With the Duke Blue Devils bowing out against UConn in a disastrous final 10 possession, the ACC did not have a team in the Final 4 for the first time since 2021. It wasn’t a total washout of a NCAA tournament, but it wasn’t good either. The ACC was in fact an improved league getting 8 teams in the Big Dance, but the Tourney results can’t be denied. USA Today writer @MattZemek wrote about a week ago about the state of ACC basketball. When Mr. Zemek writes about college athletics and the ACC we’re going to pay attention.
What did he have to say in his article about the state of the ACC? Here are some highlights.
Miami won an NCAA Tournament game before getting knocked out by Purdue. The Hurricanes were a clear success story this season despite not making the Sweet 16. Jai Lucas looks like a very good hire, a young coach with a very promising future.
Virginia didn’t get to the Sweet 16, but the larger story around the program is positive.
If Louisville can just get — and stay — healthy, it can be a serious national player. Once again: The fact that a team didn’t make the Sweet 16 doesn’t mean its future isn’t positive.
On balance, ACC basketball programs are improving their understanding of what they need to do. 2027 might not deliver a big NCAA Tournament, but the main thing is for the ACC to continue to evolve as it did in 2026.
The ACC had 15 top 100 teams did year. The last few years, the ACC has struggled to get 4-5 bids.
There is no doubt the league is better, but while the Big 10, for example, had at least 4 or 5 legit top 15 teams, the ACC but 1 with Duke and maybe a fringe one with Virginia. If even seeds had held to form, the ACC would have only had 2 sweet 16 teams. Of course, there was some injury bad luck. SMU, UNC, Duke, Virginia, Louisville, and Clemson all were dealing with injuries to significant contributors, and NC State had a coach that was already checked out.
Don’t worry, NC State, you are better off with Will Wade. He would have probably left you on probabtion, or bailed on you ala Lane Kiffin with a top 10 team one day.
The league is not where it needs to be. There needs to be an additional elite team or two outside of Duke, but for the first time in some years, there is legit depth to the ACC.
