Following this academic year, the Atlantic Coast Conference will look a little different with the additions of Cal, Stanford, and SMU. The three programs will join the conference starting next year, adding a new dynamic to the historic conference.
While there will be changes to the schedules for sports, commissioner Jim Phillips doesn’t envision a big change that could happen. Instead of expanding the ACC Basketball Tournament to include every team, the commissioner plans to keep it the same moving forward.
During the 2023 ACC Tipoff, Phillips was asked about the possible expansion of the ACC Basketball Tournament and seemed to shoot down the idea.
“I think you’ve got to earn your way to play in I think the most prestigious postseason basketball tournaments in the country, and if you don’t get to a certain threshold, then you just don’t make it that year.
We’ll see.
It’s also — Tuesday through Saturday or Wednesday through Sunday, that’s been a nice flow. It’s been a nice flow I think for the media. It’s been a nice flow for our teams, for fans, our staff.
I’m not overly interested in adding one additional day. But we’ll listen to the membership and see what they have to say.”
The schedule of the ACC Tournament seems to be working and as Phillips said, you have to earn your way in. A five-day event is perfect for how it’s run and changing it would water it down just a little bit in my opinion.
While he didn’t totally axe the idea, we’d be a little shocked to see it expand anytime soon.
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