Photo: Matthew Huang/ISI Photos
The Atlantic Coast Conference is heading into the final slate of games tonight, and with it comes an intense race to the ACC Regular Season Title. Stanford is in the driver’s seat, and they have the opportunity to slam the door shut early with their 5 PM ET game against California. NC State will be playing during the Stanford game, so they won’t know how things stand fully as they get into their matchup. Virginia and Clemson will have a good sense of where they stand as they play at 7 PM ET.
A regular season title, national rankings, and ACC tournament seedings will all be on the line tonight, and these four matchups take the cake as the most important games in the ACC this week.
*Rankings below based on current seeds in the ACC, not national rankings.
#1 Stanford at #14 California (5 PM ET) – If Stanford wins, they are the regular-season champions as they control their own destiny. If the Cardinals draw, they would have to monitor Virginia and NC State, as they could both catch them. If they were to lose, things get more dicey as all three of Virginia, NC State, and Clemson could catch them, and the Cavaliers could win out with a draw in that scenario.
#6 Syracuse at #3 NC State (6 PM ET) – The Wolfpack needs to win to give themselves a chance, and they would also need Stanford and Virginia to at least draw. If Stanford draws, NC State would need to win by two plus goals, and it could also require several more goals scored to make it through the tiebreaker.
#2 Virginia at #5 SMU (7 PM ET) – Virginia can win the regular season title with a win and a Stanford loss or draw. They can also win the tiebreaker if they draw SMU and Stanford loses because of goal differential. With their game being at 7 PM ET, they should know where they stand going into their game.
#10 Virginia Tech at #4 Clemson (7 PM ET) – The Tigers have a near-impossible road to winning the regular season title, as they would need NC State, Virginia, and Stanford to lose, while they win. That still wouldn’t be enough on its own, as the Stanford loss and Clemson win would need to be by big enough margins for the Tigers to make up the goal differential gap.
