To tie this divide into basketball, the timing can’t be worse for the ACC and better for the SEC. While the B1G is having their usual year as a top 2 or 3 conference in basketball, the SEC has leapt over everybody for the #1 spot while the ACC is having an uncharacteristic down year. At times it appears the ACC might only have three at-large tournament bids (more realistically 5) while the SEC looks to have at least 10 at-larges. Currently 8 SEC teams are ranked.
With the ACC always known to be more of a basketball conference, and with universities like Clemson, North Carolina, and Florida State actively trying to leave the ACC the last half-decade, this is not the time for a down year, especially with SEC basketball surging. This further allows the SEC and B1G to be viewed as the two “money conferences” for TV deals, which further justifies demanding more spots at the postseason table, which leads to more $$$, which makes both conferences more attractive for the bigger name schools the ACC (and Big 12) badly need to keep.
