The ACC introduced Tuesday that its 18-team males’s basketball convention goes again to taking part in an 18-game league schedule.
The convention had performed a 20-game league schedule for the reason that 2019-20 season, a transfer that appeared destined to stay following final yr’s additions of SMU, Stanford and California. And but, right here we’re.
The place we’re is uncharted territory for the ACC.
Whereas the SEC and the Large Ten are having fun with report ranges of success, the ACC hasn’t positioned greater than 5 groups in an NCAA Event since 2021. If not for North Carolina’s extremely controversial inclusion within the First 4 on this previous event, the ACC could be coming off a yr wherein it despatched simply three groups to the Large Dance for the primary time since 2000.
In a league the place basketball has sometimes been king, lagging behind the opposite 4 energy conferences for greater than a one-off season is trigger for sweeping change.
And so once more, right here we’re.
Probably the most stunning a part of Tuesday’s announcement wasn’t the reversion, it was the construction of the reversion.
As a substitute of following the format most believed could be adopted — each crew taking part in 16 opponents as soon as and one opponent twice — the ACC introduced that beginning in 2025-26, each crew will play 14 groups as soon as, two groups twice, and one crew in no way.
The house-and-home video games will probably be of two completely different varieties. Every crew will play two video games in opposition to a “major associate” each season, and two recreation in opposition to a “variable associate” that can change from one season to the subsequent.
The “major companions” record is as follows:
Boston Faculty-Notre Dame
Clemson-Georgia Tech
California-Stanford
Duke-North Carolina
Florida State-Miami
Louisville-SMU
NC State–Wake Forest
Pitt-Syracuse
Virginia Tech-Virginia
The rationale right here is sound: It offers the league the chance to pit its projected strongest groups in opposition to each other for one additional high quality matchup each season, whereas additionally preserving the sanctity of the convention’s strongest rivalries.
What the ACC hopes to keep away from is a state of affairs like final yr the place a Duke crew that completed 19-1 within the league and a Louisville crew that completed 18-2 performed their solely recreation on Dec. 8 to little fanfare. Having two groups — Clemson and Louisville — end 18-2 in league play and earn only a No. 5 and a No. 8 seed, respectively, is one other factor Jim Phillips and firm wish to keep away from shifting ahead.
General, the transfer type of looks like treating a quickly spreading virus with ibuprofen. May there be some optimistic results? Certain, however this isn’t a response that’s addressing the foundation explanation for the difficulty in any substantive means.
Each ACC crew getting two further non-conference video games gained’t matter a lot if the league doesn’t cease getting completely obliterated by the opposite energy conferences in November and December.
The ACC’s 18 groups went a collective 331-270 in non-conference play final season, the seventh-best mark out of the 31 leagues in Division-I. The league additionally had a sub-.500 report in opposition to prime 100 opponents for the fourth consecutive season. Maybe most notably, the convention went simply 4-30 in video games in opposition to SEC opponents, together with a humiliating 2-14 efficiency within the annual ACC-SEC Problem.
The dearth of high quality wins mixed with a large number of embarrassing losses left Duke with virtually no margin for error to be a No. 1 seed, and groups like Clemson and Louisville with virtually no margin for error simply to get into the NCAA Event.
A change in scheduling philosophy isn’t going to repair that.
In an period the place funds matter much more than they ever have earlier than, it ought to shock nobody that the 2 leagues with essentially the most cash are the 2 at present experiencing essentially the most on-court success. The SEC particularly is on its finest run in historical past due to with the ability to rent (and preserve) among the finest coaches within the sport, and assemble the most effective rosters within the sport on an annual foundation.
In an effort to try to make up floor, a number of ACC packages have introduced in youthful, extra ahead considering head coaches this offseason. Will Wade will look to rejuvenate NC State, Jai Lucas is already bringing high-level expertise again to Miami, Ryan Odom takes over at Virginia after years of being discusses as one of many “subsequent massive issues” in teaching, and Luke Loucks is making an attempt to deliver a recent method to roster meeting at Florida State.
With all due respect to Phillips and firm, that is the one means again to the highest of the mountain for the ACC. No scheduling rearrangement goes to cover one other sub-par two months of performances earlier than the calendar flips to 2026.
Whereas the trail to the recipe for convention success has modified considerably in recent times, the recipe itself is static: Nice gamers, nice coaches, stacking wins. Totally different than it’s ever been earlier than. Similar because it ever was.