QUALK TALK: The ACC Baseball Picture

QUALK TALK: The ACC Baseball Picture

Okay, here’s the deal: The Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings are tight. Very tight. Packed-like-sardines kind of tight.
Each game, each series—frankly, each pitch and at-bat—has some big-picture significance, perhaps more so than ever before. Here is how things stand heading into the weekend, with a look at some possible outcomes and how the conference tournament landscape could look when the dust settles:
LOCKED IN
1. Louisville (23-4)
2. Miami (FL) (19-8)
3. Florida State (17-10)
4. Notre Dame (15-12)
5. N.C. State (14-12)
These five teams are the only ones definitely in the field of ACC Tournament teams. Louisville is locked in as the top seed, while Miami’s magic number is two to lock into the second slot since the Seminoles took the series against the Hurricanes.
Notre Dame plays at Boston College, and the Fighting Irish owns the tiebreaker against the Seminoles this season. Those seeds could swap, but neither team is more likely than not to lose the series, and a two-game difference is needed to swap the pecking order there.
Because the Wolfpack hosts the Cardinals, who haven’t lost an ACC series all season, it stands to reason they would lose at least twice. If that happens, only a sweep of Notre Dame by BC would elevate the Wolfpack. In all likelihood, none of these seedings will change at all this weekend.
STILL ALIVE
6. Clemson (13-13)
7. North Carolina (13-13)
8. Georgia Tech (13-14)
9. Virginia Tech (12-14)

10. Virginia (12-15)
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11. Wake Forest (11-16)
12. Boston College (9-17)
The Tigers face an uphill battle in Tallahassee against the Seminoles, but they could still find themselves as high as fourth place if things work out a certain way. The same could be said of the Tar Heels, who host Virginia in the most intriguing matchup of the weekend. Neither of those teams are totally secure at the moment, and those results from Chapel Hill will have a ripple effect that could impact as many as eight teams in the league.
Georgia Tech is at Miami, which is an absolute nightmare matchup for the Yellow Jackets. Virginia Tech plays at last-place Pittsburgh in just about as generous a road series as there can be in the league. The Hokies should be able to climb this weekend, while the Yellow Jackets will probably fall a bit.
On the outside looking in are Wake Forest and Boston College. BC is 2.5 games out of tenth place, meaning either a loss or a Virginia win will knock the Eagles out of the running. The Demon Deacons are at eliminated Duke this weekend, giving them a chance to make a late rally.
Much still has to be decided, but here is my final projection for the ACC baseball standings once the regular season concludes on Saturday:
1. Louisville (25-5)
2. Miami (FL) (21-9)
3. Florida State (19-11)
4. Notre Dame (17-13)
5. North Carolina (15-14)
6. N.C. State (15-15)
7. Clemson (14-15)
8. Virginia Tech (14-15)
9. Georgia Tech (14-16)

10. Virginia (13-17)
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11. Wake Forest (13-17)
12. Boston College (10-19)
13. Duke (9-21)
14. Pittsburgh (8-22)
God Bless!
WQ

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QUALK TALK: The ACC Baseball Picture
Source: The Clemson Insider