ACC considering reducing conference basketball schedule to help boost the league's NCAA Tournament profile

[BleedGopher]

Per CBS:

The ACC is strongly considering reducing its conference schedule so teams can schedule more marquee nonconference games and improve the league's chances of landing more at-large teams in the NCAA Tournament, CBS Sports has learned.

Commissioner Jim Phillips, the conference's athletics directors and ESPN have been in active discussions to move from 20 conference games to 18 starting with the 2025-26 season, sources told CBS Sports. The expectation among administrators is that the proposal will be approved when the league's administrators meet in May for its annual spring meetings in Florida, sources said.

The ACC declined to comment Monday when reached by CBS Sports.

The 18-game proposal discussed by the ACC's administrators would consist of one game against 16 teams and two games against a permanent rival (home and away) each season, sources said. The league's 20-game schedule last season consisted of two repeat opponents, with new members Cal, SMU and Stanford grouped together as partners.

The ACC is in the midst of one of the worst stretches of its proud history in March Madness. The league placed only four teams in the NCAA Tournament in March, the lowest percentage (22.2%) in its history, and only one team (Duke) advanced beyond the first round. The ACC ranked last among the five high-major conferences in the KenPom.com ratings for the 204-25 season.

ACC considering reducing conference basketball schedule to help boost the league's NCAA Tournament profile

The ACC may move from 20 to 18 conference games next season to play more marquee nonconference matchups

www.cbssports.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[SelectionSunday]

This is a smart move by the ACC. ACC is way down with so many crappy teams in the bottom half of the league, it drags down the few decent teams they have at the top. ... so few opportunities for quality wins that can help selection & seeding.

If a program/coach is serious about building a tournament-worthy resume, those 2 extra non-conference games can really help, provided they use 'em to play high quality non-conference opponents. We'll find out which coaches are serious about doing that.

 

[Ope3]

This is a smart move by the ACC. ACC is way down with so many crappy teams in the bottom half of the league, it drags down the few decent teams they have at the top. ... so few opportunities for quality wins that can help selection & seeding.

If a program/coach is serious about building a tournament-worthy resume, those 2 extra non-conference games can really help, provided they use 'em to play high quality non-conference opponents. We'll find out which coaches are serious about doing that.

Can't the same thing be accomplished by reducing 2 cupcakes from the Non-Conference schedule and replace them with high quality non-conference opponents?

 

[formerlybis]

Can't the same thing be accomplished by reducing 2 cupcakes from the Non-Conference schedule and replace them with high quality non-conference opponents?

Yes, but half the conference *are* cupcakes.

To put it in perspective, both the ACC and B10 have 18 teams. Minnesota ended the year ranked above only one team in the B10 on Torvik (Washington). They would have ranked above 10 teams in the ACC.

They're just bad teams right now. Going from 20 to 18 conference games will have a marginal effect if there's still only 3 or 4 tourney-worthy teams.

 

[60's Guy]

Can't the same thing be accomplished by reducing 2 cupcakes from the Non-Conference schedule and replace them with high quality non-conference opponents?

Yes and no. Take Duke....they already play Kentucky, Arizona, Kansas and Auburn in the non conference. Add two more tough games and there is not much room left for games with lesser opponents. It's not always who you play but when you play them too.
Scheduling philosophy,,,many teams want somebody they can't lose to in game one.
Do you have an all new team? (Portal?) You want to get to know your team against teams you can beat handily so you can play 10 guys. Also so you can experiment with different schemes, different combinations but still win. Then you got finals to plan around. Christmas break and time off to plan around.
All that is easier to move around if you have more non conference games to go easy/hard. You don't want losing streaks in November/December either.
Nine million if this, then that to scheduling...travel? home or away? how far away we willing to go?

 

[Ope3]

Yes and no. Take Duke....they already play Kentucky, Arizona, Kansas and Auburn in the non conference. Add two more tough games and there is not much room left for games with lesser opponents. It's not always who you play but when you play them too.
Scheduling philosophy,,,many teams want somebody they can't lose to in game one.
Do you have an all new team? (Portal?) You want to get to know your team against teams you can beat handily so you can play 10 guys. Also so you can experiment with different schemes, different combinations but still win. Then you got finals to plan around. Christmas break and time off to plan around.
All that is easier to move around if you have more non conference games to go easy/hard. You don't want losing streaks in November/December either.
Nine million if this, then that to scheduling...travel? home or away? how far away we willing to go?

In the aggregate that may be true for ACC teams, but in your example the 20 Game Conference Schedule seemed to work out just fine last year for the Blue Devils.

 

[60's Guy]

In the aggregate that may be true for ACC teams, but in your example the 20 Game Conference Schedule seemed to work out just fine last year for the Blue Devils.

Valid point. Take North Carolina...I'd say they made the tournament on their non conference schedule. Kansas, Dsyton, Auburn, Michigan St, Alabama, Florida and UCLA. That's 7 swallow hard...are we really going to do this games.
Contrast these non conference philosophies to the recent Gophers' opponents...men and women.

 

[Ope3]

Valid point. Take North Carolina...I'd say they made the tournament on their non conference schedule. Kansas, Dsyton, Auburn, Michigan St, Alabama, Florida and UCLA. That's 7 swallow hard...are we really going to do this games.
Contrast these non conference philosophies to the recent Gophers' opponents...men and women.

The bigger issue for the ACC (IMO) was having ended the Big 10 Challenge, now they have one with the SEC.

SEC - 14
ACC - 2

That's has a significant effect on a Conferences overall resume.

Going down to 18 Conference Games won't solve that deficiency.