Evaluating how much trouble the ACC is in for NCAA Tournament
March is usually when we see ACC basketball begin to thrive. A league proud of its basketball and conference tournament, this has not been the best season. On3’s James Fletcher currently only has three teams safely inside of the NCAA Tournament while three are considered bubble teams. Another three still have work to do before being considered.
A worrying sight heading into the third weekend of February.
“The ACC, they are in trouble for a 15-team league,” Fletcher said during Friday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “A [league] that, historically, is one of the best college basketball conferences that we have — to be struggling the way that they are, it is a real problem for them. And it’s going to come down to the wire for how many teams they get in the field this year.”
Not too long ago, the conversation surrounding the ACC was only getting two teams into the tournament. Both Duke and North Carolina were playing well but nobody behind them was showing why they could earn potential at-large bids.
Thankfully, a few teams have stepped up and Selection Sunday should not be as dire as thought a couple of weeks ago. As many as five teams could hear their name called, depending on who winds up winning the ACC Tournament.
“Just a few weeks ago, we had national pundits in college basketball talking about a potential two-bid ACC,” Fletcher said. “Now, that was never really going to happen. Clemson was always going to find their footing a little bit. Wake Forest has looked good. And now, we’ve seen Virginia until that loss this weekend.”
Why the ACC is struggling to produce NCAA Tournament teams
The ACC has plenty of big brands in the league and for a while, competed for the title of best conference in the country. Now, you usually hear the Big Ten, Big 12, or SEC at the forefront of that discussion. A dip has certainly occurred in the depth the ACC can provide.
Fletcher theorizes that basketball has maybe not been a top priority, with the recent goal of just keeping the league alive. Making sure football matters are in order has been Jim Phillips’ main issue in recent years between NIL, the NCAA transfer portal, and conference realignment.
“I think in the world of college football, that drives revenue,” Fletcher said. “Having to put so much attention on this conference together, figuring out how to expand there — perhaps it has made basketball take a little bit of a back seat than it should have.”
On the court, metrics have just not liked the ACC. Clemson has been a big example over the year, continually being on the bubble and not getting into the field. Scheduling the right way has become so important and ACC programs have not quite caught up.
“College basketball scheduling has never been more important than it is with the NET rankings,” Fletcher said. “In the past, you had different computer metrics but the NET really cares about how you schedule. That’s shown in the Quadrant system.
“If you just schedule a bunch of cupcakes, a bunch of directional schools, they’re not going to reward you when we get to March. They don’t really care about those games in Quadrant 3 and 4.”