Jim Larranaga demands more respect for ACC

The Miami Hurricanes have advanced to the Round of 32. But their head coach Jim Larranaga is not a happy camper. His displeasure does not have anything to do with his Hurricanes directly, but it does have to do with their conference, the ACC. According to Larranaga, Miami’s home conference is not receiving the same level of love and respect as other Power-5 conferences. And after Miami’s first-round win against Drake, he demanded more respect for the ACC.

“I’m disappointed that the ACC is not given the respect I think it’s due,” said Larranaga. “I think we’ve got a great league. We had the preseason Number 1 team in the country in North Carolina. They did not have the year that people expected them to have, but they’re still pretty darn good; so is Duke, (and) so is Virginia. We’ve got a lot of good teams.

“This has nothing to do with our game tomorrow against Indiana, but if you go back to November, early December, the ACC won the ACC-Big Ten Challenge 8-6. So I think the leagues are very comparable. Hopefully, we’ll play well tomorrow and represent the ACC very well.”

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The ACC did win this year’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge, but many still believe the conference has had a down year. The preseason no. 1 team, North Carolina, failed to qualify for the championship tournament. And Clemson, who finished third in the regular season in the ACC, not only missed the NCAA Tournament but was bounced out of the first round of the NIT Tournament by Morehead State.

As the tournament has progressed, things have not gotten better for the ACC. In the first round, only Miami and Duke were able to advance. The ACC’s top-seeded team, 4-seed in the South region Virginia, was on the wrong end of an upset as they lost to 13-seed Furman 68-67. And in Saturday’s slate of action in the Round of 32, the conference’s tournament champions, Duke, had their season come to an end against Tennessee with a 65-52 defeat. And with Duke’s loss, Miami and Pittsburgh are the lone ACC teams left in this year’s NCAA tournament.

While Larranaga is petitioning for more respect for his conference, the Miami headman must focus on the road ahead. Because up next for the Hurricanes is the 4-seed in the Midwest region, Indiana. In this year’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge, Indiana was not one of the Big Ten teams to fall. The Hoosiers knocked off North Carolina behind a solid performance from senior forward Trayce Jackson Davis.

According to ESPN’s matchup predictor, this contest is not favorable for Miami. The sports giant’s analytical process has given the Hurricanes just a 36.5 percent chance of victory.