{"id":138360,"date":"2025-05-07T15:35:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T19:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=138360"},"modified":"2025-05-07T15:35:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T19:35:40","slug":"accs-decision-reduce-schedule-18-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/07\/accs-decision-reduce-schedule-18-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: ACC to Reduce Number of Conference Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The ACC had a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/22\/is-there-any-hope-after-the-accs-24-25-season-failures\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">disappointing 2024-25 season<\/a>. They&#8217;ve had a disappointing series of seasons despite some success in the NCAA Tournament. However, this past season was clearly the tipping point, as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/16\/north-carolina-tournament-bid\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">North Carolina barely squeaked in<\/a> as the fourth team from the conference. With the catastrophic freefall that has left <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/04\/pitt-acc-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">ACC basketball dead<\/a>, the ACC is reportedly set\u00a0to reduce the number of conference games from 20 to 18. While there are certainly some pros to this philosophy, that doesn&#8217;t change the product on the court. Playing two fewer conference games doesn&#8217;t end the ACC&#8217;s problems.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sources: ACC ADs have officially approved moving to an 18-game schedule in basketball, sources tell <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBSSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@CBSSports<\/a>. League had been on a 20-gamer since 2019-20 (save the COVID year). Decision was made in part because the ACC only sent four of its 18 teams to the men\u2019s NCAAT this yr.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MattNorlander\/status\/1920137651627217366?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Report: ACC to Reduce Number of Conference Games<\/h2>\n<h3>Pros of an 18-game Schedule<\/h3>\n<p>For many, the move doesn&#8217;t seem important. However, reducing the ACC conference schedules to 18 games does, in theory, remove some worse opponents. For example, teams that played Miami twice last season had two lose-lose games guaranteed: a win meant nothing, but a loss meant everything. With the current schedule, teams played three opponents multiple times. Now, only an unlucky draw would pin a team against the worst opponents in the conference twice.<\/p>\n<p>The move also allows for more high-profile non-conference games. Most teams will take advantage of two fewer conference games to schedule two non-conference opponents of their choice. If they are smart, they will be against power conference opponents, but even teams like Dayton or St. Bonaventure, borderline NCAA Tournament teams, would boost their resumes. Playing two fewer power conference opponents every season should give more flexibility in the non-conference.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_138384\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-138384\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_24444478_168404824_lowres-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-138384\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_24444478_168404824_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_24444478_168404824_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_24444478_168404824_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_24444478_168404824_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_24444478_168404824_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_24444478_168404824_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_24444478_168404824_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_24444478_168404824_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-138384\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oct 9, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; ACC commissioner Jim Phillips during ACC Media Days at The Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Cons of an 18-game Schedule<\/h3>\n<p>Reducing the ACC schedule to 18 games implies a smaller chance of playing a bad opponent twice. However, it also reduces the probability of playing an NCAA Tournament contender like Duke more than once. Every win or loss against powerhouse opponents means more than a win against a bottom-tier opponent. When Boston College plays Duke twice in one season every 17 years, there isn&#8217;t that huge resume-booster.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, many schools won&#8217;t take advantage of the openings. Stanford and SMU are good examples of teams that scheduled a few quality opponents in the non-conference, ultimately ending their NCAA Tournament chances before they began. Playing a 20-game schedule at least forced them to play at least 20 power conference opponents.<\/p>\n<h3>Reducing the ACC Schedule to 18 Games Changes Nothing<\/h3>\n<p>Ultimately, nothing will change the perception of the conference outside of one thing: wins. While the ACC continues to lose important non-conference games, it will continue to plummet as a respectable conference. The only way for the ACC to get any respect is to win meaningful non-conference games at a higher rate from top to bottom. Duke lost two non-conference games early, but their dominant showing after that solidified them as a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/18\/duke-2025-national-championship\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">national championship contender.<\/a> Other than that, most teams struggled to win important games in the non-conference. The only exception, Pitt, wilted in the conference and found themselves completely off the bubble.<\/p>\n<h3>How Each Team Should Attack This Schedule<\/h3>\n<p>Each athletic director needs to have a plan to improve the perception. It starts at the top and the bottom. If the worst teams are better, the middle teams will be too. If the top of the conference is better, there will be more opportunities for higher-quality wins. <a href=\"https:\/\/bracketologists.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Q1 wins in the NET<\/a> continue to be the best way to improve your seed. Any opponents inside the top 30 at home and the top 75 on the road will count as a Q1 game. The SEC loaded up Q1 wins because they had <a href=\"https:\/\/bracketologists.com\/conference\/SEC\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">eight teams in the top 30 and 14 teams in the top 75.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>How could the ACC get to a better spot? There are two ways for each team to achieve this. First, each team should schedule several opponents from one-bid conferences. However, they should be teams that are higher in the conference. A game against the 110th-ranked team would be significantly more impactful than one against the 300th-ranked team. Assuming you beat them, a Q4 win turns into a Q3.<\/p>\n<p>Second, each team should look to schedule beatable opponents from power conferences or mid-majors. Dayton is a great example, but so are teams like LSU, Minnesota, and TCU from this past season. They will be much better wins than some other options while helping improve conference perception. Reducing the number of ACC conference games is only effective if each team schedules some better opponents to take their place.<\/p>\n<p>However, at the end of the day, each team needs to win. Bad upsets cannot continue to happen. A poor non-conference schedule shouldn&#8217;t be an excuse anymore. Perception changes on the court: it&#8217;s time for these teams, coaches, and players to step up and elevate this conference again.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Featured image: \u00a9 David Yeazell-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ACC had a disappointing 2024-25 season. They&#8217;ve had a disappointing series of seasons despite some success in the NCAA Tournament. However, this past season was clearly the tipping point, as North Carolina barely squeaked in as the fourth team from the conference. With the catastrophic freefall that has left ACC basketball dead, the ACC [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5370,"featured_media":138383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773,3],"tags":[3120],"class_list":["post-138360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","category-news","tag-acc-basketball"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138360"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138385,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138360\/revisions\/138385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}