The Miami Hurricanes are a strong and powerful force heading into the postseason. As the ACC Tournament rapidly approaches, Jai Lucas' team has a chance to not only improve its seeding in the NCAA Tournament, but it could give his former employer a run for its money, potentially in the ACC conference title bout. With its 77-69 road win over SMU, Miami now sits at No. 3 in the ACC standings.
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, here is how the ACC standings are shaking out.
- Duke Blue Devils: 16-1
- Virginia Cavaliers: 14-3
- Miami Hurricanes: 13-4
- North Carolina Tar Heels: 12-5
- Clemson Tigers: 11-6
- Louisville Cardinals: 10-7
- Florida State Seminoles: 9-8
- North Carolina State Wolfpack: 10-7
- California Golden Bears: 9-8
- Stanford Cardinal: 8-9
- SMU Mustangs: 8-9
- Virginia Tech Hokies: 8-9
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons: 6-11
- Syracuse Orange: 6-11
- Pittsburgh Panthers: 4-13
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 4-13
- Boston College Eagles: 3-14
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: 2-15
For those who need a bit of a refresher, the way the ACC Tournament breaks down is as follows. The top four seeds all get a double-bye into the quarterfinals. Teams seeded fifth through ninth get a bye into the second round, with the No. 8 seed taking on the No. 9. Teams seeded No. 10 through No. 15 will play in the first round for the right to face the No. 5, No. 6, and No. 7 seeds in the ACC Tournament.
Where things stand now, lowly Notre Dame, Boston College, and Georgia Tech will not be playing in it.
The good news for Miami is the Hurricanes being the No. 3 means it could avoid Duke until the final!
Jai Lucas has a chance to beat his former employer Duke in the ACC final
Yes, where things stand now, Miami is one of the four teams in the ACC slated to get a double-bye into the quarterfinals. They would take on the winner of the No. 6 vs. No. 11/No. 14 game. Their first ACC Tournament foe would be either Louisville, SMU, or Syracuse, probably in that order of overall likelihood. If Miami wins its quarterfinal, it would take on whoever comes out of Virginia's quadrant.
With Virginia currently projected to be the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, that has North Carolina slotted in as the No. 4 seed for the time being. Assuming chalk prevails, top-seeded Duke would take on arch rival North Carolina in the semifinals, with Miami getting Virginia on the other side of the bracket. Given the high stakes nature of that rivalry, maybe Duke is tired ahead of the ACC title bout?
If that is the case, then Lucas would have a real shot to knock off his former employer for the ACC's automatic qualifier bid. Where things stand now, Miami is projected to only be a No. 8 seed following Tuesday's Bracketology update. One would think after picking up a Quad 1 road win over a potential tournament team in SMU should improve Miami's seeding. People are starting to understand Miami.
Overall, Miami fans should be elated that Lucas is finally starting to get the respect he deserves from a national perspective. While he did have to replace a program legend in Jim Larrañaga, Lucas has the Hurricanes winning in their own way. Anytime Miami is good at anything athletics, they do so with swagger. This is a team giving the ACC real bite, beyond just Duke, as the tournament approaches.
Right now, there may not be a team in the ACC that wants to see Miami in the upcoming tournament.