ACC Basketball Coaches Get Advice On How To Get More Teams In The Tournament From Unlikely Source

Mar 2, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Damon Stoudamire on the | Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

It is no secret that the ACC has been an underrated basketball conference over the few seasons which might come as a surprise. The ACC has traditionally been viewed as one of the strongest in college basketball for quite some time, but they have had a hard time getting a large number of teams in the NCAA Tournament. When the Tournament actually begins though, ACC teams have success, with NC State getting to the final four and Clemson getting to the elite eight. North Carolina and Duke also won games, while the only truly disappointing team was Virginia, who lost in the first four.

Despite the ACC continually doing this, they still don't get as many teams in the Tournament as other conferences. At annual ACC meetings, the league brought in ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi to talk to the coaches about getting more teams to the tournament according to Raleigh News and Observer's Andrew Carter.

ACC men’s basketball coaches heard from ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi at spring meetings today, about how league can get more teams in the NCAA Tournament.

(Not a joke.)

Lunardi was an invited guest here to give a talk.

— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) May 14, 2024

This is not a huge deal, but I do think that it is somewhat noteworthy that the ACC wants to fix this issue. You can argue that Pitt and Wake Forest should have gotten more consideration for the NCAA Tournament this past season and who knows if they would have done any damage if they had gotten in, but they should have gotten more consideration.

Will the ACC be able to chance that perception next season? In ESPN's way-too-early top 25, there are only two teams ranked and they are both in the top ten. Duke and North Carolina are going to enter next season as the big favorites to win the conference and that is another perception the league is going to have to fight. Last season, most viewed the ACC as top heavy conference with the Blue Devils and Tar Heels the only teams getting respect. It is going to be interesting to follow the ACC race next season and see if they can change some of these perceptions.