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Viewed From Virtually Every Angle, ACC Remains March Madness King

By David Glenn

 

Soon after Miami had clinched its spot in the 2023 Final Four, Hurricanes guard Isaiah Wong fielded a media question about the team’s impressive ability to battle through difficult moments.

Wong, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, had just finished helping Miami survive a potentially intimidating NCAA Tournament gauntlet. In the Midwest region, the #5 seed Hurricanes had defeated #4 seed Indiana in the second round, #1 seed Houston in the Sweet 16, and #2 seed Texas in the Elite Eight.

The Hoosiers had finished second in the Big Ten, which was considered the second-best conference in America this season. The Cougars, regular-season champs in the American Athletic Conference, had entered the Big Dance with a #2 national ranking. The Longhorns were the last team standing from the Big 12, which was considered the nation’s top league in 2022-23.

As Wong contemplated the media’s question, which simply asked about persistence and didn’t mention anything about conference affiliation, he immediately thought of his league: the ACC.

“I would just say I thank the ACC for preparing us for these types of games,” Wong said. “Every game we played in the ACC is always a close game. It’s always a shot to win.

“I feel like, coming into March, we’d been in those types of situations, and we played good. We weren’t afraid or scared of any situation. We just stuck together and played together throughout the game. I would just say I appreciate the ACC for the competition.”

Miami (29-7), which tied Virginia atop the ACC standings during the regular season, will face Connecticut (29-8) on Saturday (8:49 pm, CBS) in Houston. San Diego State (31-6) will take on Florida Atlantic (35-3) in the first national semifinal (6:09 pm, CBS).

Many ACC fans and followers had some fun with the fact that, even after a regular season in which the Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12 were considered higher-ranked leagues, none of them had a single entry in this year’s Final Four. That evoked memories of last March, when Duke and North Carolina both made the Final Four after another regular season replete with negative ACC narratives.

 

Even over longer periods, the ACC fares extremely well on the Final Four litmus test.

Final Four appearances, of course, are merely one measuring stick for conference greatness.

Perhaps a larger sample size, say, a league’s overall NCAA Tournament record, would be more meaningful. Fair enough.

Whether one looks back over eight years or 80-plus years (to the debut of the NCAA Tournament in 1939), and whether one looks at total victories or winning percentage, the ACC again ends up looking better than everybody else … often by a wide margin.

NCAA Tournament Wins/Records By Conference

(Last Eight Events: 2015-23^)

  • ACC — 99-51 (.660)
  • Big 12 — 76-51 (.598)
  • Pac-12 — 47-32 (.595)
  • Big East — 51-40 (.560)
  • SEC — 61-48 (.560)
  • Big Ten — 70-58 (.547)

^-no NCAA Tournament in 2020 (COVID)

Yes, the ACC really does have 23 more NCAA Tournament wins than the next-best league over the last nine years (eight tournaments). Perhaps it’s even more impressive, given conferences’ different sizes, that the ACC’s winning percentage is so much higher than everyone else’s.

Just in case anyone might think the eight-year time frame might reflect a case of partisan cherry-picking, consider that the ACC’s all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage is the best in history, too, and that’s the case no matter how one defines conference affiliation.

Going by current conference membership (this includes games won/lost by current members before they joined the league), the ACC’s all-time NCAA Tournament record is 664-408 (.619). Going by leagues’ year-by-year membership (this includes games won/lost by former members Maryland and South Carolina but not those of current members before they joined the league), the ACC’s all-time NCAA Tournament record is 475-249 (.656).

Both ACC winning percentages also are the best in the history of the NCAA Tournament, and it’s not close. What could possibly be a better gauge of long-term greatness than the entirety of a 70-year-old league’s March Madness track record?

Well, some argue that national championships are the best measuring stick of all. Others, of course, suggest that too much weight is put on NCAA titles, given the finicky, unpredictable nature of winning close games and running the table during March Madness. That’s one reason the full-body-of-work perspective outlined above also was worth including here.

No matter what happens with the Miami Hurricanes in Houston on Saturday and possibly Monday night, the ACC will continue to sit atop the NCAA championship mountain, too. Again, that will remain the case no matter how one measures conference membership.

Thanks mainly to North Carolina (six NCAA titles) and Duke (five NCAA titles), but also to several other schools in either scenario, no conference ranks above the ACC — whether the calculations are done by current membership or annual membership — when it comes to college basketball’s ultimate team prize.

All-Time NCAA Titles

(By Current League Membership; 1939-2022)

  • ACC — 18 (UNC-6, Duke-5, Louisville-3, NC State-2, Syracuse, Virginia)
  • Pac-12 — 16 (UCLA-11, Arizona, California, Oregon, Stanford, Utah)
  • Big Ten — 11 (Indiana-5, Michigan State-2, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin)
  • SEC — 11 (Kentucky-8, Florida-2, Arkansas)
  • Big East — 9 (Connecticut-4, Villanova-3, Georgetown, Marquette)
  • Big 12 — 7 (Kansas-4, Oklahoma State-2, Baylor)
  • American — 2 (Cincinnati-2)
  • Mountain West — 2 (UNLV, Wyoming)
  • West Coast — 2 (San Francisco-2)
  • Atlantic-10 — 1 (LaSalle)
  • Conference USA — 1 (Texas Western=UTEP)
  • CUNY* — 1 (City College of New York=CCNY)
  • Missouri Valley — 1 (Loyola-Chicago)
  • Patriot League — 1 (Holy Cross)

All-Time NCAA Titles

(By Annual League Membership; 1939-2022)

  • ACC — 15 (UNC-6, Duke-5, NC State-2, Maryland, Virginia)
  • Pac-12 — 15 (UCLA-11, Arizona, California, Oregon, Stanford)
  • SEC — 11 (Kentucky-8, Florida-2, Arkansas)
  • Big Ten — 10 (Indiana-5, Michigan State-2, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin)
  • Big East — 9 (Connecticut-3, Villanova-3, Georgetown, Louisville, Syracuse)
  • Independents (no league affiliation) — 6 (Utah 1944, Holy Cross 1947, LaSalle 1954, Loyola-Chicago 1963, Texas Western/UTEP 1966, Marquette 1977)
  • Big 12 — 5 (Kansas-4, Baylor)
  • Missouri Valley — 4 (Oklahoma State 1945/1946, Cincinnati 1961/1962)
  • Metro — 2 (Louisville 1980/1986)
  • West Coast — 2 (San Francisco 1955/1956)
  • American — 1 (Connecticut 2014)
  • Big West — 1 (UNLV 1990)
  • CUNY* — 1 (City College of New York/CCNY 1950)
  • Mountain States — 1 (Wyoming 1943)

*-CUNY/CCNY (1950 NCAA champion) now competes at the NCAA Division 3 level

Here, too, the ACC ranks on top whether one takes the longest possible view (1939-2022; see above) or examines a shorter time frame. Since the beginning of the 2000s, in fact, the ACC’s championship advantage over other leagues is enormous when viewed by current membership and dominant over every conference except the Big East when viewed by annual membership.

Most Recent NCAA Titles

(By Current League Membership; 2000-22)

  • ACC — 9 (Duke 2001/2010/2015, UNC 2005/2009/2017, Syracuse^ 2003, Louisville^ 2013, Virginia 2019)
  • Big East — 5 (Connecticut 2004/2011/2014, Villanova 2016/2018)
  • Big 12 — 3 (Kansas 2008/2022, Baylor 2021)
  • SEC — 3 (Florida 2006/2007, Kentucky 2012)
  • Big Ten — 2 (Maryland^ 2002, Michigan State 2000)

^-member of different league at time of title

Most Recent NCAA Titles

(By Annual League Membership; 2000-22)

  • ACC — 8 (Duke 2001/2010/2015, UNC 2005/2009/2017, Maryland 2002, Virginia 2019)
  • Big East — 6 (Connecticut 2004/2011, Villanova 2016/2018, Syracuse 2003, Louisville 2013)
  • Big 12 — 3 (Kansas 2008/2022, Baylor 2021)
  • SEC — 3 (Florida 2006/2007, Kentucky 2012)
  • American — 1 (Connecticut 2014)
  • Big Ten — 1 (Michigan State 2000)

That’s the updated view from many important angles, all of which suggest that the ACC remains the undisputed king of March Madness.

(featured image via Associated Press)