RE: 2023 ACC Tournament In Greensboro
The expansion of the NCAA tournament nullified most of the importance of the ACC tournament. Once you could win the NCAA title without winning the ACC title, things changed. Games in the ACC tournament were no longer life or death as they had been since the 1930's until the mid 1980's.
The Big East, being a new construct built just for basketball, never had to contend with a single slot to the NCAA tournament for their champion as was the case for the ACC and all others through the mid 70's. So the Big East Tournament was never as important to the Big East members as the SoCon or ACC Tournament was to the SoCon ACC members.
Since their older fans have nothing to compare it to, why would older ACC fans even attempt to explain it? You might as well be attempting to explain a sphere to the people of Flatland.
The following is not the ACC or So Con champion - just the ones left out of an NCAA or NIT bid due to the one team rule:
52 - West Va - 10th
53 - WF 12th
54 - MD 14th, Duke 18th
55 - NCSU NIT Bid, MD 18
56 - UNC 15, WF 18, Duke 19
57 - WF 20th
58 - Duke 6th, UNC 13th, NC State 14th
59 - NC State 7th
From the time after WWII to the UNC National Title in 56, NC State won almost all the SoCon ACC Titles.
60 - UNC 16th, WF 18th
61 - UNC 5th, Duke 10th
62 - Duke 9th
63 - none
64 - none
65 - Duke 8th
66 - none
67 - none
68 - Duke 6th
Until Dean Smith recruits Larry Miller - NC State and then Duke are 1 and 2 in ACC basketball, UNC is third, WF and MD are tied for 4th so to speak.
69 - SC 8th
70 - SC 3, UNC 19th (NC State did that to SC)
71 - UNC 13, Duke 19 (Duke will now take a half decade sabbatical to get over the attempted recruiting of Adolph Rupp as Coach and the debacle that was Bucky Waters)
72 - MD 14, UVa 15
73 - MD 8, UNC 11
74 - MD 8, UNC 12
75 - NC State 7th (State unable to defend NCAA title)
76 - MD 11th, NC State 17th.
That's 33 top 20 ACC schools not able to compete for the NCAA title in 23 years. 9 were top 10 teams.
MD was hurt worst by this as they had a good program in the 1950's and the second best ACC program in the early 70's. Duke was hurt second most and by Wake Forest of all schools. They had the second best best basketball problem when the ACC split behind NC State.
This is why the ACC tournament matters to some older ACC folks and younger Big East people can not understand. The ACC probably left 2-3 NCAA titles on the floor between State's upsets of the Gamecocks in 1970 and Duke in 1965.
Now though, I would not wipe my Ass on Greensboro.
(This post was last modified: 05-02-2020 08:12 PM by Statefan.)
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