Carolina has one tough draw in the ACC tournament.

The Tar Heels’ dramatic win over Duke gave the already outright ACC regular season champions no mercy when it comes to the conference tournament this week in Brooklyn. Maybe that’s a sign of how strong the ACC is or how unlucky UNC is with its potential match-ups and possible semifinal redo with the Dukies.

Yes, Carolina got one of four double-byes to Thursday’s quarterfinals at the Barclays Center and only needs three wins to defend its tourney title. But due to the unwieldy nature of the 15-team tournament, almost anything can happen in the so-called draw, such as the Tar Heels’ opener at Noon Thursday.

They get the winner of the Wednesday Noon game between the 8 and 9 seeds, Syracuse and Miami, one team that uses the toughest defense in the ACC to solve and the other that has already smoked Carolina with its speed and toughness last January 28. And by virtue of already having played that second round game, the winner will still have fresh legs against a team that will have to find its wheels following a five-day layoff.

You know in the NCAA Tournament how the No. 1 seed in each region always has a tough match-up against the 8-9 winner? Except in the Dance the top seed has already played a warm-up game vs. the No. 16 seed. Carolina goes into its first ACC game cold with all the teams having no chance to win the championship already gone.

Syracuse was like the Cinderella team of the ACC this season, going 18-13 and finishing fast for a 10-8 ACC record amidst growing sentiment that next season should NOT be Jim Boeheim’s last as agreed to by the coach and school. The Orange zone defense is always tough, especially against teams like Carolina that go inside first and shoot from outside second.

Miami, which was beaten by 15 points at the Carrier Dome in its one league meeting, will be out for revenge with the confidence that it can take down UNC again if the Hurricanes advance. No easy opener for the Tar Heels, no matter which opponent they face.

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