With the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season now behind us, it's on to tournament time. The ACC tournament begins on Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

After going 15-16 in the regular season and 6-12 inside league play, the Syracuse University men's basketball team enters as the No. 14 seed in the 15-team field. They'll open up play on Tuesday (4:30 p.m. ET) against No. 11 SMU. The Mustangs are on the NCAA Tournament bubble after a 19-12 campaign that included going 8-10 in the ACC.

In the lone matchup between these two teams on Feb. 14 at the JMA Wireless Dome, a Nate Kingz shot at the buzzer helped propel the Orange to a 79-78 win. The Orange were out-rebounded by six, but also only committed eight turnovers. They registered 14 assists and eight blocks. Kingz had 13 points and was one of four Orange players in double-figures.

SMU had six players in double-figures, with Jaden Toombs scoring 19.

As mentioned above, SMU enters Tuesday's game as an NCAA tournament bubble team, according to ESPN's recent bracketology projections. The Mustangs were listed as one of the last "four teams in" the tournament as of this weekend. Should they lose to the Orange and fall victim to some other "bid stealers" that force should-be conference champions to the at-large line, they are likely to miss the field.

Senior Boopie Miller leads the team in scoring at 18.9 points per game. Seven-foot-three Sophomore Samet Yigioglu has been a force in the middle all season long: The native of Turkey averages 10.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per night.

By virtue of the subpar regular season, Syracuse will need to win the ACC tournament to qualify for this year's NCAA Tournament. If the Orange defeat SMU, they will play Louisville on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Should SU win that game, they will advance to take on Miami on Thursday, also with a tip off time set for 2:30 p.m. ET. The Orange would advance to the semifinals with a  win over the Hurricanes and the championship is played on Saturday night.

While it seems unlikely, the 'five wins in five days' stretch has happened before. Just two years ago, North Carolina State completed the feat and then advanced all the way to the Final Four. 

The full bracket is available here.

Both Sadiq White and Kiyan Anthony did not play in a loss on Saturday vs. Pitt. White was out with a shoulder injury while Anthony has a lower-body injury.

Anthony played a pivotal role in the team's victory over SMU last month. The freshman registered 24 minutes and scored 13 points. Anthony was 5-of-10 from the floor and even hit two threes. Before that breakout game, Anthony had played zero minutes in the previous game against Virginia. White represents an athletic bench option for Adrian Autry's group.

Since joining the ACC in 2014, the Orange have never advanced past the quarterfinals. Syracuse is 6-9 in the tournament, with their most recent win coming last season in the opening round game against Florida State. 

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