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Boston Globe
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Atlantic Coast Conference reducing its 20-game men's basketball schedule to 18
Advertisement In a statement, Phillips said the move — first reported by CBS Sports — is 'a direct result of our ongoing strategic review and analysis' and gives them more control of scheduling by freeing up two slots. It also comes as the league implements a new revenue-distribution model that will factor in TV viewership in its payouts to league schools, which could offer even more incentive to schedule marquee opponents that fans want to watch to boost the bottom line. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'This decision reflects our on-going prioritization to do what's best for ACC Men's Basketball,' Phillips said, 'and we appreciate the thoughtfulness of our membership and the support from our television partners.' The new model will have the league schedule running from late December into the first Saturday of March. Each team will play one primary partner at home and away every year, with those pairings — such as famed rivals Duke and North Carolina or instate opponents Virginia and Virginia Tech — designed to create some protection for long-running series. Advertisement The others primary pairings are Boston College-Notre Dame, Clemson-Georgia Tech, California-Stanford, Florida State-Miami, Louisville-SMU, N.C. State-Wake Forest, and Pittsburgh-Syracuse. Each team also will play a home-and-away series against a partner that will change each year, then play one game against 14 of the remaining 15 teams. It won't be perfect. Aside from the fact that some teams won't play each another, there are hiccups such as no guarantees that neighboring rivals UNC and North Carolina State will have their typical home-and-away meetings; the Tar Heels and Wolfpack have played those every year reaching back to their Southern Conference days long before the ACC's birth in May 1953. Still, Phillips had been clear the league had to make changes to address the newfound shakiness in a sport widely and long regarded as its crown jewel. The ACC had played an 18-game schedule from the 2012-13 season through 2018-19, then moved to a 20-game slate for the 2019-20 season with its ESPN-partnered launch of the ACC Network. At the time, the ACC was coming off a fourth straight season with at least seven NCAA bids — including a record nine in 2017 and 2018 — while having three No. 1 seeds in 2019 and winning three of five national titles (Duke in 2015, North Carolina in 2017 and Virginia in 2019). Things have been tougher since the pandemic, coinciding with the retirement of big-name coaches such as UNC's Roy Williams, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. Or last year with the unexpected departure of Virginia's Tony Bennett weeks before the season began. Advertisement The league had seven bids during the 'bubble' 2021 tournament in Indiana, then fell to five for three straight seasons before sliding to four this year, its first as an expanded 18-team basketball conference. By comparison, the ACC had 12 teams the last time it got just four bids in 2013. And yet, the league also had both UNC and Duke in the Final Four in 2022, Miami there in 2023, N.C. State in 2024, and Duke again in April. The ACC's move comes after a similar change for the Big 12, which announced in March that it would drop from 20 games to 18 after its coaches had expressed concerns about a grinding schedule with no time for rest. The SEC, which got a record 14 bids from its 16 teams last year, plays 18 games while the Big Ten plays 20.
Miami Herald
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Report: ACC eyes more non-conference games
College Sports Report: ACC eyes more non-conference games The Atlantic Coast Conference is trimming the league slate from 20 games to 18 to make room for more marquee non-conference contests, CBS Sports reported Wednesday. The ACC is making the change effective with the 2025-26 men's basketball schedule in order to help reverse a recent trend of dwindling NCAA Tournament bids, per the report. The 18-team conference's athletic directors reportedly approved the move in a call on Wednesday morning. The ACC sent just four teams to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, including the controversial choice of North Carolina. It marked the lowest percentage (22.2 percent) of ACC teams in the field since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The Southeastern Conference, by comparison, sent a record 14 teams to the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The ACC sent seven teams to the 2021 tournament, followed by five in each of the next three years and four this season. Adding more Quad 1 and Quad 2 opponents to the schedule may not fix all the problems in the ACC, which has been trending downward since the COVID-19 pandemic in part due to the retirements of high-profile coaches Roy Williams (North Carolina), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) and Tony Bennett (Virginia). The Big 12 Conference announced a similar change to the schedule in March, a reduction from 20 to 18 games. The SEC's 16 members play an 18-game league schedule, while the 18-team Big Ten Conference has a 20-game slate. --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved This story was originally published May 7, 2025 at 4:55 PM.
NBC Sports
07-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Report: ACC cuts 20-game men's basketball slate, makes room for more nonconference games
The Atlantic Coast Conference is reducing its 20-game men's basketball schedule to 18, giving teams two more spots for marquee nonconference games in a bid to boost a league getting a dwindling haul of NCAA Tournament bids, a person familiar with the decision said Wednesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the ACC hasn't officially announced the move, which was first reported by CBS Sports. The change for this fall comes after commissioner Jim Phillips has been vocal about spending the past two seasons examining the conundrum of the ACC getting fewer bids — down to four this year, its lowest haul since 2013 — despite having teams regularly playing deep into March. Going to 18 games could make room for schools to add quality nonconference matchups to help their schedule strength — and therefore the ACC's stature, provided of course the league wins its share of measuring-stick games, unlike last year. The league moved to a 20-game slate for the 2019-20 season with its ESPN-partnered launch of the ACC Network, though teams played fewer in 2020-21 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the ACC was coming off a fourth straight season with at least seven NCAA bids — including a record nine in 2018 and 2019 — while having three No. 1 seeds in 2019 and winning three of five national titles (Duke in 2015, North Carolina in 2017 and Virginia in 2019). Things have been tougher since the pandemic, coinciding with the retirement of big-name coaches like UNC's Roy Williams, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. Or last year with the unexpected departure of Virginia's Tony Bennett weeks before tipoff. The league had seven bids during the bubbled 2021 tournament in Indiana, then fell to five for three straight seasons before sliding to four this year, its first as an expanded 18-team basketball conference. By comparison, the ACC had just 12 teams the last time it got just four bids in 2013. And yet, the league also had both UNC and Duke in the Final Four in 2022, Miami there in 2023, N.C. State in 2024 and Duke again in April. The ACC's move comes after a similar change for the Big 12, which announced in March that it would drop from 20 games to 18 after its coaches had expressed concerns about a grinding schedule with no time for rest. The SEC, which got a record 14 bids from its 16 teams last year, plays 18 games while the Big Ten plays 20.
Fox Sports
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
ACC cuts 20-game men's basketball slate to make room for more nonconference games, AP source says
Associated Press The Atlantic Coast Conference is reducing its 20-game men's basketball schedule to 18, giving teams two more spots for marquee nonconference games in a bid to boost a league getting a dwindling haul of NCAA Tournament bids, a person familiar with the decision said Wednesday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the ACC hasn't officially announced the move, which was first reported by CBS Sports. The change for this fall comes after commissioner Jim Phillips has been vocal about spending the past two seasons examining the conundrum of the ACC getting fewer bids — down to four this year, its lowest haul since 2013 — despite having teams regularly playing deep into March. Going to 18 games could make room for schools to add quality nonconference matchups to help their schedule strength — and therefore the ACC's stature, provided of course the league wins its share of measuring-stick games, unlike last year. The league moved to a 20-game slate for the 2019-20 season with its ESPN-partnered launch of the ACC Network. At the time, the ACC was coming off a fourth straight season with at least seven NCAA bids — including a record nine in 2018 and 2019 — while having three No. 1 seeds in 2019 and winning three of five national titles (Duke in 2015, North Carolina in 2017 and Virginia in 2019). Things have been tougher since the COVID-19 pandemic, coinciding with the retirement of big-name coaches like UNC's Roy Williams, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. Or last year with the unexpected departure of Virginia's Tony Bennett weeks before tipoff. The league had seven bids during the bubbled 2021 tournament in Indiana, then fell to five for three straight seasons before sliding to four this year, its first as an expanded 18-team basketball conference. By comparison, the ACC had just 12 teams the last time it got just four bids in 2013. And yet, the league also had both UNC and Duke in the Final Four in 2022, Miami there in 2023, N.C. State in 2024 and Duke again in April. The ACC joins the SEC in playing 18 games. The Big Ten and Big 12 play 20-game slates. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: and recommended in this topic
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
ACC cuts 20-game men's basketball slate to make room for more nonconference games, AP source says
The Atlantic Coast Conference is reducing its 20-game men's basketball schedule to 18, giving teams two more spots for marquee nonconference games in a bid to boost a league getting a dwindling haul of NCAA Tournament bids, a person familiar with the decision said Wednesday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the ACC hasn't officially announced the move, which was first reported by CBS Sports. Advertisement The change for this fall comes after commissioner Jim Phillips has been vocal about spending the past two seasons examining the conundrum of the ACC getting fewer bids — down to four this year, its lowest haul since 2013 — despite having teams regularly playing deep into March. Going to 18 games could make room for schools to add quality nonconference matchups to help their schedule strength — and therefore the ACC's stature, provided of course the league wins its share of measuring-stick games, unlike last year. The league moved to a 20-game slate for the 2019-20 season with its ESPN-partnered launch of the ACC Network. At the time, the ACC was coming off a fourth straight season with at least seven NCAA bids — including a record nine in 2018 and 2019 — while having three No. 1 seeds in 2019 and winning three of five national titles (Duke in 2015, North Carolina in 2017 and Virginia in 2019). Things have been tougher since the COVID-19 pandemic, coinciding with the retirement of big-name coaches like UNC's Roy Williams, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. Or last year with the unexpected departure of Virginia's Tony Bennett weeks before tipoff. The league had seven bids during the bubbled 2021 tournament in Indiana, then fell to five for three straight seasons before sliding to four this year, its first as an expanded 18-team basketball conference. By comparison, the ACC had just 12 teams the last time it got just four bids in 2013. Advertisement And yet, the league also had both UNC and Duke in the Final Four in 2022, Miami there in 2023, N.C. State in 2024 and Duke again in April. The ACC joins the SEC in playing 18 games. The Big Ten and Big 12 play 20-game slates. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: and
