2024 ACC Tournament:
Bubble Battle May Send Pitt, Wake
In Opposite (And Familiar) Directions
By Ben McCormick
North Carolina Sports Network
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An ACC Tournament run ending before it even really begins, hurts. But it’s nothing new for Steve Forbes and Wake Forest.
In the ACC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday, a heady second-half comeback by the Demon Deacons made a 19-point Pittsburgh lead evaporate. Wake dwindled the deficit to as little as three, but its efforts ultimately were for naught. Even though the Panthers slipped up, they answered each blow Wake dealt down the stretch.
ACC Sixth Man of the Year Ishmael Leggett, the best player on a bad Rhode Island team last season, was the difference-maker for Pitt. Every time the momentum swung Wake’s way, Leggett imposed his will in the paint, refusing to relinquish a trip to the league semifinals. He posted 30 points to go along with eight boards and five steals.
“Ish is a starter for us that just happens to come off the bench,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said.
In a Bubble Battle between two teams desperately clinging to the possibility of a trip to the Big Dance, Leggett may have led Pitt to the right side of the debate. Maybe. But it’s never a given.
“The more games we win, the more chances we get to get a bid,” Pitt star Blake Hinson said. “You get an automatic win if you win the tournament, so that’s our only focus.”
But for Wake, it seems increasingly likely that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The winner wasn’t necessarily a shoe-in for the NCAA Tournament, but the loser might have played its way out of the field.
Still, Forbes insisted that both teams were tournament-worthy, and according to the eye test, he may be right. However, most bracketologists beg to differ. The consensus seems to be that there is room for — at most — only one of the two ACC bubble squads.
For Wake, this result is like a broken record.
In 2021-22, the Deacs were 20-5 on the season until they dropped three of their next four games. They followed up that rough stretch with an even rougher performance in the ACC Tournament. A loss to #12 seed Boston College was the final nail in the coffin. Even with 2022 ACC Player of the Year Alondes Williams, the Deacs weren’t dancing.
In 2022-23, Wake once again had a first-team All-ACC guard in Tyree Appleby, and again the Deacs fell off at the end of the season. A 17-9 record quickly soured into an 18-13 record heading into the ACC Tournament. Their run in the tournament was short-lived again, as the Deacs fell to Miami in the quarterfinals.
Something happening twice in a row can be a coincidence. Once it happens three years in a row, that feels more like a trend.
The loss to Pitt on Thursday ensured that another Forbes team with a first-team All-ACC guard (Hunter Sallis this time) experienced a late-season collapse, with a potential final blow being dealt at the ACC Tournament. Wake was 18-9 after claiming its signature win over Duke. Then it lost three straight en route to ending the regular season 19-12.
When you’re on the bubble, a three-day wait until Selection Sunday can seem like an eternity, but Forbes claims he isn’t sweating it.
“I think there’s another episode of ‘Masters of the Air’ coming out,” Forbes said. “I’ll be watching that.”
No matter what Forbes is watching over the next three days, his eyes likely will be glued to the screen on Selection Sunday, just like those of every other college basketball player, coach, fan or media member.
There are some extra factors Forbes believes the committee should consider before determining that official bracket, too. Because of the NCAA’s recent comments on Indiana State’s Jayson Kent missing time, and how the committee would take that into consideration, Forbes believes the Deacs should get the same treatment.
Wake’s starting center, Efton Reid, missed the first seven games of the season due to transfer eligibility concerns with the NCAA. The Deacs were only 4-3 during that time, and it’s unclear if considering Reid’s absence would tip the scales in Wake’s favor anyway.
Forbes believes one thing is true, though: If the committee lets Wake in, the Deacs will make life difficult for the opposition.
“We have a good team, and I firmly believe — and everybody that’s watched us play all year long — we get in the tournament, we can win,” Forbes said. “It’s not going to be charity now. Nobody is going to want to play us if we get in there.”
It’s difficult for the committee members to weigh every single absence in any given game. If they did, a lot of wins would have asterisks next to them, including Pitt’s win at Duke in January, when the Blue Devils were missing starters Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell.
The selection process is already complicated enough, but to many, Wake may have simplified the committee’s job on Thursday.
