Complaints from ACC basketball not logical

By Lenox Rawlings
JOURNAL COLUMNIST

ACC expansion hurt ACC basketball, and NCAA rejection hurt the ACC basketball ego. Only four of the 12 teams made the 2006 NCAA field, attracting some ACC apologists to Coach Jim Boeheim's campaign for expanding the tournament. During spring meetings at the Ritz-Carlton on Florida's Amelia Island, Commissioner John Swofford endorsed enlarging the draw beyond the current 65 teams.

Few spectacles can match the absurdity of wealthy folks on expense accounts at an island resort joining a protest march.

Question: "Where do you dump the courtesy Mercedes before you pick up the sign on the stick?"

Answer: "Valet parking, you imbecile."

In the latest installment of "Welfare for Millionaires," ACC coaches and bureaucrats deride the selection committee's disrespect. Their essential argument: ACC teams deserve more recognition for the pressures endured and performances required in America's toughest conference.

That sounds fine, but last season the rhetoric far exceeded the product. No ACC team reached a regional final, only the second time that had occurred since 1979. North Carolina and N.C. State survived one round. Duke and Boston College survived two. The SEC qualified two teams for the Final Four, champion Florida and semifinal loser LSU.

The Collegiate Basketball News, which produces a computerized ratings percentage index of teams and leagues, ranked the ACC fourth behind the SEC, Big Ten and Big East.

The NCAA selection committee's final computer rankings had Duke No. 1, Carolina 14, Boston College 17, N.C. State 51, Maryland 60, FSU 70, Miami 72, Clemson 79, Virginia 80, Wake Forest 89, Virginia Tech 148 and Georgia Tech 162 (trailing Georgia, Georgia Southern, George Washington, George Mason, Georgetown, Tennessee Tech, Louisiana Tech, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech).

FSU played a dog of a schedule

ACC lobbyists offered two candidates for the bubble, which burst abruptly during the ACC Tournament. FSU, which had beaten Duke at home and lost its four other games against ranked teams, finished the ACC season 9-7. The Seminoles melted against last-place Wake Forest in the first round, checked out 78-66 and presented a 19-9 record to the selectors.

That should have been the end of the story. For the umpteenth year, FSU refused to recognize the committee's insistence on a solid nonconference schedule. Other than losing to Florida in an unavoidable rivalry game, FSU took a pass. The Seminoles played just one nonconference game outside the state, beating Bowling Green in Alabama, and mostly played dregs, which left their outside schedule on the dog side of No. 300.

The argument that a winning ACC record should guarantee a spot worked in the past, but expansion mangled the schedule and diluted ACC schedule strength. FSU played Duke twice but had just one game each against Carolina, BC and N.C. State. America's toughest conference should generate more than four games against ranked teams.

Maryland (19-12, 8-8 at the decision hour) beat BC in December but went 0-7 in other games against ranked teams, won only two road games (Georgia Tech, Virginia) and shot 35 percent while fading 80-66 against BC in the ACC quarterfinals.

The Terps demonstrated their mettle in the NIT, which Coach Gary Williams planned to skip until Athletics Director Debbie Yow overruled him. In the swift end, Williams missed only a couple of tee times. Maryland tapped out in its first game, against Manhattan.

FSU fared slightly better, beating Butler before dropping a home overtime game to South Carolina 69-68. The Gamecocks (23-15) won the NIT for the second straight year and jumped from No. 62 to No. 36 in the NCAA's computer rankings.

The committee picks 34 at-large teams, which means that teams ranked No. 60 (Maryland) and No. 70 (FSU) would need massive expansion to deserve inclusion. Maybe the ACC should stop whining and deal with facts, including the silent backlash against a bully league luring three schools from the Big East and causing residual upheaval.

Maybe Leonard Hamilton, the FSU coach, should soften his questioning of NCAA reps and strengthen his schedule.

Maybe the ACC should spend less time grandstanding and more time putting some passion in the grandstands for the painfully emotionless first day of the expanded ACC Tournament. In the old ACC, people skipped work to see the quarterfinals. Now it takes an entire day to qualify teams for the quarterfinals, and many ticket-holders skip basketball in favor of work.

Maybe the NCAA should stop waffling and eliminate the ridiculous play-in game between Team No. 64 and Team No. 65. If the NCAA subtracted one more at-large entry, Air Force would have to stay home. Big deal.

The real-world view of expansion: CBS holds the cards. CBS covers 90 percent of the NCAA's budget for all sports through the basketball contract worth $6 billion over 11 years, or $545 million per.

CBS will decide if and when it wants expansion, and the NCAA will slap the rubber stamp on that document after several committee meetings at island resorts and a big national convention - all expenses paid, all the time.

? Lenox Rawlings can be reached at lrawlings@wsjournal.com

This didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. The ACC is crying over spilt milk. Other than ACC fans, who cares?

Quote:Maybe the ACC should spend less time grandstanding and more time putting some passion in the grandstands for the painfully emotionless first day of the expanded ACC Tournament. In the old ACC, people skipped work to see the quarterfinals. Now it takes an entire day to qualify teams for the quarterfinals, and many ticket-holders skip basketball in favor of work.

lmfao lmfao

Didnt we have some acc folks over here arguing that the acc tourny was more exciting than the BE tourney?

cuseroc Wrote:

Quote:Maybe the ACC should spend less time grandstanding and more time putting some passion in the grandstands for the painfully emotionless first day of the expanded ACC Tournament. In the old ACC, people skipped work to see the quarterfinals. Now it takes an entire day to qualify teams for the quarterfinals, and many ticket-holders skip basketball in favor of work.

lmfao lmfao

Didnt we have some acc folks over here arguing that the acc tourny was more exciting than the BE tourney?

It still is, as far as I'm concerned.

I think they should expand to 68 but i doubt CBS would go for more, nor should they since it would dilute the tourney too much, bottom line don't kill the....

MongoSlade Wrote:

cuseroc Wrote:

Quote:Maybe the ACC should spend less time grandstanding and more time putting some passion in the grandstands for the painfully emotionless first day of the expanded ACC Tournament. In the old ACC, people skipped work to see the quarterfinals. Now it takes an entire day to qualify teams for the quarterfinals, and many ticket-holders skip basketball in favor of work.

lmfao lmfao

Didnt we have some acc folks over here arguing that the acc tourny was more exciting than the BE tourney?

It still is, as far as I'm concerned.

Thats funny, but obviously your opinion means poo. The media in your own state seems to think its pretty boring. I agree. Especially on the second evening when I saw all those empty seats.

Oh Yeah: lmfao

I am not a acc fan. Never have been and never will be. acc basketball is still big in the state of North Carolina but it is not what it once was. Even before expansion. When I was a kid, before cable, acc basketball would be all over one of the 3 stations you could get. Now it is on 1 of the 80 possible channels. It is not the brainwashing that it once was. I have spoken to the sportscaster at the local ABC affiliate in eastern NC. When they carry the acc games they are LAST when compared to the local CBS and NBC stations. They are required to carry games like Ga Tech/Clemson or Wake/Florida St. The only game that really carries huge interest is duke/unc-ch. That game is usually picked up by ESPN on prime time.

Before expansion. Even before adding Florida St. The acc was concentrated and support was huge in North Carolina. After the league went to Florida and then finally from Florida to Boston. The dilution began. It is a lot like NASCAR used to be in North Carolina. Of course NASCAR draws interest from all over the country. The fans in Kansas or Oklahoma or California are just as interested. Nobody in North Carolina cares about Boston College. Miami or Florida St. either. Nobody in Boston cares about Wake Forest or Clemson. I am not real sure that people in Boston really care about BC.

The acc is still huge business. Probably bigger than ever due to the amounts of money involved in college sports now. But they do not carry the passion in NC that they once did.

bluesox Wrote:I think they should expand to 68 but i doubt CBS would go for more, nor should they since it would dilute the tourney too much, bottom line don't kill the....

I disagree. Since they have 65 teams and 1 "play-in" game, it only makes sense to go to 68 teams and 4 "play-in" games. That means CBS could televise a Tuesday night doubleheader and a Wednesday night doubleheader during which time they could severely overhype the action coming up all day on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

This would also give two whole nights of prime time exposure to eight teams that CBS would probably never acknowledge the existence of otherwise. The real question is probably if CBS wants to do away with two more nights of their usual prime time shows. So it would come down to which would make more money, the NCAA or their TV shows?