March 19 kicked off the start of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, also known as March Madness! On Selection Sunday (, March 17th), five ACC teams earned bids to play in the First Round: Clemson, Duke, UNC, NC State, and Virginia. North Carolina went in as the #1 seed in the West, Clemson followed with the #6 spot in the West, Duke earned the #4 seed in the South, and Virginia was the #10 seed in the Midwest. To the delight of many RMA students, NC State (which was not expected to even participate in the national tournament) claimed the #11 seed in the South after successfully winning five straight games in the ACC Tournament and claiming the title of ACC Tournament Champions by defeating the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.
The First Four–which is a last-ditch effort for bubble teams to earn a chance to play the First Round–played on March 19 and 20; the most important victories for us as a state with several ACC schools were Colorado State’s over Virginia (67-42) and Wagner’s over Howard (71-68).
With Virginia’s loss, the ACC only had 4 teams left to play in the Round of 64, but all 4 were successful. Wagner faced off against UNC on Thursday 3/21, but Wagner’s defense did not have the height and build to guard the UNC offense, so the Heels won 90-62. Armando Bacot earned his 86th career double-double before halftime and finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds, while 2023-2024 standout RJ Davis had 22 points. Later that night, NC State definitively claimed the win over Texas Tech with a score of 80-67; 21 of those 80 points came from Ben Millbrooks, who reached a career-high in NC State’s first first-round win in nine years!
On the Round of 64’s second day, the Duke Blue Devils defeated Vermont by a score of 64-47. Jared McCain and Mike Mitchell led the Duke team, scoring 15 points each. Rounding out play for the ACC teams was Clemson vs. New Mexico, in which Clemson guard Chase Hunter had 21 points that were instrumental in his team beating New Mexico by a score of 77 to 56.
The Second Round–or the Round of 32–took place on March 23 and 24. On Saturday, UNC and Michigan State went tit-for-tat in the first half with many lead changes, but the Tar Heels were determined in the second half and claimed the win with a score of 85-69. Even more exciting was NC State’s overtime win against Oakland on Saturday. The Wolfpack fought hard and pulled out the win with 79 to Oakland’s 73 points. Finally, Duke had an easy win against James Madison with a score of 93-55, and fellow ACC team Clemson claimed a spot in the Sweet 16 by defeating the #3 seed, Baylor (72-64).
What all this adds up to is that a full quarter of the Sweet 16 consists of ACC schools! Four teams will play on March 28 and 29 to hopefully advance to the Elite Eight. Clemson will take on Arizona on March 28 with Arizona as the predicted winner because they are the higher seed (#2 to Clemson’s #6). Also on March 28, UNC will play Alabama. The press believes Alabama will take the win because the last time they played each other, the Crimson Tide won 103-101 in quadruple overtime, but I believe the Tar Heels will pull through and go on to play against Arizona. A Carolina-Arizona match-up would be super exciting because Caleb Love, who left Carolina at the end of the disappointing 2022-2023 season, is now a guard for the Arizona Wildcats. Seeing former roommates Davis and Love play each other would make for a great game!
As the Sweet 16 continues on the 29th, Duke will face Houston, the #1 seed in the South… and it will not be an easy game; Duke will need Kyle Filipowski, Jared McCain, and Jeremy Roach to be on their A-game to have a shot at staying in the tournament. Although the stakes are high for Duke, the must-watch game of the Sweet Sixteen will be NC State vs. Marquette on March 29. Marquette may be the higher seed (#2), but NC State has exceeded all expectations and will not go down without a fight!
How many ACC teams will advance to the Elite Eight? All of them have a good chance, but it comes down to how they play on any given night. March Madness is full of upsets and surprises, so it’s hard to truly predict who will make it to the end, but many RMA students are pulling our local ACC teams. Marti Mcknight, a senior who himself plays basketball, says, “UNC will win the tournament because no one can stop RJ Davis and Armando Bacot,” while Gabbi Ams thinks “it will come down to UConn vs. Houston or UConn vs. Purdue.” Which of our ACC teams do you think will be the most successful? Tell us in the poll below!
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