Every week and every game is important in the sport of college basketball, though realistically, we’re still nearly two months away from Selection Sunday and the start of the NCAA Tournament. March Madness fever isn’t hitting quite yet, though this is the critical time when teams need to be making an impression if they hope to receive an at-large invitation to the Big Dance. Nobody’s season has been decided here in mid-January, but now is the time to stand out among the crowd.
Unfortunately, the ACC hasn’t exactly been standing out compared to the other power conferences. The SEC is jam-packed with top teams this season, the Big Ten has a number of ranked teams fighting in one of the most even races in the country, and the Big 12 has some truly elite teams at the top of the crop. Life is different in an ACC that used to rule this sport just a decade or two ago.
Right now Duke is unquestionably the cream of the crop and have a legitimate shot at an unbeaten run through league play. While that’s unlikely with some tough road environments, the other ACC teams are really not holding their weight. There are a number of competitive teams, but the list of uncompetitive ones is even longer.
Teams like NC State and Notre Dame have rough records and are reloading their talent, while Virginia and Miami have really bottomed out after their coaches have retired in recent months. Syracuse hasn’t been the same in recent memory, California is still adjusting to life in the ACC, and Virginia Tech is really struggling this season.
We didn’t quite detail every team’s woes and we’re not really focused on those bad teams anyways. Today’s focus is about the teams still fighting for inclusion in the NCAA Tournament. The ACC will get fewer bids than usual this season, especially with those leagues like the Big 12 and SEC ready to snatch a great number of them. We’ll look at the current condition of the teams currently in the projected field and close enough on the bubble, examining what’s to come and what these teams need to do to solidify their place in March Madness.