by Jay Kitts

Created on: February 15, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Halfway through the famous "last ten games" that the NCAA Selection Committee uses as one of its barometers of a team's success and worthiness for the NCAA tournament of 65, we have finally reached a point where the speculation is less than idle about who is going to make the tournament. Living here near Tobacco Road there is considerable discussion about how many ACC teams will make the tournament and also whether the famed Duke program will be excluded from the tournament for the first time since 1995. There are discussions about eight or nine teams getting into the Big Dance from the ACC, this article is to tell you that will not happen as well as who will get in.

There are only three teams worth no serious consideration for the tournament so barring an ACC tourney miracle we can eliminate Wake Forest, NC State, and Miami. So with that let's discuss the remaining nine teams and whether they will make the tournament. In order of current standing in the conference.

Boston College: Solid team, no doubt here this team is making the tourney. Too bad that Dudley is a Senior because he is fun to watch. Loss to Duke last night was a disappointment but this team will still be a solid 3-5 seed when all is said and done. One team in.

UNC: Two losses to Virginia Tech have only made Virginia Tech's case, not dropped UNC anywhere further than a low 1 or high 2 seed in the tournament. Ten players average over 10 minutes per game, the team averages 88 points per game. They are not indestructible (did they really lose to NC State?) but this is the deepest team in college and will most likely end up with the regular season ACC title. Two teams in.

Virginia: UVA might actually have the best shot outside of Chapel Hill to win the ACC regular season title. At 8-3 currently in conference, UVA's only two remaining road games are Miami and Wake Forest. They do have three competitive teams coming into John Paul Jones Arena in Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech, but there is no BC or UNC or Duke and it is not impossible to think this team will play these five games at 4-1 or even 5-0. Double-digit ACC wins, a RPI rating in the high 20's or low 30's, and an exciting player like Singletary get this team into the Dance, probably at a 5 or 6 seed. Three teams in.

Virginia Tech: The surprise of the year. Four conference road wins including at Cameron Indoor and the Smith Center and a sweep of North Carolina. Virginia Tech is a program trending upward and is probably in the tournament

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