Bring On The ACC

The venerable CIAA has come and gone. Now it’s time for the new look Atlantic Coast Conference, familiarly known as the ACC, with its span-the-East Coast fandom to descend upon the Queen City. Traditionalists still prefer to think of the ACC as a southern institution, which for many years it was. We will cover more about that later.

In the mean time, I would be remiss to fail to at least mention, Senator Obama, as expected prevailed over Senator Clinton yesterday in the Mississippi Democratic Primary. In a development, somewhat slower to unfold, the Senator from Illinois also bested Clinton in the Texas Caucuses last week. This results in Obama winning more delegates in Texas than Clinton, even though she won the State’s Primary.

The Republican and Democratic Primary scenes continue on very different paths. Senator John McCain has clinched the Republican nomination, and as such continues to click off the contests in an all but ceremonial fashion.

On the other side of the aisle, the Democrats move forward seeming destined to battle until the Convention. While many pundits and analysts theorize the combination of Obama’s current delegate total, combined with the current trend line, amount to his having built an insurmountable lead. The rub, of course is, that same trend line suggests it’s impossible for him to secure the 2,025 delegates necessary to clinch the nomination. For the candidates and their supporters, it appears to be, “Denver here we come.”

Now, back to basketball…The ACC will arrive in Charlotte Thursday, and with it, teams and their fans from as far away as Boston and Miami, and as near as Winston-Salem. Twelve teams in all, each looking forward to the possibilities of a new season, at least theoretically. The fact of the matter is, especially with seeding being used, the chances of a bottom seed winning four games in four days, against progressively stiffer competition are slim and none. It has never happened before, and with two of the Top 7 teams in America likely waiting, it is probably not going to happen this year either.

The Conference Tournament is held each year to determine the official Conference Champion, the school that wins the ACC Tournament will carry the designation of Conference representative in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA Tournament, which commences the following week. There will also be at-large representatives, selected based on their success during the course of the college basketball season.

CBS, which has broadcast the NCAA Tournament, and several conference tournaments for many years coined the phrase, The Road to the Final Four. After the ACC and other Division I tournaments are completed, next Sunday afternoon, Selection Sunday will ensue. The ACC hopes to send as many teams as possible to the Big Dance, as it is called.

The ACC was formed in 1953, by 7 member schools, 6 of which remain. The 7 original members were Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest. Virginia was admitted later in the same year.

South Carolina left the Conference in 1971. Georgia Tech was added in 1978, and Florida State joined in 1991. Miami and Virginia Tech were added in 2004, and Boston College joined in 2005, completing the current complement of schools. The 12-member Conference is comprised of 8 public institutions, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech, and 4 private, Boston College, Duke, Miami, and Wake Forest.

As was the case with the CIAA before it, and the NCAA after, the ACC will bring lots of fans who will attend lots of parties, and spend loads of money, bolstering the local Charlotte economy. There will be a vigorous mixture of sport, spending, and general revelry. Roy Williams, coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels has frequently referred to the Tournament as a great cocktail party for the fans.

Williams is not enamored with the Tourney because in order to win it, his team will have to play, three consecutive days, at a high level. As the Number 1 team in the Country, the Tar Heels are assured of continuing play the following week in the NCAA Tournament, even if they lose the first game in Charlotte. He is concerned about fatigue, and this year especially, injury. Several Tar Heel players have been injured during the season, and one was lost for the season in December. The starting point guard missed nearly a month of the season. It is obviously a sensitive subject.

Other coaches of teams on the so-called bubble have a decidedly different perspective. Because their teams need to win additional games, or the Tournament itself, in order to advance and play in the NCAA Tourney, they embrace the ACC Tournament as a new season, complete with the opportunity to prove themselves worthy to keep playing for a Championship.

A variety of columnists, analysts, and other pundits have weighed in with what they expect to happen here this week. As a fan of the game, I am excited for Charlotte. As a Tar Heel fan, I am happy for Coach Williams, and the members of the team. But mostly, as a card-carrying Carolina alum and member of the Tar Heel Nation, I am proud and elated that this Tar Heel team has had a great year to date, and that they have an opportunity to continue in pursuit of their goal to join the great Tar Heel teams of 1957, 1982, 1993, and 2005 by winning a National Championship. GO HEELS!

OK, I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com, or by Googling thesphinxofcharlotte. A new post is published each Wednesday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACC_Tournament

http://www.theacc.com/

http://www.gotickets.com/sports/college_basketball/acc_tournament.php

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/story/993621.html

http://www.charlotte.com/sports_breaking/story/531130.html

http://www.charlotte.com/sports_breaking/story/531125.html

http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/18-932061.cfm

http://northcarolina.scout.com/2/736299.html

http://northcarolina.scout.com/2/736604.html

http://www.sportsline.com/video/player/play/videos/NWOSahXx_YSbp_gCaXWLAKhYObdrcft2

http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/tournaments/conference/ACC