Brownell says ACC schedule isn't working, was made without a lot of input from coaches

Brad Brownell would like to see fewer ACC games.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Feb 21 13:30:08 GMT-04:00 2024

The ACC schedule isn’t working for Clemson head coach Brad Brownell.

The Atlantic Coast Conference currently plays 20 league games in men's basketball, but Brownell, whose Tigers travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech Wednesday at 7 pm (ACCN), would prefer a lesser number. He thinks playing more out-of-conference games would change the narrative that the ACC is weaker now than it has been in the past.

“The 20 league games, I would have preferred 18. I just think we've tried this, and it's not working as well,” Brownell said earlier this week. “I would rather our teams play out-of-conference games. I think some other leagues are doing that and manipulating some of the numbers a little bit, but then also it just gives us a chance as a league to play some other teams head-to-head to help change the narrative, which I think is completely wrong.”

He said he thinks 18 is a better number.

“So, I would have voted for 18. I also think it's more equitable in that everybody plays everybody once, and then you play your partner twice,” Brownell said. “So I think it gives you a better real indicator of where teams are in terms of standings.”

The ACC made a small splash by adding Cal, Stanford, and SMU to a league that already has 15 basketball members, including Notre Dame. However, the league recently announced that it would stick with the model of 20 conference games, but next year’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments would be kept at 15 teams. That means the three bottom schools will be kept out. The last time the league expanded, an additional day was added to the tournament. Not this time around.

“I understand it. I hate that not everybody gets to participate, but I also understand that making the tournament another day longer would be challenging,” Brownell said. “And if you didn't do that, I think we're also trying to, I guess, probably protect some of the some of the 7, 8, 9 seeds a little bit because basically, it's almost like what happened to us last year. We got penalized and kept out of the tournament for losing to Louisville at Louisville.

“You're bringing a bad loss into play for teams that are going to be on the bubble. And so I guess I agree with at least making it 15. I think that seems like a number where most kids are getting a chance to play, but at the same time, you're trying to do as much as you can to protect some of the teams with the higher seeds.”

He was asked if there were discussions about adding one more team to make it 16 – which wouldn’t require an extra day – and he said that most of the decisions were made without the coaches in mind.

“Yeah, I'll be honest with you, most of this was done without a lot of input from coaches. I don't want to act like we didn't have any, but we didn't get to sit in the meetings and really be part of the big discussion,” Brownell said. “And that happens in a lot of things. So, I think if you ask the coaches, we would still like 18 games. Now, I get it. We probably have a 20-game deal with ESPN or whoever our TV partners are, so I'm sure that wins out.”