The ACC regular season title will be on the line in Charlottesville on Saturday with Syracuse needing a win to stay alive in the race.
No. 4 Syracuse and No. 6 Duke have grabbed the national headlines in the ACC, but on Saturday it will be No. 12 Virginia playing for the regular season conference title. The Cavaliers enter the game with a 15-1 record in the ACC and are riding a 12-game winning streak. A win and the ACC regular season title is theirs. A loss and Syracuse is alive for at least a share of the regular season title.
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Although winning the conference regular season title won't do much other than give the Cavaliers the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament, it would be a significant accomplishment for the program. A victory on Saturday would give Virginia its first outright regular season title since 1981. There will be more on the line than just the regular season title with both teams playing for NCAA Tournament positioning. Even with two losses in its last three games, Syracuse remains in the mix for a No. 1 seed, although another loss would hurt those chances. Virginia was projected as a No. 4 seed in SB Nation's latest bracketology.
While the game certainly has the chance to be the best of the day, it isn't likely to be full of offensive firepower. Virginia and Syracuse are defensive-minded teams. The contest will likely be low on possessions as both teams rank in the bottom seven nationally in possessions per 40 minutes. Instead of an up-and-down, high scoring affair, the game will likely be a knock out, drag out battle which could come down to the final few possessions.
The atmosphere should be electric with Virginia celebrating senior day and a capacity crowd of nearly 15,000 expected to attend. The game is scheduled to tip at 4 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN.
Other top 25 games (All times Eastern.)
LSU at No. 1 Florida - 4 p.m., CBS
Missouri State at No. 2 Wichita State - 2 p.m., ESPN
No. 5 Kansas at Oklahoma State - 9 p.m., ESPN
No. 7 Louisville at No. 21 Memphis - 2 p.m., CBS
No. 9 Creighton at Xavier - 5 p.m., FOX Sports 1
No. 10 Saint Louis at VCU - 6 p.m., ESPN2
No. 11 Cincinnati at Connecticut - Noon, ESPN
No. 13 San Diego State at Fresno State - 10:05 p.m., CBS Sports Network
No. 15 Iowa State at Kansas State - 7 p.m., ESPNU
Minnesota at No. 16 Michigan - 6 p.m., Big Ten Network
No. 17 Kentucky at South Carolina - 6 p.m., ESPN
Illinois at No. 18 Michigan State - 4 p.m., ESPN2
No. 19 North Carolina at Virginia Tech - 2:30 p.m., ESPN3
UCF at No. 23 SMU - 4 p.m., ESPNews
No. 24 Texas at Oklahoma - 4 p.m., ESPN3