Thanks to Clemson’s brutal tendency to drop tight game after tight game along with Virginia Tech’s big home win over Miami on Monday night, the ACC bubble picture has become less murky in the middle. Eight teams are now certifiable locks for the NCAA Tournament, and it appears that the Big East’s 2011 record of sending 11 teams dancing will be safe for another year. The league, however, still has a reasonable chance at getting 10 invitations on Selection Sunday, which would be quite a feat. Here’s where the bubble stands a little less than two weeks out from Selection Sunday. (KenPom rankings are after Monday night’s games.)

LOCKS (8): North Carolina, Louisville, Florida State, Notre Dame, Duke, Virginia, Miami, Virginia Tech

BUBBLE (3)

The Orange are right on the brink of grabbing its dance shoes. (Getty)

• Syracuse (17-13, 9-8 ACC, KenPom #51). If the Orange make the NCAA Tournament, they will look back on John Gillon‘s banked-in buzzer-beater against Duke as the reason why. The institution of “The Gillon Rule” gave Jim Boeheim‘s team a third signature home victory to go with big earlier wins over Florida State and Virginia. If Syracuse takes care of business at home against Georgia Tech this weekend, the Orange are probably going to make the field regardless of their ACC Tournament performance. A loss and things get considerably murkier. This week: Georgia Tech (3/4)

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