N.C. State starting early in ACC tournament again

Posted: Sunday, Mar. 10, 2013

Duke and North Carolina will have Thursday off in the ACC tournament, N.C. State will not.

Virginia’s 61-58 overtime win Sunday night against Maryland clinched the No. 4 seed, and the final opening-round bye, for the Cavaliers.

N.C. State, which finished 11-7 in the ACC and in fifth place, will play Thursday against 12th-seeded Virginia Tech. The other games Thursday in Greensboro will be: Boston College-Georgia Tech, Maryland-Wake Forest and Florida State-Clemson.

Virginia and N.C. State tied in the ACC, but Virginia won the tiebreaker based on its 58-55 home win against the Wolfpack on Jan. 29.

Miami, the No. 1 seed, won its first ACC regular-season title, and it was the first time since the Hurricanes joined the league before the 2004-05 season that they have earned an opening-round bye. Duke and UNC have earned a bye eight times in nine years since the ACC went to a multi-game format on Thursday.

As the No. 2 seed, Duke will play the 7 p.m. game Friday against the Maryland-Wake Forest winner. UNC, the No. 3 seed, will play the late game Friday against the Florida State-Clemson winner. Duke and UNC could meet in the semifinals Saturday.

N.C. State had control of its seeding fate but lost Saturday at Florida State. The Wolfpack, the preseason pick to win the ACC, could have backed into a bye with a Maryland win Sunday. The Terps led by 17 points during the first half at Virginia.

It will be the 14th time in 21 years the Wolfpack has to play on Thursday in the ACC tournament, the most of any team.