami, VCU

FIRST FOUR OUT: Kansas State, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Seton Hall

NEXT FOUR OUT: Wichita State, Pittsburgh, Illinois, NC State

MULTIPLE BID CONFERENCES: ACC (11), Big Ten (8), Big 12 (6), Big East (5), SEC (4), Pac-12 (4), A-10 (3), American (2), WCC (2)