The ACC did more with less in the NCAA Tournament last year.
That’s more as in the most number of teams advancing to the Sweet 16 and less as in the number of bids it got compared to other power conferences.
And it’s not the first time that’s happened.
Four of the league’s 5 invited teams made it to the second week of the tournament with NC State, which finished 10th in the regular season, making it all the way to the Final Four.
It’s an accomplishment for which commissioner Jim Phillips is rightfully proud. Even though it’s not something he would like to see continue. That’s why he’s initiated a campaign designed to create a more positive national perception in the conference and keep it from being “undervalued” in the future.
Clearly he has a big job ahead of him.
Only 2 ACC teams, usual suspects Duke and North Carolina, were among the 25 ranked teams in the Associated Press preseason poll.
Talking about the problem is a good start. But the only way to change perspective is to have its teams win more during the regular season.
With that part of the process set to begin with Opening Day on Monday, here are 10 burning questions facing ACC as a new season tips off:
10. Who will be the best of the ACC’s 3 new teams?
As was the case in football, SMU stands the best chance among the newcomers of making an immediate splash. The Mustangs brought in Andy Enfield to coach a team that won 20 games a year ago, returns top 3-point shooter Chuck Harris and added Wake Forest point guard Boopie Miller from the transfer portal. Mark Madsen authored a 10-win improvement in his first season at Cal last year. But after losing his top 9 scorers from a veteran team that went only 13-19, the Bears are likely to take a step back this year. At Stanford, new coach Kyle Smith has a major rebuild ahead of him after leading Washington State to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. He does, however, have a nice piece to build around in 7-1 center Maxime Raynaud, the Cardinal’s leading scorer and rebounder in 2023-24.
9. Which 3 teams get left out of the ACC Tournament?
The league couldn’t figure out how to manage an 18-team team tournament, so it stuck with its current 15-team bracket and exclude the bottom 3 finishers in the regular-season standings. That’s certain to ruffle a few feathers among the ACC’s old guard the first time 1 of its original members doesn’t make the field. But it’s not likely to happen this season. Other than newcomers Stanford and Cal, the most likely candidate to be left home from Charlotte in March is Boston College. Although Earl Grant led the Eagles to a 20-win season and NIT bid, he has a big job ahead of him to stay out of the bottom 3 after losing his top 5 scorers, including star big man Quinten Post to the NBA, and guards Jaeden Zackery and Claudel Harris to transfer.
8. How big a jump can Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Syracuse make in Year 2 with coaches?
It’s said that players make their biggest improvement between their freshman and sophomore years. Coaches Damon Stoudamire, Micah Shrewsberry and Adrian Autry can only hope the same holds true for building programs. Tech’s Stoudamire has the advantage of his 2 best returning players – big man Baye Ndongo and point guard Naithan George – ready to make that sophomore leap. Syracuse’s Autry got off to the best start of the 3 by leading the Orange to a 20-12 record in his first season replacing his mentor Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. But he might have the most difficult assignment in Year 2 without All-ACC guard Judah Mintz. Shrewsberry stands the best chance of making a quantum leap because of his history – he got Penn State to the NCAA Tournament in Year 2 – and the return of ACC Rookie of the Year Markus Burton.
7. Can Miami bounce back from last year’s disappointment?
The Hurricanes went from the high of a Final Four to the low of missing out on the NCAA Tournament in the course of just 1 season. Some of the drop-off can be attributed to a series of injuries, the most significant of which slowed point guard Nijel Pack even when he was able to play. Pack is healthy again and back. So is wing Matthew Cleveland, the ACC’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2022 while at Florida State. With the addition of 5-star freshman shooting guard Jalil Bethea and a transfer class led by big man Lynn Kidd, whose 8.2-point-per-game improvement last season at Virginia Tech was the league’s best, coach Jim Larrañaga’s team should be trending in the right direction again.
6. Is this the year Steve Forbes gets Wake Forest into the NCAA Tournament?
No one has suffered the consequences of the ACC’s negative perception more than the Deacons. Twice in the past 3 seasons they’ve won 20-plus games overall and 11 or more in conference. Thresholds that once guaranteed ACC teams entry into the NCAA Tournament. Both times, though, Forbes’ team was left out. That’s projected to change this season. Wake was picked 3rd, behind blue-bloods Duke and North Carolina, in the ACC’s preseason poll. The reason for the optimism is the return of All-ACC guard Hunter Sallis, along with versatile guard Cam Hildreth and big man Efton Reid, along with Forbes’ usual haul of talent off the transfer portal. He’s also addressed the strength of schedule argument that has hurt the Deacons in the past by putting together a nonconference schedule bolstered by games against Michigan, Florida and Texas A&M.
5. What do NC State and Clemson do for an encore?
The Wolfpack made history by winning 5 games in 5 days for their first ACC Tournament championship since 1987, then rode the wave of momentum all the way to the Final Four. The Tigers nearly joined them in Phoenix by advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Of the 2, Brad Brownell’s team is best equipped to repeat that success. Although cornerstone big man PJ Hall is gone, Clemson still has 2 of the ACC’s best players in Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin to build around. State’s Kevin Keatts, on the other hand, will have to revamp the way his team plays in the absence of super-sized center DJ Burns. He also has to replace leading scorer DJ Horne. Keatts has reloaded with a talented group of transfers. But as we’ve seen many times, the portal can be a hit-or-miss proposition.
4. How much better will Louisville be under Pat Kelsey?
The bar is set low after 2 historically bad seasons under Kenny Payne, including a 2023-24 campaign that saw the Cardinals go 8-24 while finishing 326th out of 351 Division I teams in scoring defense and 223rd in scoring offense. Given Kelsey’s fiery personality and a coaching resume that includes 5 NCAA Tournament appearances at Winthrop and College of Charleston, there’s reason to believe that a major jump up the ACC standings is possible. So far, so good. Kelsey and his completely rebuilt roster, stocked with the nation’s top-ranked transfer class, got off to a promising start with exhibition wins against Young Harris and Spalding. That might not seem like much. But it is a tangible step forward after exhibition losses to Division II opponents Lenoir-Rhyne and Kentucky Wesleyan over the past 2 years.
3. What will Virginia look like without Tony Bennett?
If you’re expecting the Cavaliers to suddenly morph into something different and start playing up-tempo 21st-century basketball just because Bennett suddenly walked away, you’re going to be disappointed. Interim coach Ron Sanchez has been Bennett’s right-hand man since 2003 when they were at Washington State, so their base philosophies are similar. There will be some subtle tweaks, for sure, especially now that transfer point guard Jalen Warley has announced he’s leaving the program. But because of the makeup of the roster and the timing of Bennett’s retirement, they’re not going to be drastic. So be prepared to keep embracing the pace for at least another season.
2. Will North Carolina be able to rebound without a true low post big man?
Rebounding is as much a Tar Heels tradition as pointing to the passer after an assist or wearing Alexander Julian argyle. They’ve led the ACC in each of the past 11 seasons. But with the departure of Armando Bacot, finally, and Harrison Ingram – who accounted for more than half the team’s rebounds last season – there are legitimate questions as to where this year’s rebounding will come from. Neither of the 2 biggest returners – Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers – are traditional low post big men. Freshman James Brown is a project. Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin plays bigger than 6-7 and will help. But as coach Hubert Davis has said, rebounding is going to have to be a team effort for UNC to reach its potential. The Tar Heels’ recent exhibition win against Memphis is a good sign. They played the Tigers to a 41-41 standoff on the glass.
1. How will the hype surrounding Cooper Flagg compare to Zionmania?
The anticipation surrounding Flagg’s arrival at Duke is higher than that of Zion Williamson in 2018. Remember, Williamson wasn’t even the highest-rated recruit in the Blue Devils’ class that year. It was RJ Barrett. It wasn’t until the 6-7, 285ish-pound freshman went off for 28 points while showing off his full range of dunks, 3-pointers and ballhandling skills in a 118-84 blowout of Kentucky in the Champions Classic that Zionmania began to take off. Flagg is legit, too. And there’s a good chance he’ll live up to his high expectations and like Williamson, be the first player taken in the NBA Draft. But that’s where the comparisons end. They have different body types and skill sets. Flagg will put up numbers and help the Blue Devils contend for a championship. Zion was a unicorn. It’s hard to imagine anything comparing to the hoopla surrounding his 1-and-done college season.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
