By R.L. Bynum

Carolina will not only avoid being in the same ACC tournament round-robin pool as No. 1 Wake Forest, but the Tar Heels also wouldn’t have to face the Deacons until the championship game.

That was the good news for the Tar Heels after they lost their fourth consecutive game, and Clemson finished off a three-game sweep of their regular-season-ending series on Saturday.

The ACC tournament begins Tuesday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, with the ACC announcing the round-robin schedule on Sunday morning.

The Tar Heels (33–21, 14–14 ACC) will be the No. 7 seed and play in Pool B with No. 2-seed and No. 21-ranked Virginia (44–11, 19-11) and No. 11-seed Georgia Tech (30–24, 12–18).

During the regular season, the Coastal Division champion Cavaliers won two of three games in Chapel Hill on March 10 and 11. The Tar Heels won two of three against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta on April 6 and 7.

Stuck in Pool A with the top-ranked and Atlantic Division champion Deacons, who won every ACC series, will be No. 8-seed Notre Dame (30–22, 15–15) and No. 12 Pittsburgh (23–30, 10–18).

In Saturday’s semifinals, Pool A and Pool D winners meet in one semifinal, and the Pool B and Pool C winners play in the other. That means Carolina can’t meet Wake Forest until Sunday’s championship game.

The No. 3-seed and No. 7-ranked Tigers (39–17, 20–10) are in Pool C, with No. 6-seed and No. 22-ranked Boston College (34–17, 16–14) and No. 10-seed Virginia Tech (30–21, 12–17).

In Pool D will be No. 1-seed and No. 11-ranked Miami (37–18, 18–12), No. 5-seed and No. 16-ranked Duke (35–19, 16–13), No. 9-seed N.C. State (34–18, 13–16).

Round-robin play runs Tuesday through Friday, with games scheduled to start each day at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

The semifinal games on Saturday are at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., with the championship game at noon Sunday.

The championship game will air on ESPN2, with all other games on ACC Network.

ACC tournament pools

Pool A (winner faces Pool D winner in Saturday’s semifinals)
No. 1 seed Wake Forest (45–9)
8. Notre Dame (30–22)
12. Pittsburgh (23–30)
Pool B (winner faces Pool C winner in Saturday’s semifinals)
2. Virginia (44–11)
7. North Carolina (33–21)
11. Georgia Tech (30–24)
Pool C (winner faces Pool B winner in Saturday’s semifinals)
3. Clemson (39–17)
6. Boston College (34–17)
10. Virginia Tech (30–21)
Pool D (winner faces Pool A winner in Saturday’s semifinals)
4. Miami (37–18)
5. Duke (35–19)
9. N.C. State (34–18)