Virginia Basketball: 2024 ACC Tournament Preview

Everything you need to know about the Cavaliers' trip to the 2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament in Washington, D.C.

The 2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament has arrived and it's a critical moment for the Virginia Cavaliers, who enter postseason play with some work to do in order to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Virginia (22-9, 13-7 ACC) is the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament and has a double-bye to Thursday's quarterfinals (9:30pm on ESPN/2), where the Cavaliers will face the winner of No. 6 seed Clemson and No. 11 seed Boston College, who will play in the second round on Wednesday at 9:30pm. The 2024 ACC Tournament is being held at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. for the first time since 2016. 

Read on for everything you need to know about Virginia's upcoming trip to the 2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, including the Cavaliers' path to the ACC Tournament Final, game details and notes, scouting reports on both of UVA's possible quarterfinal opponents, press conferences with Tony Bennett, Reece Beekman, and Isaac McKneely, and a breakdown of what Virginia needs to do to lock up an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

First, here's a look at the updated bracket for the 2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament:

2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket / ACC

Click here to see the updated schedule, bracket, and game scores for the 2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament.

As previously mentioned, Virginia has the No. 3 seed and one of the coveted double-byes in the ACC Tournament, meaning the Cavaliers will not play until the final game on Thursday night, when they will host the winner of No. 6 Clemson and No. 11 Boston College. Clemson claimed the lone regular season meeting against Boston College, beating the Eagles 89-78 on January 13th at home. UVA picked up road wins over both of these teams this season, knocking off Boston College 72-68 just a couple weeks ago in Chestnut Hill and taking down Clemson 66-65 in what remains Virginia's most impressive win of the season. We'll get into this later, but the Cavaliers will need to beat one of these teams a second time in order to guarantee an at-large bid to the Big Dance. 

Should Virginia advance to the semifinals, the most likely outcome is a rematch with No. 2 seed Duke, assuming the Blue Devils can get past either No. 7 seed Syracuse or No. 10 seed NC State in their own quarterfinal. Duke handed the Cavaliers their most recent loss and it was another road blowout, as the Blue Devils ran the Hoos out of Cameron Indoor 73-48 two Saturdays ago. Virginia won its lone matchup of the season against Syracuse 84-62, but that was way back on December 2nd in the ACC opener and the Orange have improved a great deal since then. UVA split the season series with NC State, with the Wolfpack beating the Cavaliers 76-60 on January 6th in Raleigh and Virginia getting revenge a few weeks later with a 59-53 overtime win in Charlottesville. 

Barring a major upset in the top half of the bracket, North Carolina should be waiting in the ACC Championship Game. The Tar Heels locked up the outright ACC regular season title and the No. 1 seed by completing the series sweep over Duke this past Saturday at Cameron Indoor. RJ Davis is the ACC Player of the Year and Hubert Davis is the ACC Coach of the Year. Expect the Heels to be heavy favorites to run the table in the ACC Tournament as well, unless a team like Pittsburgh or Wake Forest pulls an upset. 

See the complete 2023-2024 All-ACC Men's Basketball Teams and season award winners here.

ACC Quarterfinal Game Details

Who: No. 3 seed Virginia Cavaliers (22-9) vs. No. 6 seed Clemson Tigers (21-10) or No. 11 seed Boston College Eagles (18-14)

When: Thursday, March 14th at 9:30pm ET

Where: Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

How to watch: ESPN/ESPN2

How to stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

How to listen: SiriusXM 371 | Virginia Sports Radio Network - click here for affiliates

Notes & History on Virginia at the ACC Tournament

• Virginia earned the No. 3 seed at the ACC Tournament for the fifth time ever and first time since 2000. 
• UVA is 2-4 as the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament
• Virginia owns a 46-65 all-time record at the ACC Tournament and a 27-37 record in the quarterfinals. 
• UVA is looking for its fourth ACC Tournament Championship and third under Tony Bennett, having won the title in 1976, 2014, and 2018. 
• Virginia has reached the semifinals in seven of its last nine ACC Tournament appearances. 
• UVA is 15-10 at the ACC Tournament under Tony Bennett. 

Notes on Virginia vs. Clemson

• Virginia holds an 83-53 advantage over Clemson in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1935-1936 season. 
• UVA is 8-1 against Clemson in the ACC Tournament, including a 76-56 victory over the Tigers in the semifinals of the 2023 ACC Tournament. 
• Virginia has a four-game winning streak against Clemson, capped by a 66-65 victory at Clemson on February 3rd. 
• The Cavaliers have won 15 of the last 16 meetings with the Tigers. 
• Virginia is 17-4 against Clemson under Tony Bennett. 

Notes on Virginia vs. Boston College

• Virginia holds a 20-9 advantage over Boston College in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1971-1972 season. 
• UVA is 1-1 against Boston College in the ACC Tournament, with the most recent meeting coming in the first round of the 2010 ACC Tournament. 
• Virginia has won 13 of the last 16 games in the series with Boston College, with the most recent being a 72-68 victory over the Eagles on February 28th in Chestnut Hill. 
• UVA is 14-6 against Boston College under Tony Bennett. 

Opponent Scouting Report: Clemson

2023-2024: 21-10, 11-9 ACC
NET ranking: No. 26

Virginia defeated Clemson 66-65 on February 3rd at Littlejohn Coliseum. Here's the box score from that game (click on the image for a full recap of the game):

Box score: Virginia defeats Clemson 66-65 on February 3rd at Littlejohn Coliseum / CavaliersNow

Clemson Notable Personnel
PJ Hall: 18.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 31.8% from three
Joseph Girard: 15.7 ppg, 2.9 apg, 42.5% from three
Chase Hunter: 12.6 ppg, 2.9 apg, 33.3% from three
Ian Schieffelin: 9.7 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 52.8% from three

Opponent Scouting Report: Boston College

2023-2024: 18-14, 8-12 ACC
Net ranking: No. 91

Virginia defeated Boston College 72-68 on February 28th at Conte Forum. Here's the box score from that game (click the image for a full recap of the game): 

Box Score: Virginia defeats Boston College 72-68 on February 28th at Conte Forum / CavaliersNow

Boston College Notable Personnel
Quinten Post: 16.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.8 bpg, 43.6% from three
Claudell Harris: 13.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 36.9% from three
Jaeden Zackery: 11.4 ppg, 4.3 apg, 37.7% from three
Devin McGlockton: 10.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 35.3% from three
Mason Madsen: 8.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 41.5% from three

Watch: Tony Bennett previews the ACC Tournament

Watch: Isaac McKneely and Reece Beekman preview the ACC Tournament

Breaking down Virginia's NCAA Tournament chances

What do the Cavaliers need to do in Washington, D.C. in order to secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament? 

Here's Virginia's current NCAA Tournament resume:
NET ranking: No. 51
22-9 overall record, 15-2 at home, 5-6 on the road, 2-1 neutral
2-6 in Quad 1, 6-3 in Quad 2, 8-0 in Quad 3, 6-0 in Quad 4

ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Virginia in the "Last Four In" in his latest Bracketology, with UVA listed as the third to last team in the field. Lunardi's Last Four In are Colorado, Virginia, St. John's, and Indiana State with Texas A&M, New Mexico, Wake Forest, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Iowa, Providence, and Memphis on the outside looking in (in that order). In that projection, Lunardi has Virginia battling Colorado in the First Four for one of those final No. 11 seeds. Most importantly, Lunardi has Virginia currently categorized as a "Win and In" team for its next game, meaning that he thinks the Cavaliers can secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament with a victory in their first ACC Tournament game, while a loss will leave them sweating it out on Selection Sunday.

If Clemson (NET 26) advances to the quarterfinals, it'll be a Quad 1 game on a neutral floor for UVA. If Boston College (NET 91) advances to the quarterfinals, it'll be a Quad 2 game for the Cavaliers. A win over either of those two teams should do more than enough to keep Virginia in the NCAA Tournament, with a victory over Clemson having the most potential to improve UVA's seed line as it would give the Cavaliers their third Quad 1 win. A loss to Clemson shouldn't knock Virginia out right away, but it will make the rest of Championship Week a stressful one for the Cavaliers, who would have to sit and root against the other Bubble hopefuls and against any bid-stealers in other conferences. A loss to Boston College would likely spell disaster for Virginia's NCAA Tournament hopes based on the latest projections. 

See a full breakdown of Virginia's latest NCAA Tournament projections here: Virginia Basketball Bracketology Championship Week Update

CavaliersNow will be on site at Capital One Arena this week providing complete coverage of the Virginia Cavaliers at the 2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament. 

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