They Had ACC Basketball Messed Up All Along

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Most of the regular season saw the ACC and its teams getting dumped on. Everyone except Duke, rather. College basketball insider Jeff Goodman tweeted “#OneBidACC” in early January after non-conference play wrapped. Then just a month ago, FiveThirtyEight published a thinkpiece about how the league was “getting run out of the tournament.”

The national college hoops media seemed to be in agreement that the league was down this year and after non-conference play they had no chance of redeeming themselves. After all, league play would have been just a bunch of crummy teams playing one another. Only Duke passed the test, so to speak, beating Kentucky and Gonzaga before December hit. Other ACC teams were drubbed when facing top-tier foes, so badly that they overshadowed non-conference wins against close-to-the-top-tier foes. Virginia, for example, followed a 20-point loss against Houston with an 18-point win over Providence, and North Carolina dropped Michigan by 21 after falling to Purdue by nine and Tennessee by 17. Wake Forest lost to then KenPom No. 20 LSU by 14 before smoking then KenPom No. 24 Virginia Tech by 19 in a oddly-early conference game.

Blowout losses to good teams made folks turn their heads and nothing they did could overrule it. Those with a vested interest continued watching into conference play and saw teams improve and hit their stride. Miami overcame a 32-point loss to Alabama to win nine in a row. Virginia then beat that same Miami team twice. North Carolina smoked Virginia, and all three would beat Duke before the season concluded. But even wins against Duke, the team that had the golden ticket in the public eye, wasn’t enough. Only four at-large bids were awarded to the conference, as well as a fifth to conference tournament winners Virginia Tech. Virginia and Wake Forest were left on the cutting room floor. Worst of all, however, was the seeding; Duke ended up on the No. 2 line, but the others were put in a tough position given their resumes. North Carolina was on the No. 8 line, Miami on the No. 10 line, and both Notre Dame and Virginia Tech were on the No. 11 line. Notre Dame even had to play in the First Four.

Despite being behind the eight ball to start, though, the ACC came to play. They have proven that the dark cloud that followed them all season was a bunch of bologna. Because now we’re in the Elite 8 and they’re the only conference with multiple teams remaining.

Better yet, they have THREE teams remaining! The Big East, Big 12 and SEC have one apiece, while the Big Ten and Pac-12 have a big goose egg. Yes, that’s the same Big Ten that had nine bids into the tournament.

Miami, North Carolina, and Duke remain and they’re set up nicely. Duke and UNC both opened as favorites, according to NCAA betting lines for the Elite 8. Miami, meanwhile, has the opportunity to knock off the only remaining No. 1 seed (Kansas). The Hurricanes have already beaten a team from the Pac-12 (USC), SEC (Auburn), and Big 12 (Iowa St.).

Knowing what we know now, the ACC should have had more entries into the dance. There’s nothing that can be done now but at least next season they’ll start with a better reputation and won’t be written off so quickly.