The Atlantic Coast Conference has turned the NCAA tournament into, well, basically a reprise of the ACC tournament.
The league sent six teams to the Sweet 16, a record, and now four teams to the Elite Eight ... the entire right side of your bracket, in fact. Which means the ACC will occupy half of the Final Four slots, and half of the title game slots, as well.
It's the first time four teams from one league have all been on the same side of the bracket in the Elite Eight.
North Carolina, the top seed in the East, whipped Indiana 101-86. No. 6 seed Notre Dame pulled off another miracle — on Good Friday no less — outscoring Wisconsin 8-0 to close the game in a 61-56 win.
A March version of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge that was all ACC.
In the Midwest Region, top-seeded Virginia rushed past Iowa State 84-71 to set up a clash with No. 13 seed Syracuse, which slipped past Gonzaga 63-60.
"Definitely doesn't surprise me based on the quality of play in our league this year, it was fantastic," said North Carolina's Marcus Paige, who finished with 21 points Friday in the Heels' win against Indiana. "Top to bottom, we had some really competitive games. ... Doesn't surprise me at all to see UVA, Notre Dame, us advancing as far as we have. And it just shows that we had the best conference this year. I know the Big 12 is really strong in the top, but I think with as deep as our league is, we had the best year."
The rest of the Elite Eight includes two Big 12 teams, No. 1 Kansas, which faces Villanova in the South, and Oklahoma, which faces No, 1 seed Oregon in the West.
"The play at the end of the season is the way most people evaluate it," North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said. "And I feel our league is showing the kind of depth and strength of the teams the way they're playing right now."
GALLERY: MEET THE ELITE EIGHT
