By virtue of finishing in eighth and ninth places in the Atlantic Coast Conference, respectably, the Maryland Terrapins and Wake Forest Demon Deacons face off in the first round of the ACC tournament against each other on Thursday. Unfortunately for them, the winner will have to play the No. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels. Neither team is in contention for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament and both need a miracle tournament win to go dancing.
Though Maryland and Wake Forest aren't terribly good teams, both finished ahead of where they were projected to finish in the ACC preseason media poll. If either team is able to win on Thursday and keep it respectable against UNC on Friday, they will likely see it as something very positive to build on for next season.
Game Date/Time: Thursday, March 8, 12:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
TV: ESPNU
Online: WatchESPN.com
For more on the two teams, head over to Maryland Terrapins blog Testudo Times and Wake Forest Demon Deacons blog Blogger So Dear. For coverage throughout the tournament, keep it on our ACC Tournament StoryStream.