ACC Basketball: League faces mid-major problems in conference play

Bubble teams in the ACC could make it more difficult for themselves to get bids

When we talk about mid-major conferences getting more than one bid to the NCAA Tournament it is because the overall strength of the conference, especially at the top is better than usual. But ultimately what ends up happening to the league is that their end up being a top team in the conference but the other top teams all end up beating each other, thus ending any hopes of being a multi-bid league.

This year the ACC could face something similar, albeit on a different scale. Duke is clearly the class of the ACC but the problem comes after that with any number of teams making up the next 2-6 teams, the possibility that the league may cannibalize itself to the point that getting any more than three or four bids may prove to be difficult. How teams like Virginia, North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, and Wake Forest in the first couple of weeks will be immensely important to the league heading toward March.

For this reason, every game that doesn’t involve Duke is critical for the league, creating some sort of hierarchy behind the Blue Devils will be important in getting the league as many bids as possible. If there is no separation behind Duke and the ACC becomes a product of the phenomenon of mid-major cannibalism, bids may be hard to come by for the conference this season.