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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation”, your every day information dose of the basketball of the Ilini Beat Author School and AP Prime 25, Scott Richey. He’ll present data each morning in Brad Underwood’s workforce and school basketball basically:
ACC introduced this week that he’ll return to an 18-game convention program in 2025-26, after enjoying 20 league events in 2019-20. It’s a return to the format that ACC utilized in 2012-13 to 2018-19.
The rationale? This is what ACC mentioned.
“As a league, we have been clear by way of the significance of Male ACC basketball and particularly our dedication to make sure that it’s best positioned for the long run,” ACC, mentioned Jim Phillips (previously Illinois supervisor for Lou Henson) within the official assertion. “The transition to an 18-game convention program is a direct results of our strategic overview and evaluation and provides our colleges a greater non-conference steadiness and convention video games, permitting them extra autonomy within the planning course of. This choice displays our steady prioritization to do what’s greatest for our member assist from our tv companions. ”
That’s … quite a lot of phrases that say nothing actually. What Phillips doesn’t say is that ACC has fallen in exhausting instances. The convention obtained a document document of 4 groups within the NCAA match of 2025, and it included North Carolina solely made the bottom within the first 4. A yr earlier than? Solely 5 match groups. A yr earlier than? Additionally, 5.
The highest of the ACC remained fairly sturdy. It’s the backside half (if no more) that has been drawn down the final worth of any ACC victory. Taking part in fewer video games in opposition to groups that may reserve the CV completely is clearly the aim right here. As a reference, in 2024-25, ACC had 5 groups ranked within the Prime 50 in Kenpom, then 5 extra between 51-100 and eight outdoors the highest 100., which included Miami in 193, which was solely higher than the catastrophe that was Seton Corridor among the many energy convention groups.
Will a smaller convention program assist ACC? We’ll see. However for now, it’s the fifth energy convention of 5 behind the century, Massive 12, Massive Ten and Massive East.
Talking of the Massive Ten, it’ll stay at 20 convention events for season 2025-26. The discussions within the league weren’t about contracting the slate of the convention, however about its extension. One thing helps the coach of Illinois, Brad Underwood.
Actually, Underwood is the voice alone within the wild that helps a totally Massive Ten Spherical program, the place everybody performs the opposite 17 groups twice. In fact, this might require the extension of the common season program past its present most of 31 video games.
“I would really like the League to play 34 league video games and play everybody twice,” Underwood mentioned after dropping Illinois at Michigan State in January, with Revance coming in February, as a result of the Spartans have been one of many three groups that Ilini acquired the collection at house and at house final season.
“We now have an actual league that performs everybody twice,” Underwood continued. “It would not be that enjoyable? Do not you assume the followers right here weren’t having fun with this? What about Champaign followers? Do now we have to have this recreation. Let’s play 34 league video games and all of us play twice. It will be enjoyable.”