ACC Men's Basketball Tournament preview for 2015

Hoos your daddy

The Virginia Cavaliers sealed their second consecutive ACC regular-season crown behind their No. 1-ranked scoring defense. UVa. is the first ACC program other than Duke or North Carolina to win back-to-back outright regular season titles since 1973-74.

Dukes of Hazard

Led by Naismith Player of the Year candidate Jahlil Okafor, who is averaging a team-best 18.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, Duke’s trio of freshman starters have helped the Blue Devils become the No. 4-ranked scoring offense in the NCAA.

Feelin' lucky

After the midseason academic departure of leading scorer Jerian Grant last season, Grant has been in full force this season scoring 16.7 points per game. He his a top-10 finalist for the Wooden award, which is given to the National Player of the Year.

On their Heels

North Carolina heads into Saturday night’s showdown with Duke with a 4-5 record in its past nine games. UNC’s strength is on the boards, where it is averaging 42.1 rebounds per game. Junior point guard Marcus Paige is averaging a team-best 13.2 points per game.

All in the Cards

Louisville and North Carolina have been battling it out for the No. 4 seed heading into the tournament. Louisville lost to Notre Dame Wednesday. The Cardinals match up with Virginia this weekend and UNC matches up with Duke to decide.

A tropical storm

Miami’s biggest win of the year came at Cameron Indoor Stadium earlier in the season against a powerful Duke team. But Miami only returned two scholarship players this season, which could certainly hurt them in the ACC Tournament.

State of things

N.C. State has certainly had its fair share of questionable losses: Wofford, Wake Forest and Boston College. But with staple wins over both UNC and Duke, the Wolfpack have boosted its NCAA Tournament resume heading into the ACC Tournament.

Pitt of despair

The Panthers have had an up and down season, losing to Virginia Tech and Wake Forest but beating North Carolina, 89-76. Pittsburgh relies heavily on Jamel Artis and Michael Young, the only two players with scoring averages in double figures.

Not so purrrfect

The Tigers were predicted to finish 11th in the preseason polls and enter their final regular season game of the year not far off from that mark in 10th place. Heading into Saturday’s matchup with Notre Dame, Clemson is 8-9 in ACC play.

The X-factor

The backbone of this Seminole team is 100 percent Xavier Rathan-Mayes, the freshman who scored 30 points in a 4:38 span against Miami. At the beginning of the week, when he was named ACC Rookie of the Week, Rathan-Mayes averaged 23.5 points per game.

Wake-up call

The Demon Deacons are still a middle-of-the road team with a conference record of 5-12, including a 2-9 mark on the road. New head coach Danny Manning is doing his best to help rebuild the program, but it’s still going to take some time.

Flight canceled

Boston College is undoubtedly led by junior Olivier Hanlan, who averaged 19.4 points per game as of Wednesday, good for an ACC best. The ACC Freshman of the Year for 2012-13, Hanlan has only gotten better with each year that he returns to school.

Not enough buzz

Despite this year’s roster being full of all players coach Brian Gregory recruited, the Yellow Jackets have still struggled, particularly against UNC. The Tar Heels beat them by 29 points in the first meeting and then by 32 in the second meeting in Atlanta.

Cold turkey

The Hokies are one of the least successful teams in the conference, but under the leadership of new coach Buzz Williams, they’re also one of the grittiest. Williams’ passionate personality and love for his players will serve Virginia Tech well in the future.

Squeezed Orange

Syracuse won’t be competing in any postseason play this year due to a self-imposed ban regarding academic infractions. The university made the announcement in February. Syracuse ends its season with a 9-8 conference record.

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