The response as reported:
It's been reported pretty widely that the ACC is right now looking at three, maybe four bids to the NCAA tournament, and it's considered a down year for the league. You've been involved in this league for a long time, a player coach, assistant coach. Do you think that the ACC needs to look at something like a merger with the Big East in basketball to create a super league and compete with the larger Big Ten and SEC for postseason visibility?
Capel: Yeah. I don't know. I just logged on. So I got to hear the end of Coach Shrewsbury and I heard that question, and that was the first I've heard of it. I mean, I'm not on social media right now. I don't really know what's going on. Whoever asked the question mentioned that Coach (Rick) Pitino had said something and that Danny Hurley had said something. I don't know the answer to that. I don't really, I know we need to do something.
Something needs to be done. We've expanded. I think we have as many teams as the SEC and the Big Ten. So I don't know if going to a super league or adding the Big East. I don't know how many teams the Big East has. So I don't know what that would go to. Would that be like a 30 team league? Like how does that even work? Do you play non-conference games? So I don't, I don't know that answer.
I do know that right now it does look like three or four teams. I think three solidly in right now. And then after that, I don't know. But I do know that something needs to be done. We need to be better. All the teams in the league need to be better and need to do a better job of non-conference everyone. I understand that. But as far as an answer, you know, that's where Commissioner Phillips and we all have great trust in him and belief in him. But I do know that something needs to be done.
Building off that, do you think that the ACC still suffers from like branding questions as far as like outside perception? Or do you think this year is more of a result of just, there was like you guys, the ACC, SEC challenge was really rough this year compared to previous year's challenges?
Capel: I do think that this year we just as the league did perform well in non-conference for whatever reason. I know some teams had a lot of guys, had some guys injured and some key guys. And that certainly plays into it. Certainly the NIL with our league compared to other leagues. I think that would be interesting to see as far as roster construction, specifically with the SEC, with the Big 10 and with the Big 12. I don't think this year it has to do with perception. I don't think that you mentioned the SEC, ACC challenge was rough for us this year, and when that happens early it's hard to shake that.
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A proposed alternative response:
When you are comparing conferences, I think the first thing you ought to consider is how conferences actually do in the NCAA tournament. Last year, we all heard all year that it was a down year for the ACC and about how great the Big 12 conference was, and how they were going to dominate the NCAA tournament. And I have a lot of respect for the Big 12 conference. But in the actual NCAA Tournament last year, the ACC put an 11 seed in the Final Four and a 6 seed and a 4 seed in the Elite 8. The other 30 conferences had 5 teams in the Elite Eight and the Big 12 had zero. In 2023, the ACC sent a 5 seed to the Final Four and our team, as an 11 seed, beat an SEC team and then beat a 6 seed from the Big 12 by 18 points. In 2022, the ACC had two teams in the Final Four and also sent a 10 seed to the Final 8. Since 2013, four different ACC schools have won national championships. During the same period, the SEC has zero national championships, and the Big 10 has not won a national championship since 2000.
This year, the SEC had a great non-conference season, especially against the ACC in the ACC Challenge as you mentioned, although keep in mind that Duke beat Auburn, Clemson beat Kentucky, and we split our two SEC games. But the SEC has a lot of good teams. The SEC will get a lot of bids, and it should, although maybe not quite as many bids as some people would give them. The other league that may get a lot of bids is the Big Ten. The ACC is 8-9 against the Big Ten, including our very good win at Ohio State, Wake Forest beating Michigan on a neutral court, North Carolina beating UCLA on a neutral court, and Louisville beating Indiana by 28 on a neutral court. On Saturday night, Duke beat Illinois, another one of the Big Ten teams expected to get a bid, by 40 points on a neutral court. I have a lot of respect for the Big Ten, too, but the idea that they should be getting nine or 10 bids while the ACC gets three or four bids is just wrong.
And let me say a word about my own team. We have had a rough stretch, to be sure. But we have a lot of basketball left to play and a lot of fight left in us. We still have time to turn this around and if we do, we will have a strong case for a bid. Last year, we had a really good team at the end, probably one of the best 20 or 25 teams in the country. We had freshman guards, really good ones, but it took time for us to come together. We were told last year that it did not matter, that what mattered was the non-conference schedule. Well, this year, if we can turn it around, just remember that we beat some really good teams in the non-conference, including the good road win I mentioned against a good Ohio State team, a 24 point win at home against a good West Virginia team, two of the bubble teams we would be competing against for a bid, and a double figure neutral court win over an LSU team that just beat another bubble team, Oklahoma, on the road, and also beat another bubble team, Arkansas.
So, let’s let it play out, let’s keep in mind how great the ACC has always been in the NCAA tournament, and let’s not give up on the Pitt Panthers. We certainly have not done so.
It's been reported pretty widely that the ACC is right now looking at three, maybe four bids to the NCAA tournament, and it's considered a down year for the league. You've been involved in this league for a long time, a player coach, assistant coach. Do you think that the ACC needs to look at something like a merger with the Big East in basketball to create a super league and compete with the larger Big Ten and SEC for postseason visibility?
Capel: Yeah. I don't know. I just logged on. So I got to hear the end of Coach Shrewsbury and I heard that question, and that was the first I've heard of it. I mean, I'm not on social media right now. I don't really know what's going on. Whoever asked the question mentioned that Coach (Rick) Pitino had said something and that Danny Hurley had said something. I don't know the answer to that. I don't really, I know we need to do something.
Something needs to be done. We've expanded. I think we have as many teams as the SEC and the Big Ten. So I don't know if going to a super league or adding the Big East. I don't know how many teams the Big East has. So I don't know what that would go to. Would that be like a 30 team league? Like how does that even work? Do you play non-conference games? So I don't, I don't know that answer.
I do know that right now it does look like three or four teams. I think three solidly in right now. And then after that, I don't know. But I do know that something needs to be done. We need to be better. All the teams in the league need to be better and need to do a better job of non-conference everyone. I understand that. But as far as an answer, you know, that's where Commissioner Phillips and we all have great trust in him and belief in him. But I do know that something needs to be done.
Building off that, do you think that the ACC still suffers from like branding questions as far as like outside perception? Or do you think this year is more of a result of just, there was like you guys, the ACC, SEC challenge was really rough this year compared to previous year's challenges?
Capel: I do think that this year we just as the league did perform well in non-conference for whatever reason. I know some teams had a lot of guys, had some guys injured and some key guys. And that certainly plays into it. Certainly the NIL with our league compared to other leagues. I think that would be interesting to see as far as roster construction, specifically with the SEC, with the Big 10 and with the Big 12. I don't think this year it has to do with perception. I don't think that you mentioned the SEC, ACC challenge was rough for us this year, and when that happens early it's hard to shake that.
****
A proposed alternative response:
When you are comparing conferences, I think the first thing you ought to consider is how conferences actually do in the NCAA tournament. Last year, we all heard all year that it was a down year for the ACC and about how great the Big 12 conference was, and how they were going to dominate the NCAA tournament. And I have a lot of respect for the Big 12 conference. But in the actual NCAA Tournament last year, the ACC put an 11 seed in the Final Four and a 6 seed and a 4 seed in the Elite 8. The other 30 conferences had 5 teams in the Elite Eight and the Big 12 had zero. In 2023, the ACC sent a 5 seed to the Final Four and our team, as an 11 seed, beat an SEC team and then beat a 6 seed from the Big 12 by 18 points. In 2022, the ACC had two teams in the Final Four and also sent a 10 seed to the Final 8. Since 2013, four different ACC schools have won national championships. During the same period, the SEC has zero national championships, and the Big 10 has not won a national championship since 2000.
This year, the SEC had a great non-conference season, especially against the ACC in the ACC Challenge as you mentioned, although keep in mind that Duke beat Auburn, Clemson beat Kentucky, and we split our two SEC games. But the SEC has a lot of good teams. The SEC will get a lot of bids, and it should, although maybe not quite as many bids as some people would give them. The other league that may get a lot of bids is the Big Ten. The ACC is 8-9 against the Big Ten, including our very good win at Ohio State, Wake Forest beating Michigan on a neutral court, North Carolina beating UCLA on a neutral court, and Louisville beating Indiana by 28 on a neutral court. On Saturday night, Duke beat Illinois, another one of the Big Ten teams expected to get a bid, by 40 points on a neutral court. I have a lot of respect for the Big Ten, too, but the idea that they should be getting nine or 10 bids while the ACC gets three or four bids is just wrong.
And let me say a word about my own team. We have had a rough stretch, to be sure. But we have a lot of basketball left to play and a lot of fight left in us. We still have time to turn this around and if we do, we will have a strong case for a bid. Last year, we had a really good team at the end, probably one of the best 20 or 25 teams in the country. We had freshman guards, really good ones, but it took time for us to come together. We were told last year that it did not matter, that what mattered was the non-conference schedule. Well, this year, if we can turn it around, just remember that we beat some really good teams in the non-conference, including the good road win I mentioned against a good Ohio State team, a 24 point win at home against a good West Virginia team, two of the bubble teams we would be competing against for a bid, and a double figure neutral court win over an LSU team that just beat another bubble team, Oklahoma, on the road, and also beat another bubble team, Arkansas.
So, let’s let it play out, let’s keep in mind how great the ACC has always been in the NCAA tournament, and let’s not give up on the Pitt Panthers. We certainly have not done so.
