ACC Tournament 2012 Bracket And Schedule

The 2012 ACC Tournament bracket was released over the weekend with the North Carolina Tar Heels earning the top seed in the conference tournament, earning them a first round bye. The bottom eight teams weren't quite as lucky, however, and will begin their schedule on Thursday.

North Carolina, Duke, Florida State and Virginia will all begin play on Friday, guaranteeing themselves a first-round bye in the tournament by finishing their conference schedule as one of the top four teams. The remaining eight teams will play on Thursday in games being televised by ESPNU, starting with the Maryland Terrapins taking on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at noon.

The full schedule is included below. All times are Eastern.

First Round, Thursday, March 8
No. 8 Maryland vs. No. 9 Wake Forest -- 12:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
No. 5 N.C. State vs. No. 12 Boston College -- 2:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
No. 7 Clemson vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech -- 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
No. 6 Miami vs. No. 11 Georgia Tech -- 9:00 p.m. (ESPNU)

Quarterfinals, Friday, March 9
No. 1 North Carolina vs. 8/9 winner -- 12:00 p.m. (ESPN2)
No. 4 Virginia vs. 5/12 winner -- 2:00 p.m. (ESPN2)
No. 2 Duke vs. 7/10 winner -- 7:00 p.m. (ESPN2)
No. 3 Florida State vs. 6/11 winner -- 9:00 p.m. (ESPN2)

Semifinals, Saturday, March 10
Winners of Friday's early games -- 1:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Winners of Friday's late games -- 3:00 p.m. (ESPN)

Championship Game, Sunday, March 11
Semifinal winners -- 1:00 p.m. (ESPN)

Here's a look at the complete bracket in visual form, courtesy of Streaking the Lawn.

For more on the college basketball tournament schedule, be sure to check out SB Nation's NCAA basketball hub.