ACC Tournament Day 1 preview: Full schedule, best bets

The ACC Tournament gets underway in Washington DC on Tuesday afternoon.

There are 3 games on the schedule for Tuesday, and all 6 teams who are in action will likely need a win if they want their season to extend beyond this week. North Carolina and Duke, the favorites to win this tournament, will not play until Thursday. Other contenders such as Wake Forest and Clemson will play their first ACC Tournament games on Wednesday.

Here’s a look at the slate for Day 1 of the event, followed by 3 betting picks:

Game 1: 2 p.m. – No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech (ACC Network)

This is almost certainly the end of the line for whoever loses this game, as neither is in position to earn a bid for the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. These teams met twice during the regular season, with Notre Dame winning both matchups.

Spread: Notre Dame -1.5

Total: 131.5 points

Game 2: 4:30 p.m. – No. 10 NC State vs. No. 15 Louisville (ACC Network)

NC State and Louisville are both fighting to continue their respective seasons on Tuesday afternoon. Both head coaches are also presumed to be on the hot seat entering this game. The Wolfpack are undefeated straight up this season when favored by 7 or more points.

Spread: NC State -8.5

Total: 149.5 points

Game 3: 7 p.m. – No. 11 Boston College vs. No. 14 Miami (ACC Network)

It’s hard to find a more disappointing team in the country this season than Miami, who failed to live up to expectations after reaching the Final Four for the first time in program history last year. Boston College defeated the Hurricanes twice during the regular season.

Spread: Miami -2.5

Total: 147.5 points

Note: All odds are via FanDuel unless otherwise noted.

Here are 3 best bets for Tuesday’s ACC Tournament slate:

2 picks

Georgia Tech +1.5. The Yellow Jackets were swept by Notre Dame during the regular season, but have been playing well recently — they’ve won 4 of their last 6 games entering the ACC Tournament. Georgia Tech has been better than you might think this year — it has 4 Quad 1 victories, including wins over Duke, North Carolina, Clemson and Wake Forest. That would be enough to put Georgia Tech on the NCAA Tournament bubble if not for a quartet of Quad 3 losses weighing down its résumé. Still, this is clearly a decent team and one that I’m betting will jump at the opportunity to advance in this tournament. BetMGM currently has Georgia Tech +1.5 priced at -110.

NC State -8.5. NC State has consistently performed well against bad teams all season. The Wolfpack are 13-0 this year when favored by 7 or more point. Their against-the-spread record isn’t nearly as good, but I think the Wolfpack will be fighting for head coach Kevin Keatts in this game. NC State has significant advantages across the board offensively over a Louisville team that has lost 18 of its last 20 games and ranks 346th in effective field goal percentage defense. FanDuel is offering NC State -8.5 at -120 while most other books have posted the line at NC State -9.5 (-110).

1 player prop

Jayden Taylor over 12.5 points (via FanDuel). NC State maybe without star DJ Horne for this game, as he played just 12 minutes in the Wolfpack’s regular season finale due to an injury. Horne is a game-time decision for this contest, but may not be 100% even if he is able to give it a go. Taylor is second on the team in 3-point attempts per game (4.6 during ACC play) and should have the ultimate green light against a Louisville defense that’s near the bottom of the country in 3-point percentage defense. Even without those potential edges, Taylor averages 12.3 points per game vs. ACC opposition. I like him to go over this mark against the Cardinals.

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