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ACC basketball torched by social media after Louisville’s Round 1 loss to Creighton
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ACC basketball, which has been basketball royalty for decades, was left in the dust this season by an SEC that was historically good.
The SEC got a record 14 teams into the NCAA Tournament, while the ACC settled for a measly 4 teams in March Madness.
Well, after just a few hours on the first full day of action, make that 3 ACC teams. That’s because Louisville, which finished second in the ACC during the regular season and got all the way to the ACC Tournament title game before falling to Duke, was unceremoniously bounced from the brackets by Creighton on Thursday afternoon at Rupp Arena.
The Cardinals were buried by halftime, trailing by 15, and never really threatened after that in an 89-75 loss that provided more red meat for the ravenous college basketball fans who couldn’t wait to go on social media and blast the ACC for being weak.
This time though, they might have a point. Many criticized the NCAA selection committee for giving Louisville a No. 8 seed, thinking the Cardinals should’ve been seeded a bit higher. And while Creighton, which finished second in the Big East and got to the Big East Tournament title game, was a really tough draw for Louisville as a No. 9 seed, it was still a bitterly disappointing performance for the Cardinals that furthered the notion about the ACC this season besides Duke, of course.
With Louisville out, the ACC is now down to Duke, which is a No. 1 seed and expected by many to at least get to the Final Four, Clemson and North Carolina, which barely squeezed into the NCAA Tournament as a First Four team.
Here is a sampling of the social media reaction to the ACC after Louisville’s loss:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
