The ACC is strongly considering reducing its conference schedule so teams can schedule more marquee nonconference games and improve the league’s chances of landing more at-large teams in the NCAA Tournament, CBS Sports has learned.
Commissioner Jim Phillips, the conference’s athletics directors and ESPN have been in active discussions to move from 20 conference games to 18 starting with the 2025-26 season, sources told CBS Sports. The expectation among administrators is that the proposal will be approved when the league’s administrators meet in May for its annual spring meetings in Florida, sources said.
The ACC declined to comment Monday when reached by CBS Sports.
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The 18-game proposal discussed by the ACC’s administrators would consist of one game against 16 teams and two games against a permanent rival (home and away) each season, sources said. The league’s 20-game schedule last season consisted of two repeat opponents, with new members Cal, SMU and Stanford grouped together as partners.
The ACC is in the midst of one of the worst stretches of its proud history in March Madness. The league placed only four teams in the NCAA Tournament in March, the lowest percentage (22.2%) in its history, and only one team (Duke) advanced beyond the first round. The ACC ranked last among the five high-major conferences in the KenPom.com ratings for the 204-25 season.
2024-25 top conferences
KenPom rankings of major conferences in 2024-25 by NetRtg of team expected to go .500 in conference play.
Rank Conference Rating 1 SEC +22.09 2 Big Ten +19.00 3 Big…..
