ACC Semifinals Tonight: UNC Meet Syracuse Again, Virginia Face the Team That Just Dumped Duke

Tuesday at Chapel Hill did what opening rounds are supposed to do. It removed the favourites’ safety net and left us with two semifinals that are genuinely hard to call.

The first semifinal, at 1pm ET on Wednesday (11pm PKT), is No. 1 North Carolina against No. 4 Syracuse. UNC rolled into the semis with a 6-0 quarterfinal win over Stanford, the most comfortable result of the day. Syracuse had to work far harder, edging No. 5 Louisville 4-3 in a game that swung until the end. The Tar Heels are the top seed and the hosts, and they will expect to win. But Syracuse have already shown they can win a shootout of a game, and a team that survives 4-3 doesn’t arrive at a semifinal short of belief.

The second semifinal, at 3:30pm ET (1:30am PKT on Thursday), is No. 7 Virginia against No. 6 Boston College. Virginia got here the hard way too, beating No. 2 Wake Forest 1-0 in overtime, with Watchilla scoring in the 63rd minute off a Fahning assist. That result knocked out the co-champions, and it means Virginia arrive with the best story of the tournament so far. Boston College’s story is nearly as good. They beat No. 3 Duke 2-1 in Tuesday’s late game, the upset that completed the semifinal line-up. A seven seed and a six seed in the same semifinal. Nobody’s bracket survived that.

The winners meet in Friday’s final at 3pm ET, and the prize is bigger than a trophy. The ACC champion earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I tournament, which is why every one of these games has felt like an elimination final already.

For our money, UNC’s firepower should carry the first semifinal, but Syracuse have nothing to lose and a 4-3 win in their legs. The second one is a coin toss. Virginia have the overtime winner’s momentum, Boston College have the scalp of a three seed, and one of them is going to be playing for a championship on Friday.