GREENSBORO, N.C. — Florida State is one step closer to defending its Atlantic Coast Conference championship in basketball without even playing a game.
The ACC announced Thursday morning that the conference tournament quarterfinal matchup between Duke and Florida State has been canceled. The game was supposed to be played later in the evening.
Duke dropped out of the ACC Tournament after a positive coronavirus test, effectively ending its shot at an NCAA tournament bid.
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The Blue Devils (13-11, 9-9 ACC) likely needed to make a deep run in the ACC Tournament to avoid missing the big dance for the first time since 1995.
It was almost a year to the day that Florida State had its last ACC Tournament game abruptly scrapped just before tipoff. The Seminoles, who won the regular-season title last year, were crowned ACC champions without ever playing a game in the tournament.
Duke is one of three ACC teams that didn't face FSU in the regular season. The teams were scheduled to play in January, but the game was postponed during one of FSU's two coronavirus pauses this season and was never made up.
Because of the cancellation, the Seminoles (15-5, 11-4) automatically advance to the semifinals and will play the winner of Thursday night's North Carolina-Virginia Tech game.