By R.L. Bynum

No. 4-ranked North Carolina starts play in the ACC tournament Friday, hoping that it will be just like any other regular-season weekend, with games on Saturday and Sunday.

The tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park begins Tuesday, but the Tar Heels will be one of the last two teams to play.

No. 3-seed UNC (39–12, 18–11 ACC), which took two of three games at No. 2-ranked Florida State, will play at 7 p.m. Friday in the last quarterfinal game against either No. 6-seed Virginia (32–17, 16–11) — which has a bye into the second round — No. 11 Notre Dame (32–20, 14–16) or No. 14 seed Boston College (26–28, 11–19).

Notre Dame plays BC at 9 p.m. Tuesday for the right to face Virginia in the second round at 9 p.m. Wednesday. UNC didn’t play Virginia or Notre Dame during the regular season, but took two of three games from Boston College in a road series in March. UNC won the opener 5–1, lost the second game 3–2 and run-ruled the Eagles 10–0 in seven innings in the series finale.

Carolina’s Friday opponent will have a day off after winning a 9 p.m. Wednesday second-round game.

This is the first season of the single-elimination format in which all 16 baseball-playing schools make the tournament. From 2006 to 2024, only 12 teams made the tournament, and the winners of four round-robin pools advanced to the semifinals. It’s the 14th time the event has been in Durham and the ninth time since 2009.

The tournament starts with four first-round games on Tuesday and four second-round games on Wednesday. Two quarterfinal games are on Thursday and two on Friday. As with the previous format, the semifinals are at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, with the championship game at noon on Sunday.

The championship game is on ESPN2, with the rest of the tournament on ACC Network.

Play starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday, when No. 9 Miami (31–23, 15–14) faces No. 16 California (22–30). At 1 p.m., No. 12 Virginia Tech (30–24, 12–18) battles No. 13 Stanford (27–24, 11–19), followed by No. 10 Louisville (35–20, 15–15) against No. 15 Pitt (27–26, 10–20) at 5 p.m. before the Notre Dame-BC game ends the first day of action.

Wednesday’s play begins with No. 8-seed Wake Forest (31–23, 16–14) facing the Miami-Cal winner at 9 a.m. No. 5-seed Clemson (41–15, 18–12) then plays the Virginia Tech-Stanford winner at 1 p.m. No. 7-seed Duke (17–13, 36–18) matches up with the Louisville-Pitt winner at 5 p.m. ET, with Virginia’s game against Notre Dame or BC the nightcap.

In the quarterfinals on Thursday, top-seeded Georgia Tech (39–16, 19–11) plays the winner of the 9 a.m. Wednesday game at 3 p.m., then No. 4-seed N.C. State (33–18, 17–11) faces the 1 p.m. Wednesday winner at 7 p.m.

No. 2-seed Florida State (37–13, 17–10) plays the first Friday quarterfinal at 3 p.m. ahead of UNC’s game.

The Tar Heels, No. 2-ranked Florida State, unranked Georgia Tech and No. 13 N.C. State each went into the final day of the regular season with a shot at the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed.

The Yellow Jackets emerged with that prize after beating Duke 8–2. N.C. State gave them the opportunity by losing earlier Saturday to Stanford 6–3, and the Wolfpack had to settle for the No. 4 seed, with the Seminoles snagging the No. 2 seed.

Georgia Tech finished a half-game ahead of UNC and FSU, with N.C. State and No. 15-ranked Clemson each finishing one game back. It’s the final season for Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall.

ACC tournament

At Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Buy tickets at durhambulls.com or theacc.com/tickets
Final on ESPN2
All other games on ACC Network
Tuesday’s first round
No. 9 Miami (31–23) vs. No. 16 California (22–30), 9 a.m.
No. 12 Virginia Tech (30–24) vs. No. 13 Stanford (27–24), 1 p.m.
No. 10 Louisville (35–20) vs. No. 15 Pittsburgh (27–26), 5 p.m.
No. 11 Notre Dame (32–20) vs. No. 14 Boston College (26–28), 9 p.m.
Wednesday’s second round
Miami-Cal winner vs. No. 8 seed Wake Forest (36–19), 9 a.m.
VT-Stanford winner vs. No. 5 seed Clemson (41–15), 1 p.m.
Louisville-Pitt winner vs. No. 7 seed Duke (36–18), 5 p.m.
ND-BC winner vs. No. 6 seed Virginia (32–17), 9 p.m.
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s games
Miami, Cal or WF vs. No. 1 seed Georgia Tech (39–16), 3 p.m.
VT, Stanford or Clemson vs. No. 4 seed N.C. State (33–18), 7 p.m.
Friday’s games
UL, Pitt or Duke vs. No. 2 seed Florida State (37–13), 3 p.m.
Virginia, ND or BC vs. No. 3 seed North Carolina (39–12), 7 p.m.
Saturday’s semifinals
Thursday quarterfinal winners, 1 p.m.
Friday quarterfinal winners, 5 p.m.
Sunday’s championship
Semifinal winners, noon

ACC standings

	League	GB	Overall
Georgia Tech	19–11	—	39–16
No. 2 Florida State	17–10	½	37–13
No. 4 North Carolina	18–11	½	39–12
No. 13 N.C. State	17–11	1	33–18
No. 15 Clemson	18–12	1	41–15
Virginia	16–11	1½	32–17
No. 20 Duke	17–13	2	36–18
Wake Forest	16–14	3	36–19
Miami	15–14	3½	31–23
No. 21 Louisville	15–15	4	35–20
Notre Dame	14–16	5	32–20
Virginia Tech	12–18	7	30–24
Boston College	11–19	8	26–28
Stanford	11–19	8	27–24
Pittsburgh	10–20	9	27–26
California	9–21	10½	22–30

Thursday-Saturday series
Georgia Tech at No. 20 Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 15 Clemson at Pittsburgh: Clemson swept 6–1, 11–2 and 13–6
Virginia at Virginia Tech: Thursday: Va. 12–2; Friday: VT 5–4; Saturday: Va. 3–1
Stanford at No. 13 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at No. 21 Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 4 North Carolina at No. 2 Florida State: Thursday: UNC 8–3: Friday: UNC 11–1, 7 innings; Saturday: FSU 5–4
Notre Dame at Miami: Thursday: ND 3–2; Friday: Miami 15–1, 7 innings: Saturday: ND 12–2
Boston College at California: Thursday: Cal 8–6; Friday: BC 10–9; Saturday: Cal 4–X3, 10 innings

Date(s)	Day/ month	Time/ score	Opponent (current rank)	TV/ record
	February
14–15	Fri.-Sat.	W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2	vs. Texas Tech	3–0
18	Tuesday	W, 12–9	vs. Kansas State	4–0
22–24	Sat.-Mon.	W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4	vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville)	7–0
25	Tuesday	W, 7–4	vs. VCU	8–0
26	Wednesday	W, 13–4	vs. N.C. A&T	9–0
28	Friday	W, 16–2	vs. Stony Brook	10–0
	March
1–2	Sat.-Sun.	W, 6–1; W, 9–5	vs. Stony Brook	12–0
4	Tuesday	W, 6–4 (11)	vs. No. 11 Coastal Carolina	13–0
7–9	Fri.-Sun.	L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0	vs. Stanford	14–2, 1–2 ACC
11	Tuesday	W, 7–3 (10)	at UNCW	15–2
14, 16	Fri., Sun.	L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0	at No. 21 Louisville	16–4, 2–4
19	Wednesday	L, 5–1	vs. UConn	16–5
21–23	Fri.-Sun.	W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7)	at Boston College	18–6, 4–5
25	Tuesday	W, 13–8	vs. South Carolina in Charlotte	19–7
28–30	Fri.-Sun.	W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2	vs. Miami	21–7, 6–6
	April
1	Tuesday	W, 11–1 (7)	vs. Gardner-Webb	22–7
3–5	Thur.-Sat.	W, 4–3; L, 9–5; W, 8–7 (14)	vs. No. 20 Duke	24–8, 8–7
8	Tuesday	W, 12–10	at Elon	25–8
11–13	Fri.-Sun.	W, 11–1 (7); W, 17–1 (7); W, 3–2	vs. Wake Forest	28–8, 11–7
15	Tuesday	W, 14–4 (8)	vs. Charlotte	29–8
18–20	Fri-Sun.	W, 9–6; L, 10–6: W, 7–5	at Virginia Tech	31–9, 13–8
25–27	Fri.-Sun.	W, 15–5; L, 4–2; W, 6–0	at Pittsburgh	33–10, 15–9
29	Tuesday	W, 13–4	vs. George Mason	34–10
30	Wednesday	W, 14–3	vs. Queens	35–10
	May
6	Tuesday	W, 10–1	vs. Campbell	36–10
8–9	Thurs.-Fri.	W, 8–1; L 8–5	vs. No. 13 N.C. State	37–11, 16–10
15–17	Thurs.-Sat.	W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4	at No. 2 Florida State	39–12, 18–11
		ACC tournament	Durham Bulls Athletic Park
23	Friday	Quarterfinal: 7 p.m.	Virginia, BC or Notre Dame	ACCN
24	Saturday	Semifinal (with win): 5 p.m.	FSU, Duke, Pitt or Louisville	ACCN
25	Sunday	Final (with win): Noon		ESPN2
30–31	Fri.–Sat.	NCAA regionals	Campus sites
	June
1	Sunday	NCAA regionals	Campus sites
6–8	Fri.–Sun.	Super Regionals	Campus sites
18–30	Wed.–Mon.	College World Series	Omaha, Neb.