ACC Tournament: Quarterfinal Thursday is upon us, for all who celebrate

We entered ACC Tournament Week with four ACC teams on the NCAA bubble: Stanford (lost on Tuesday), Virginia Tech (lost on Tuesday), SMU (won on Tuesday, lost on Wednesday), NC State (won on Wednesday).

The only team playing in Thursday’s quarterfinals who doesn’t get in without cutting down the nets on Saturday night is Florida State, which is 11-3 since Jan. 20, and per BartTorvik, ranks 29th nationally in adjusted team efficiency since that date, meaning, if the ‘Noles hadn’t started 7-11, they’d be a tourney team.

Hey, who knows.

ACC Tournament Thursday preview

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#2 Virginia (27-4, 15-3 ACC) vs. #7 NC State (20-12, 11-8 ACC), noon ET (ESPN2)

Virginia swept the season series, 76-61 in Raleigh on Jan. 3, 90-61 in Charlottesville on Feb. 24.

• KenPom: Virginia 79-75
• BartTorvik: Virginia 78-74

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#3 Miami (24-7, 13-5 ACC) vs. #6 Louisville (23-9, 12-7 ACC), 2:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Louisville bested Miami just last Saturday, 92-89, in the Yum! Center.

• KenPom: Louisville 81-77
• BartTorvik: Louisville 82-77

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#1 Duke (29-2, 17-1 ACC) vs. #9 Florida State (18-14, 11-8 ACC), 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Duke won a tight one in Tallahassee on Jan. 3, 91-87.

• KenPom: Duke 85-66
• BartTorvik: Duke 85-68

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#4 UNC (24-7, 12-6 ACC) vs. #5 Clemson (23-9, 13-6 ACC), 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Carolina beat Clemson in Chapel Hill on March 3, 67-63.

• KenPom: UNC 71-70
• BartTorvik: UNC 70-69