March Madness Daily: SEC ⬆️, ACC ⬇️
How did the SEC take over men's college hoops, and what can the ACC do about it?
Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. Here’s your daily March Madness business nugget:
Jacob: I’m an ACC baby (Go Deacs! 🎩), so every glance at the men’s March Madness bracket stings a little bit. Only four ACC schools, really? And 14 from the SEC!? Was football domination not enough for them?
No.
It was not.
SEC’s 14-Bid NCAA Basketball Dominance Was Inevitable
The SEC renewed its focus on men’s basketball about a decade ago, channeling more of schools’ unmatched budgets into the sport, building new facilities, hiring premier coaches, and attracting top talent. In short, once the league put its mind to achieving basketball supremacy, the results were inevitable. Here’s my argument why, including a great quote from their associate commissioner for men’s basketball.
“Economic activity in this part of the country is on fire. Enrollment trends at our institutions are on fire. Football has been on fire. … I just looked at it objectively and said, ‘This thing is going to take off.’” 🚀
The ACC Had a Rough Basketball Season. Here’s One Expert’s Fix
Once the rancor over UNC’s 🐏 controversial inclusion in the field and Louisville’s 🐦 disrespectful seeding died down, conversation has turned to how the ACC can reclaim glory.
Stanford 🌲 coach Kyle Smith has suggested a form of relegation that would allow top teams to play each other more often, and thus improve their tournament metrics. Coming from Washington State 🐈, he knows what happens when conferences get caught flat-footed.
Meanwhile ESPN’s Jay Bilas has a different suggestion: forcing ACC teams to spend at least a pre-set floor amount on their basketball programs, or fork over cash to their competitors. Other conferences are looking at related models. Eben explained the details here. The NBA has a similar system—and if CBB is professionalizing, why not try it? It’s clear the ACC is going to need to make some changes if it’s going to keep up with the SEC and Big 10.
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Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.