Four Huge Questions Still Lingering
In 2025 ACC Tournament Semifinals
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
Below are four huge questions still lingering at the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, which continues with two semifinal matchups Friday night at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
First, #1 seed Duke will face #5 seed North Carolina (7 p.m., ESPN). In the nightcap, #2 seed Louisville will take on #3 seed Clemson (9:30 p.m., ESPN).
The Blue Devils (22) and the Tar Heels (18) have won more ACC championships, by far, than any other program. Neither the Cardinals nor the Tigers have ever won the ACC Tournament.
1. Will UNC Elevate Above The NCAA Bubble?
Seemingly every year, for at least the last four decades, one or more ACC squads have been seen as NCAA Tournament “bubble teams” at the beginning of the ACC Tournament.
This year, such teams have taken on extra significance, because since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 (now 68) teams in 1985, the ACC has never failed to get at least once-third of its members into the Big Dance. That baseline has applied without exception through the league’s repeated expansions, meaning it never has fallen below three of nine, four of 12 or (as in the past three seasons) five of 15.
Now the ACC has 18 members for the first time, and there’s absolutely no chance it will have six NCAA Tournament participants. There’s even a possibility that the ACC will have only its three nationally ranked teams dancing: #1 Duke, #10 Clemson and #13 Louisville.
At the beginning of this week, three more ACC squads were being discussed in “bubble” terms, with UNC often projected among the “First Four Out” by bracketologists and Wake Forest and SMU routinely listed among the “Next Four Out,” meaning that only some level of success in Charlotte would put any of them in a more comfortable position for an at-large invitation to the Big Dance.
This 2025 scenario raised an interesting question: Have there been actual examples of teams using the ACC Tournament to clinch a spot in the Big Dance?
The short answer: yes, but probably not as many as you might think.
There are no official records on such things, of course, and the NCAA Selection Committee hasn’t always answered these sorts of specific questions, so what’s left is educated speculation.
Going back to 1985, the first year of the 64-team (now 68-team) NCAA Tournament, there are at least seven ACC teams that arguably went from the wrong side to the right side of the bubble just in time for Selection Sunday.
The first clear-cut example during that period was NC State in 1987. Even after winning the ACC Tournament, following a sixth-place regular-season finish in an eight-team league, the Wolfpack was just a #11 NCAA seed. (The final at-large selections typically receive #11 or #12 seeds.) The most recent examples also were those of ACC champions, Virginia Tech in 2022 and NC State again just last year. The 2022 Hokies and the 2024 Wolfpack were the two lowest-seeded teams ever to win the ACC Tournament, as a #7 and a #10 seed, respectively.
During the 34 years in between those surprising conference champions, though, only four ACC teams earned at-large NCAA Tournament bids and became double-digit (meaning very low) seeds soon after posting multiple victories, including one over a nationally ranked opponent, at the ACC Tournament: 2005 NC State (#10 seed), 2009 Maryland (#10 seed), 2010 Georgia Tech (#10 seed) and 2014 NC State (#12 seed).
This week in Charlotte, the Tar Heels have kept their Big Dance hopes alive with a pair of victories, whereas the Demon Deacons and Mustangs ultimately fell short of finding a signature victory or two.
2. Could Clemson Finally End Its 71-Year ACC Title Drought?
The ACC played its inaugural basketball season, in 1953-54, with eight teams.
Seven of the eight won their first official ACC championship long, long ago.
NC State won in its first attempt (1954). UNC (1957), Maryland (1958), Duke (1960) and Wake Forest (1961) also broke through during the league’s first decade of existence. By the mid-1970s, South Carolina (1970) and Virginia (1976) had achieved their first ACC titles, too.
That leaves only Clemson. The Tigers remain in pursuit of that lofty, elusive goal — 71 years later.
This is a question worth asking, though, because this year’s Tigers just posted one of the best regular seasons in the history of their program. They are 27-5 and ranked #10 nationally, and their 18-2 record against conference opponents during the regular season left them tied with Louisville for second place in the league standings. They are the only ACC team that has defeated #1 Duke (29-3) this year.
Clemson has finished this high or higher in the ACC pecking order only four other times in the past seven-plus decades. The Tigers won their only ACC regular-season title in 1990, under coach Cliff Ellis. Their second-place finishes, counting ties, came in 1975 (Tates Locke), 1977 (Bill Foster) and 1987 (Ellis).
While those examples of high-level regular-season success have been few and far between, Clemson has an even worse track record at the ACC Tournament. Not only have the Tigers never won the event, they’ve played in the championship game only twice, in 1962 (a 77-68 loss to Wake Forest) and 2008 (an 86-81 loss to UNC).
Coach Brad Brownell, now in his 15th season, already has taken Clemson as far as any coach in the history of the program. That happened last year, when the Tigers made their second-ever trip to the Elite Eight.
Now Brownell has a highly confident and extremely experienced starting lineup that includes four seniors, each an All-ACC honoree: sixth-year guard Chase Hunter (first team), forward Ian Schieffelin (second team), center Viktor Lakhin (honorable mention) and point guard Jaeden Zackery (all-defense).
As the Tigers advance this week in Charlotte, expect their fan following to build with each passing day, at least in part because of their opportunity to make history. A huge chunk of the university’s alumni live in North Carolina or South Carolina, and the Spectrum Center is actually just a bit closer to Clemson (138 miles) than it is to UNC (140 miles) or Duke (141 miles).
3. Can Duke’s 25-Year Dynasty Get Interrupted Again?
Duke remains in the midst of the most dominant extended run for any school in the 72-year history of the ACC Tournament.
Over the past 25 events, the Blue Devils have won more often than the rest of the league’s members combined. Here’s the official count: Duke (13), Everyone Else (12). During the same 26-year period (the 2020 event wasn’t completed because of COVID), beyond the Devils, only UNC (three) and Virginia (two) have cut down the ACC nets more than once.
Year—ACC Champion
2024—NC State
2023—Duke
2022—Virginia Tech
2021—Georgia Tech
2020—(tournament cancelled/COVID)
2019—Duke
2018—Virginia
2017—Duke
2016—North Carolina
2015—Notre Dame
2014—Virginia
2013—Miami
2012—Florida State
2011—Duke
2010—Duke
2009—Duke
2008—North Carolina
2007—North Carolina
2006—Duke
2005—Duke
2004—Maryland
2003—Duke
2002—Duke
2001—Duke
2000—Duke
1999—Duke
Although Duke did have one five-year period (2012-16) without an ACC championship trophy not too long ago, the Blue Devils quickly bounced back by claiming the 2017 and 2019 titles under their 42-year head coach, Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K (15) and legendary UNC leader Dean Smith (13) are the only coaches with more than four ACC titles.
Even since Coach K’s retirement, Duke has continued its winning ways. Jon Scheyer won his initial ACC Tournament as a head coach, in 2023, and this year’s Blue Devils are ranked #1 nationally, posted a stellar 19-1 record to capture the ACC’s regular-season title, and carried the top seed into this year’s ACC bracket in Charlotte.
4. Will The “Triangle Trifecta” Trend Continue?
Although they now comprise only one-sixth (16.7 percent) of the ACC’s membership, Triangle neighbors Duke, UNC and NC State — all original members of the conference, of course, dating to that 1953-54 season — are responsible for a whopping 72.9 percent of ACC Tournament championships.
ACC Tournament Titles
(1954-2024)
Duke—22
(All Other Schools Combined)—19
North Carolina—18
NC State—11
Triangle Schools’ Total = 51 of 70 (72.9%)
The North Carolina-centric theme actually continues with Wake Forest, which is tied with Georgia Tech for the fourth-most ACC titles (four each). The Big Four, then, collectively have accounted for a whopping 55 of the 70 ACC Tournament titles (78.6 percent).
Next are Maryland and Virginia (three each), then Florida State (2012), Miami (2013), Notre Dame (2015), South Carolina (1971) and Virginia Tech (2022), which have captured one apiece. The Terrapins and Gamecocks were league members from 1953-2014 and 1953-71, respectively.
Boston College, Clemson, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Syracuse have never won the ACC Tournament. League newcomers Cal, SMU and Stanford played in the event for the first time this week and already have been eliminated, meaning eight of the conference’s 18 members are still seeking their first title.
