It wasn't a surprise that a Duke freshman was named the Most Valuable Player of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Saturday night. What may have been surprising is that he wasn't named Cooper Flagg.

American Cooper Flagg, holding him out as the Blue Devils won the ACC championship. But the 6-9 freshman should be back for NCAA Tournament.

North Carolina is headed to the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a No. 11 seed and part of the First Four in Dayton after narrowly sneaking in following a disappointing season. Gaining admission to the Big Dance should alleviate some of the heartbreak the Tar Heels felt following a heartbreaking loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

North Carolina was very much on the NCAA tournament bubble last week and projected by many to miss the field when it fell short of the ACC championship game in a heartbreaking semifinal loss to Duke.

The North Carolina Tar Heels’ NCAA Tournament journey is off to a chaotic start. North Carolina dealt with significant travel problems on Monday ahead of their First Four game in Dayton, Oh., according to Luke DeCock of The News & Observer.