Whatever Happened to the ACC Tournament?

Back in the 1980's, there wasn't really such a thing as "Championship Week." There were a bunch of conference tournaments, but each conference's fans tended to focus mainly on their own tournament -- with the exception, of course, of the ACC Tournament. The ACC Tournament was the only one that had been played continuously during the 1960's and 1970's, before the NCAA Tournament was expanded, and it had established itself as must-see television at a time when college basketball was booming in popularity. And you can see why. Here are the ACC Tournament finals in the 1980's, with the MVP in parentheses:

1980: Duke 73, Maryland 72 (Albert King, Maryland)

1981: N. Carolina 61, Maryland 60 (Sam Perkins, UNC)

1982: N. Carolina 47, Virginia 45 (James Worthy, UNC)

1983: N. Carolina St. 81, Virginia 78 (Sidney Lowe, NCSU)

1984: Maryland 74, Duke 62 (Len Bias, Maryland)

1985: Georgia Tech 57, N. Carolina 54 (Mark Price, Georgia Tech)

1986: Duke 68, Georgia Tech 67 (Johnny Dawkins, Duke)

1987: N. Carolina St. 68, N. Carolina 67 (Vinnie Del Negro, NCSU)

1988: Duke 65, N. Carolina 61 (Danny Ferry, Duke)

1989: N. Carolina 77, Duke 74 (J.R. Reid, UNC)

As you can see, these were thrilling, hard-fought games, with big-name players at a number of different schools. But that's all changed. The ACC expanded, and being an ACC member was no longer as exclusive as it had once been. On the other hand, being Duke and UNC was still a big deal, so those teams left the others behind -- just as the Yankees and Red Sox have left the Orioles behind. And as ESPN and other East Coast media types jumped on the Duke/UNC bandwagon, the other ACC schools became little more than bit players in the ongoing saga of the two great Tobacco Road powers. There's the widespread -- and, in my opinion, true -- perception that the officiating in the ACC heavily favors Duke and UNC over everyone else. As a result of these developments, the other ACC schools found it more and more difficult to recruit players and coaches capable of competing with the Big Two, and the ACC Tournament went from being one of the most dramatic events of the year to being a Big Yawner. Here is the list of winners and MVP's during the 2000's:

2000: Duke 81, Maryland 68 (Jason Williams, Duke)

2001: Duke 79, N. Carolina 53 (Shane Battier, Duke)

2002: Duke 91, N. Carolina St. 61 (Carlos Boozer, Duke)

2003: Duke 84, N. Carolina St. 77 (Daniel Ewing, Duke)

2004: Maryland 95, Duke 87 (OT) (John Gilchrist, Maryland)

2005: Duke 69, Georgia Tech 64 (J.J. Redick, Duke)

2006: Duke 78, Boston College 76 (J.J. Redick, Duke)

2007: N. Carolina 89, N. Carolina St. 80 (Brandan Wright, UNC)

2008: N. Carolina 86, Clemson 81 (Tyler Hansborough, UNC)

2009: Duke 79, Florida St. 69 (Jon Scheyer, Duke)

Duke also won the title in 2010 and 2011. The Blue Devils were eliminated by Florida State today, but of course UNC is there to beat the Seminoles and left the title tomorrow. With the exception of Maryland's 2004 upset, the last team outside the Big Two was Tim Duncan's Wake Forest team in 1996, during Bill Clinton's first term.

And that's why even ESPN -- which has done more to promote Duke and UNC than any other media entity outside the state of North Carolina -- can't do much to promote the ACC Tournament these days. It's hard to generate drama when everyone knows how a tournament is going to come out.

Florida State has the usual puncher's chance today against UNC -- the Heels won't play Jon Henson, and the Noles beat UNC earlier in the year. But one game won't make that much of a difference, as Maryland's 2004 victory proved. Nor will adding Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the mix. It is true that Syracuse, in particular, has a rich basketball tradition. But until the ACC started promoting two schools to the exception of its other members, schools like North Carolina State and Maryland had rich traditions as well.

I realize that the SEC is the last place the Tobacco Road crowd would look for inspiration, but I think the ACC could learn a lot from how the SEC promotes football. The SEC doesn't promote Alabama and Florida to the exception of everyone else -- and it won't let ESPN or CBS do so either. By promoting the league as a whole, the SEC has strengthened all of its football programs, even the ones at South Carolina and Vanderbilt. By contrast, the ACC's decision to let ESPN and other outlets concentrate solely on Duke and Carolina, and to treat the other members as bit players in the ongoing Tobacco Road saga, has seriously weakened their conference.

It may be the case that Duke and Carolina have such a grip on the ACC that nothing can or will be done to change things in that league. That's a shame even for Kentucky fans, because the whole world of college basketball is distorted when a major conference is promoting two teams at the expense of everyone else. But when ACC types complain that the ACC Tournament isn't what it used to be, they shouldn't blame one-and-dones, or conference expansion, or the fact that there are just too many events on TV these days. They did this to themselves, and it won't change until they start treating all of their members fairly.