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Brady Farkas
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Updated at Mar 8, 2026, 02:19
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The Orange enter play as the No. 14 seed for the second consecutive year.

After an overtime loss against Pitt on Saturday afternoon, the Syracuse University men's basketball team enters the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament as the No. 14 seed. 

It's the second straight year that the Orange have earned the No. 14 seed, meaning they'll have to play on the tournament's opening day, which is Tuesday. They'll take on SMU in the opener.

Here's what you need to know about the bracket, which was released on Saturday night:

How does the tournament work?

For the second consecutive season, the top 15 teams qualify for the ACC tournament. The bottom three teams in the ACC standings will not compete in Charlotte, N.C. In this case, that is Notre Dame, Boston College and Georgia Tech.

The opening round on Tuesday features teams ranked 10-15. The following round on Wednesday features teams finishing 5-9, along with the winners from the previous round. The quarterfinals on Thursday will include the top four seeds facing off in their respective matchups against winners from the previous round. The ACC finals are scheduled for March 14.

The bracket itself and the matchups

Duke received the top overall seed in the tournament while Virginia is the No. 2. Miami is the No. 3 and North Carolina is the No. 4.

Clemson is the No. 5, Louisville the No. 6, North Carolina State the No. 7 and Florida State the No. 8. The No. 9 seed belongs to Cal, while Stanford is No. 10. The No. 11 seed belongs to SMU, No. 12 is Virginia Tech, and No. 13 is Wake Forest. Syracuse is No. 14 and Pitt is No. 15.

Day one matchups feature No. 10 Stanford against No. 15 Pitt, No. 11 SMU vs. No. 14 Syracuse and No. 12 Virginia Tech against No. 13 Wake Forest.

As for SU

Syracuse beat SMU earlier this season, winning 79-78 on a last-second shot by Nate Kingz. The Orange are 15-16 on the season and are trying to avoid finishing under .500 for the sixth time in program history. However, they'll need to win at least two games in the tournament to do that.

The matchup with SMU tips-off at 4:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Also on campus

--The Syracuse University women's basketball team was beaten in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament quarterfinals by Louisville on Friday afternoon. As a result, SU will have to wait until March 15 to learn its NCAA Tournament fate. The Orange are expected to make the tournament after a 22-win regular season.

--Former SU quarterback Tommy DeVito signed a two-year contract with the New England Patriots on Friday.

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