The ACC Tournament 2013 bracket schedule gets games started on Thursday, March 14, with games taking place in Greensboro, North Carolina. Heading into the conference tournament Miami, Virginia, North Carolina and Duke will all enjoy first round byes, while eight other teams will look to make some noise en route to a "Big Dance" appearance for March Madness 2013. Games will start off on ESPN for TV coverage and will also be live streaming on WatchESPN/ESPN3.
According to a Yahoo! Sports report on March 12, the Miami Hurricanes have the best draw heading into this tournament as they were placed on the other side of the bracket, away from top teams North Carolina and Duke. That doesn't guarantee them the finals though, as they'll likely have to contend with Virginia in the semifinals.
As for the worst draw in the ACC tournament, Yahoo! Sports indicates that goes to the Maryland Terapins. They'll need to most likely get past Duke and North Carolina if they want to make it to the finals of the tourney. Duke still remains the favorite to win this tournament, although they could get tested by both UNC and the Canes.
One other important note is that the Virginia Cavaliers are considered a bubble team in terms of the upcoming Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament. They'll need some big wins in this ACC Tournament, most likely at least a win over NC State or VA Tech in order to help punch their ticket to the "Big Dance."
The games get started with the first round on Thursday at 12 p.m. EST as #8 seed Boston College takes on #9 seed Georgia Tech. At 2 p.m. EST #5 seed NC State takes on #12 Virginia Tech. Two more games come at night when #7 seed Maryland takes on #10 seed Wake Forest at 7 p.m. EST, and then #6 seed Florida State battles #11 seed Clemson at 9 p.m. EST. All of these first round games will be presented on ESPNU, with live streaming coverage on WatchESPN/ESPN3.
On Friday, the second round opens when #1 seed Miami plays either BC or Georgia Tech, while #2 seed Duke gets the winner of the Maryland vs. Wake game. The #3 seed UNC will take on FSU or Clemson, while #4 Virginia awaits either NC State or Virginia Tech. It could end up being an interesting battle of the state teams if Tech pulls off the upset over the Wolfpack. The times for these games are still to be announced.
To watch the ACC Tournament 2013 first round, local viewers can watch on various cable or satellite providers such as Cox Cable channel 319, or DISH Network channel 141 for ESPNU. Additionally, viewers can head to the WatchESPN website to catch games live streaming online where the service is available.
See the complete ACC Tournament 2013 bracket here at ESPN.com.
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