Another Sweet 16, and again the ACC leads all conferences with the number of Sweet 16 participants. This time 5 teams made the Sweet 16. In 2016 the ACC sent a record 6 teams. In 2015 there were 5 teams again, and in 2018 there were 4. In 2015 Duke won the national title. In 2017 UNC did the same. This is just recent accomplishments. The ACC is historically the best basketball conference in America.
There’s a threat coming, and it’s not from where you expect. The Big 10 has been pretty solid, but they haven’t had a national title since 2000. The Big 12 doesn’t have one since 2008, and put just 1 team in the Sweet 16 this year. The Pac 12? Let’s be serious.
It might just be the SEC. Sound crazy? I bet a few years ago you didn’t think the ACC would have 3 national titles to the SEC’s 2 since 2013 or that the ACC would be 28 – 26 against the SEC since 2014. I’m not calling the ACC the best football conference in the land. I am saying they’ve become a thorn in the side of the SEC. The SEC could do the same to the ACC in basketball.
This year the SEC has put 4 teams into the Sweet 16. That is second only to the ACC. In addition to that, the SEC has become extremely aggressive with their coaching hires. Established coaches like Bruce Pearl and Rick Barnes were hired at Auburn and Tennessee. LSU hired Will Wade, which on paper looked like an excellent move. The winning results are there, though LSU could end up in probation. South Carolina lured away Frank Martin from Kansas State and got a Final 4 out of it. Georgia hired former Indiana head coach Tom Crean, and is looking at their best recruiting class in years. That’s quite a roster of coaches in the SEC, and we haven’t yet mentioned John Calipari at Kentucky.
Arkansas, Alabama, Vanderbilt, and Texas A&M have all gotten rid of their coaches. Alabama has already hired highly successful Buffalo coach Nate Oates. Texas A&M is expected to seriously make a run at Virginia Tech’s Buzz Williams. That would rob the ACC of one of their best young coaches.
With the retirements of Jim Boehim, Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski, and Leonard Hamilton not all that far off, the ACC is facing a possible coaching vacuum. Don’t just think it will be replace and reload either. When UNC replaced Tar Heel legend Dean Smith with Matt Doherty, it was a disaster.
Virginia’s Tony Bennett and Louisville’s Chris Mack will keep the ACC relevant. Kevin Keatts will likely do the same at NC State. The concern is while SEC school’s are firing coaches in search of better results, ACC schools like Wake Forest and Boston College are hoping Danny Manning and Jim Christian get it figured out in year SIX of their tenures. That would be termed as the opposite of being aggressive.
The SEC has more money for sure and it is enabling them to have quick hooks, but it is what it is. The ACC still needs to pay attention to what their neighbors are doing.
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