Pittsburgh-Wake Forest ACC Tournament quarterfinal matchup is an elimination game
For Pittsburgh and Wake Forest, Thursday's ACC Tournament quarterfinal matchup in Washington, D.C., is more than just a chance to face the winner of North Carolina-Florida State in the semis.
It's a chance to get closer to an NCAA Tournament bid.
By this point, you know the drill. Both of these teams are on the outside looking in of the bubble, with Wake Forest appearing on six of 88 brackets and Pittsburgh appearing on four of 88 brackets, per bracketmatrix.com.
The fifth-seeded Demon Deacons may have knocked off No. 12 seed Notre Dame in the second round of the conference showcase on Wednesday, but that 72-59 victory — and the fourth-seeded Panthers' 12-8 mark in conference play — has not guaranteed an at-large bid into the field of 68.
To Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes, though, how the selection committee will view the contest is inconsequential.
"What I'm worried about is getting to Friday," Forbes told reporters after the Deacs' win over the Fighting Irish. "I'm not worried about all that other stuff, and neither are they because we don't know what those people are thinking in the room. We don't know where we're at right now. "
That may reflect a singular focus, but the reality is that this is more than your typical quarterfinal matchup.
If you watch the tape, you would know that both of these teams deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. They boast two of the top scorers in the ACC (in Pitt's Blake Hinson and Wake Forest's Hunter Sallis) and can score the rock in bunches.
Plus, while beating Duke is not always the mark of a tournament team (exhibits A and B being Arkansas and Georgia Tech), it is notable that of the Blue Devils' five conference losses, two have come at the hands of the Panthers (on Jan. 20) and Demon Deacons (Feb. 24).
Yet things are a little trickier than that, particularly when the bubble features teams from ostensibly tough leagues such as Mississippi State of the SEC and Michigan State of the Big Ten. Not only do Pitt and Wake need to play their way into the tournament, but they also need to knock the door down while doing so.
Unfortunately — for the loser, that is — though, they play each other on the way there. The two teams split the regular-season series, with the Panthers winning 77-72 in Pittsburgh on Jan. 31 and the Demon Deacons marching to a 91-58 victory in Winston-Salem on Feb. 20.
Now, we've got ourselves an old-fashioned rubber match. The winner gets a probable date with the top-seeded Tar Heels in Friday's semifinals, while the loser departs the nation's capital, and (likely) the at-large discussion.
No pressure.
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