Who: No. 1 Duke Blue Devils (28-5, 15-3 ACC) vs No. 7 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (22-11, 10-9 ACC)

When: Sunday, March 14 @ 1 p.m.

TV: Raycom Sports & ESPN

Where: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina

Path to Championship:

• Duke: Beat No. 9 Virginia 57-46 Friday, Beat No. 12 Miami 77-74 Saturday

• Georgia Tech: Beat No. 10 North Carolina 62-58 Thursday, Beat No. 2 Maryland 69-64 Friday, Beat No. 11 North Carolina State 57-54 Saturday

Game 9 (1:30 p.m.): #1 Duke (27-5, 14-3 ACC) vs #12 Miami (20-12, 6-12 ACC)

vs

Duke didn't play well in Friday's win over Virginia, but still got the job done. The Blue Devils will have their hands full on Saturday against the surprising Miami squad. When the two teams met in February, Duke found themselves down 12 points at half time, but outscored the Canes by 19 in the second half for an 81-74 victory in Coral Gables. The big three combined for 58 points in the victory, but even that may not be enough on Saturday. The Devils may have gotten by with their "C" game Friday, but if they play like that again they may be on their way out.

Miami is the story of this week's conference tournaments with back-to-back upsets of Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. Without forward Dwayne Collins, the Canes have hit their stride and seem to be playing like the team that went 14-0 in the non-conference play. Durand Scott and Dequan Jones have played out of their mind in the two upsets, and the Canes have benefited from hot shooting from all across the board. The big question for Miami will be whether or not they have any energy left to hang with the Blue Devils for 40 minutes.

Prediction: Duke 76, Miami 70

69 64

The Ramblin' Wreck had everything going for them in the first half as they raced out to a 19-point lead before settling for a 16-point advantage at the half. However, the Jackets let that lead slip away rather quickly. Maryland had the deficit down to three multiple times, but couldn't ever get over the top. Despite committing 16 second half turnovers, the Jackets survived as Greivis Vasquez was stripped on a three-point attempt in the final seconds.

57 46

Duke got all it wanted from ninth-seeded Virginia and then some in their 57-46 victory Friday afternoon. The Blue Devils didn't play particularly well on the offensive end, but made up for it with outstanding defense.

The top-seeded Devils found themselves in a dogfight, tied at 27 at halftime. Thankfully, for Duke's sake, Kyle Singler scored 10 straight points about halfway through the second half to give the Devils an eight-point lead. The pesky Wahoos wouldn't go away, as they cut the lead to two with six minutes to go, but couldn't contend down the stretch. Duke went on an 11-2 run in the last 6:25, with the only two UVA points coming on Jeff Jones free throws with 25 seconds remaining.

Game 5 (Noon): #1 Duke (26-5, 13-3 ACC) vs #9 Virginia (15-15, 6-11 ACC)

vs

Duke makes their first appearance in this year's tournament after securing the #1 seed with a 32-point drubbing of North Carolina in the season finale. The Devils will benefit from the partisan crowd as well as a superior talent advantage. The trio of Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith will look to keep their games in shape as Duke looks to lock down a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Duke has "struggled" away from Cameron Indoor Stadium this year, but shouldn't have any trouble with UVA.

UVA played extremely well without Sylven Landesberg in their 68-62 victory over Boston College Thursday. The Wahoos will need a monumental effort from Sammy Zeglinski yet again to knock off Duke and advance to the semifinals. In the only meeting this year, the Cavs shot 31.4% and Duke coasted to a 27-point lead before winning 67-49 12 days ago. If UVA can shoot well behind the three-point line, they could hang with the Devils for awhile, but an epic performance will be needed if UVA want to move onto Saturday.

Prediction: Duke 68, UVA 53

62 58

North Carolina had a chance to get a little bit of redemption for their terrible season, but couldn't convert down the stretch, much like their entire season has gone. The Heels blew a 10-point halftime lead to the Yellow Jackets, who finally realized they score when Derrick Favors has the ball. The true freshman ended up with 18 points and made his first seven shots before missing his last one.

68  62

Well, the first game of the day did not go the way that the majority of so-called "experts" (and myself) expected. Thanks to Sammy Zeglinski's hot shooting, the Wahoos controlled the Eagles from start to finish in the surprising 68-62 victory.

Zeglinski scored 16 of his season-high 21 points in the first half to lead UVA to a seven-point first half lead. The 6-foot sophomore ended up making 50% of his three-pointers (5-of-10) and 8-of-15 overall to help the Wahoos win their first ACC game since February 3rd, and the first in three tries without leading scorer Sylven Landesberg.

88

82

Virginia Tech used a barrage of three-pointers in the first half to gain a six-point lead, which ballooned to 17 points in the second half before Georgia Tech used a late run to get back in it. However, the Hokies hit their free throws down the stretch in an 88-82 win that secured the fourth seed in the upcoming ACC tournament for Virginia Tech (23-7, 10-6) and the seventh seed for Georgia Tech (19-11, 7-9 ACC).

The Hokies were on fire from long range in the first half at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, nailing eight of their 10 attempts from beyond the arc. As a team in the first half, Tech shot 59.3% to gain a 45-39 lead on top of the Jackets, despite their 36% shooting.