ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips: ‘This league has been undervalued’

CHARLOTTE — When ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips took the stage at the league’s media day Wednesday, he touted the success the conference has had in both men’s and women’s basketball. 

Phillips rattled off statistics proving the ACC leads the nation in both NCAA Tournaments, including having the most wins on the women’s side since 2019 (60), while the conference boasted the most teams in the men’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight a year ago. 

But while he had the data to back his claim that the ACC is the “premier” collegiate basketball conference, Phillips recognized the league has a perception issue nationally. 

“From top to bottom, this league has been undervalued,” Phillips said. “But it remains clear that the competition within the ACC prepares our teams for postseason play. 

The men’s side has only had 15 invites to the NCAA Tournament over the last three seasons, which Phillips took issue with — as the coaches around the league have as well. It was a discussion point during the season a year ago, and will likely be moving forward. 

“We just feel like the last three years with five invitations, each of those five years, is not reflective of the basketball that’s being played in this league, the coaches that are in this league, the student-athletes and players that are in this league that are matriculating into the NBA and all the rest of it from a players’ standpoint,” Phillips said. “We have to fix it.”

So how can the ACC address that? Phillips said the league office had a deep dive with multiple experts to address how the teams in the conference schedule. They looked at both conference and non-conference games and how that will impact the NCAA selection process. 

The result of that has been positive, Phillips said. He noted that teams have more aggressive non-conference schedules going into the 2024-25 season.

NC State, for example, has a home-and-home with Kansas set to begin this season, while it will play Texas in the ACC-SEC Challenge and it will play in the Rady Children’s Invitational against Purdue (and then either BYU or Ole Miss). 

Phillips also said the league will ratchet up its approach in showcasing the programs around the league. He likes what ACC Network can provide for the conference, but Phillips said to expect and even larger basketball presence on the league’s network. The ACC is also working with ESPN, its main television partner to promote the conference’s teams on a higher level for this season and the future. 

But even though the ACC can talk about scheduling tougher games or promoting the teams on a higher level, Phillips did admit NCAA Tournament selection all comes down to one thing: Winning games. 

“In the end it’s about winning games,” Phillips said. “It’s about what we’re going to continue to do with scheduling, and I really believe the bottom of our league won’t be maybe as bad and in as difficult of a spot as they’ve been the last several years.”

While winning games is important for the ACC to gain more invitations to the Big Dance in March, Phillips stressed that the conference prepares its teams for March. 

Need an example? Look at what NC State men’s basketball did last season. The Wolfpack, which was the No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament, ran the table in Washington, D.C. to claim the conference crown. 

And then the Pack won four more games in the NCAA Tournament to reach the Final Four for the first time in 41 years. 

“[It] tells you if you play in this league, you have a chance,” Phillips said. “NC State, who nobody gave any opportunity to get even out of maybe the first day or two of the ACC tournament, let alone playing on the last weekend of the NCAA Tournament.”

NC State won games when it mattered in March. Now, the Wolfpack — and the rest of the league — has to do it in November and December to put the ACC in the driver’s seat within the NET rankings and the NCAA selection committee’s eyes. That’s the next test for the conference.