ACC reducing 20-game men's conference basketball schedule, shaking up rivalries

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Atlantic Coast Conference is reducing its 20-game men's basketball schedule to 18, giving teams two more spots for marquee nonconference games in a bid to boost a league getting a dwindling haul of NCAA tournament bids.

The move has major ramifications for traditional rivalries, some of which may be played only once per season. ACC teams would likely play only one conference opponent twice in the regular season under this new scenario. It's possible teams could schedule conference foes as non-conference games, as has happened already in college football.

"As a league, we have been transparent about the importance of ACC Men's Basketball and specifically our commitment to ensuring it is best positioned for the future," said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. "Moving to an 18-game conference schedule is a direct result of our ongoing strategic review and analysis and provides our schools a better balance of non-conference and conference games, while also allowing them more autonomy in the scheduling process. This decision reflects our ongoing prioritization to do what's best for ACC men's basketball, and we appreciate the thoughtfulness of our membership and the support from our television partners."

The ACC also designated "primary partners," which means that those teams would definitely play twice in the regular season. Each team would play one "variable partner" home and away as well. The variable partner will be determined each season. Teams will play one game, home or away, against 14 of the remaining 15 teams annually.

Duke and North Carolina will be primary partners. NC State gets Wake Forest as its primary partner. The rest of the teams are grouped mostly by regional lines.

The breakdown of 2025-26 opponents and conference schedules will be announced at a later date.

The change for this fall comes after Phillips has been vocal about spending the past two seasons examining the conundrum of the ACC getting fewer bids, down to four this year, its lowest haul since 2013, despite having teams regularly playing deep into March. Going to 18 games could make room for schools to add quality nonconference matchups to help their schedule strength - and therefore the ACC's stature, provided, of course, the league wins its share of measuring-stick games, unlike last year.

The league moved to a 20-game slate for the 2019-20 season with its ESPN-partnered launch of the ACC Network, though teams played fewer in 2020-21 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the ACC was coming off a fourth straight season with at least seven NCAA bids - including nine in 2018 and 2019 - while having three No. 1 seeds in 2019 and winning three of five national titles (Duke in 2015, North Carolina in 2017, and Virginia in 2019).

Things have been tougher since the pandemic, coinciding with the retirement of big-name coaches such as Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, UNC's Roy Williams, and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. Or last year with the unexpected departure of Virginia's Tony Bennett weeks before tipoff.

The league had seven bids during the bubbled 2021 tournament in Indiana, then fell to five for three consecutive seasons before sliding to four this year, its first as an expanded 18-team basketball conference. By comparison, the ACC had just 12 teams the last time it got just four bids in 2013.

And yet, the league also had both UNC and Duke in the Final Four in 2022, Miami there in 2023, N.C. State in 2024 and Duke again in April.

The ACC's move comes after a similar change for the Big 12, which announced in March that it would drop from 20 games to 18 after its coaches had expressed concerns about a grinding schedule with no time for rest. The SEC, which got a record 14 bids from its 16 teams last year, plays 18 games while the Big Ten plays 20.

The Associated Press contributed.