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ACC basketball reportedly mulling reduced conference schedule aimed at improving NCAA Tournament profile
By Paul Harvey
Published:
In what would feel like a stunning move, the ACC is reportedly looking into reducing its conference schedule in basketball in order to improve its outlook for the NCAA Tournament.
That’s according to a report from Brandon Marcello with CBS Sports that came out early on Tuesday morning. According to Marcello’s report, the specific number of games would be dropped from 20 conference matchups to 18, and he reports it is expected that the proposal will be approved later this spring.
Why would the ACC investigate such a change? Per Marcello’s reporting, it would be to allow teams to “schedule more marquee nonconference games and improve the league’s chances of landing more at-large teams in the NCAA Tournament.”
If approved, the 18-game model would include teams playing 1 game against 16 of the conference opponents and 2 games (home and away) against a permanent conference rival.
It certainly feels like a drastic measure for the once-proud basketball league that contains blue bloods such as North Carolina and Duke, but the quality of the product has undeniably dipped in the ACC since the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament. In the most recent March Madness, the ACC placed just 4 teams into the final field, its lowest total since 2013, and it is not just some sudden drop-off.
Across the past 4 NCAA Tournaments, the ACC never produced more than 5 total bids in an unprecedented streak for the league. Consider that from the 7 NCAA Tournaments between 2014-21, the ACC never produced fewer than 6 bids in a single tournament, and the league produced 7+ bids 5 times.
In that same time period, the ACC has been surpassed by SEC basketball as the pre-eminent league in college hoops. In the 7 NCAA Tournaments since 2018, the SEC has never produced fewer than 6 bids in a single tournament, and the conference is currently riding a 3-year streak of 8+ bids every year. That includes a historic 14-team showing in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
