The ACC did more with less in the NCAA Tournament last year.

That’s compared to other power conferences, as most of the teams advancing to the Sweet 16 have more and less in the number of offers they’ve received.

And this isn’t the first time this has happened.

Four of the five invited teams of the league made it to the second week of the tournament, and NC State, which finished the regular season in 10th place, made it to the Final Four.

It’s an accomplishment that commissioner Jim Phillips is justifiably proud of. Even though it’s not something he’d want to see continue. He therefore launched a campaign designed to create a more positive national perception of the conference and prevent it from being “devalued” in the future.

It’s clear that you have a big job ahead of you.

The Associated Press preseason poll included only 2 ACC teams among the 25th-ranked teams, the usual suspects Duke and North Carolina.

Talking about the problem is a good start. But the only way to change his perspective is to make his teams win more in the regular season.

With this part of the process set to begin with Opening Day on Monday, here are 10 burning questions facing the ACC as we tip off the new season.

10. Who will be the best of the ACC’s 3 new teams?

As in football, SMU has the best chance of any newcomer to make an immediate splash. The Mustangs brought in Andy Enfield to coach a team that won 20 games a year ago, brought back top three-point shooter Chuck Harris and added Wake Forest point guard Boopie Miller from the transfer portal. Mark Madsen improved to 10 wins in his first season at Cal last year. But after losing their top 9 scorers from a veteran team that went just 13-19, the Bears are likely to take a step back this year. New Stanford coach Kyle Smith has a major rebuild ahead of him after leading Washington State to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. But he has a nice piece to develop in 7-1 center Maxime Raynaud, who is the Cardinal’s leading scorer and rebounder in 2023-24.

9. Which 3 teams will be left out of the ACC Tournament?

The league couldn’t figure out how to run an 18-team team tournament, so it stuck to the existing 15-team bracket and excluded the bottom 3 players in the regular season standings. It’s sure to ruffle a few feathers among the ACC’s old guard when one of its original members doesn’t take the field for the first time. However, this seems unlikely to happen this season. Other than newcomers Stanford and Cal, Boston College is the most likely candidate to leave Charlotte in March. Although Earl Grant led the Eagles to a 20-win season and an NIT bid, they face a huge challenge to stay out of the bottom 3 after losing their top 5 scorers to the NBA and guards, including star big man Quinten Post. There is work. Jaeden Zackery and Claudel Harris will transfer.

8. How big a leap forward can Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Syracuse make with coaches in Year 2?

It is said that players make the most improvement between their freshman and sophomore years. Coaches Damon Stoudamire, Micah Shrewsberry and Adrian Autry can hope the same goes for program development. Tech’s Stoudamire has the advantage of his top 2 players (big man Baye Ndongo and point guard Naithan George) ready to make their sophomore breakthrough. Syracuse’s Autry is off to the best start of the 3, leading the Orange to a 20-12 record in his first season at Syracuse, replacing mentor Jim Boeheim. But he may have the toughest task in Year 2 without All-ACC guard Judah Mintz. Shrewsberry has the best chance to make a significant splash because of his history — he led Penn State to the NCAA Tournament in Year 2 — and the return of ACC Rookie of the Year Markus Burton.

7. Can Miami bounce back from last year’s disappointment?

The Hurricanes went from the top of the Final Four to the low of missing the NCAA Tournament in just 1 season. Some of the decline can be attributed to a number of injuries; The most important of which was that quarterback Nijel Pack was slowing down even when he was able to play. The package is healthy and back again. So is Wing Matthew Cleveland, the ACC’s 2022 Florida State Sixth Man of the Year. Coach Jim Larrañaga’s team is expected to be on the rise with the addition of a transfer class led by 5-star freshman shooting guard Jalil Bethea and big man Lynn Kidd, who scored a league-best 8.2 points per game last season at Virginia Tech. again in the right direction.

6. Is this the year Steve Forbes leads Wake Forest to the NCAA Tournament?

No one has suffered the consequences of ACC’s negative perception more than the Deacons. Twice in the past 3 seasons they have won more than 20 games overall and 11 or more games in conference. Thresholds that once guaranteed ACC teams a spot in the NCAA Tournament. But both times Forbes’ team was left out. This is expected to change this season. Wake was picked No. 3 in the ACC’s preseason poll, behind blueblood Duke and North Carolina. The reason for optimism is the return of All-ACC guard Hunter Sallis, versatile guard Cam Hildreth and big man Efton Reid, as well as Forbes’ usual haul of talent from the transfer portal. He also touched on the power of schedule controversy, which has hurt the Deacons in the past by creating a non-conference schedule anchored by games against Michigan, Florida and Texas A&M.

5. What are NC State and Clemson doing for a repeat?

The Wolfpack made history by winning 5 games in 5 days to capture their first ACC Tournament title since 1987 and then rode the wave of momentum all the way to the Final Four. The Tigers nearly joined them in Phoenix, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Of those two, Brad Brownell’s team is best equipped to repeat that success. Even though core big man PJ Hall is gone, Clemson still has two of the ACC’s best players in Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin. State’s Kevin Keatts, on the other hand, will have to revamp his team’s style of play in the absence of massive center DJ Burns. He also needs to replace top scorer DJ Horne. Keatts has been reloaded with a talented transfer group. But as we have seen many times, the portal may be a coincidence.

4. How good will Louisville be under Pat Kelsey?

After 2 historically bad seasons under Kenny Payne, the bar remains low; That includes the 2023-24 season, when the Cardinals finished 326th out of 351 Division I teams in scoring defense and 223rd in scoring offense. Given Kelsey’s fiery personality and coaching resume that includes 5 NCAA Tournament appearances at Winthrop and the College of Charleston, there is reason to believe a major move up the ACC rankings is possible. So far, so good. Kelsey and his fully rebuilt roster, filled with the nation’s top-tier transfer class, are off to a promising start with exhibition wins over Young Harris and Spalding. This may not seem like much. But this is a solid step forward after exhibition defeats against Division II rivals Lenoir-Rhyne and Kentucky Wesleyan the last 2 years.

3. What will Virginia look like without Tony Bennett?

If you’re expecting the Cavaliers to suddenly transform into something different and start playing up-tempo 21st century basketball just because Bennett is suddenly gone, you’ll be disappointed. Interim coach Ron Sanchez has been Bennett’s right-hand man since 2003, when he was at Washington State, so their underlying philosophies are similar. Of course, there will be some tweaks, especially after transfer quarterback Jalen Warley announced his departure from the program. However, due to the makeup of the roster and the timing of Bennett’s retirement, it won’t be too drastic. So be prepared to embrace this tempo for at least one more season.

2. Can North Carolina rebound without a true low-post big man?

Rebounding is as much a Tar Heels tradition as pointing at the passer after an assist or wearing an Alexander Julian argyle dress. They have led the ACC in scoring in each of the past 11 seasons. But with the recent departures of Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram, who provided more than half of the team’s rebounds last season, legitimate questions have arisen about where this year’s rebounding will come from. Neither of the top two returning players (Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers) are traditional low-post big men. Freshman James Brown is a project. Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin plays bigger than 6-7 and will help. But as coach Hubert Davis said, rebounding will have to be a team effort for UNC to reach its potential. The Tar Heels’ recent exhibition win against Memphis is a good sign. They beat the Tigers by the glass by a score of 41-41.

1. How will the excitement surrounding Cooper Flagg compare to Zionmania?

Expectations for Flagg coming to Duke are higher than they were for Zion Williamson in 2018. Remember, Williamson wasn’t even the highest-rated player in the Blue Devils class that year. It was RJ Barrett. It wasn’t until the 6-7, 285-pound freshman scored 28 points, showing off all of his dunks, 3-pointers and ball-handling skills, that Zionmania came in a 118-84 victory over Kentucky in the Champions Classic. subtract. Flagg is also legal. There’s a good chance he’ll live up to his high expectations and become the first player drafted in the NBA like Williamson. But that’s where the comparisons end. They have different body types and skill sets. Flagg will put up the numbers and help the Blue Devils compete for a championship. Zion was a unicorn. It’s hard to imagine anything compared to the turmoil surrounding his junior and senior college seasons.