Greensboro, North Carolina — The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is returning to an 18-game schedule for men’s basketball, starting with the 2025-26 season. This decision, confirmed during a recent meeting of league athletic directors, marks a shift after more than five years of operating under a 20-game format, which began in the 2019-20 season.
The switch follows considerable advocacy from coaches and athletic directors who expressed concerns about the impact of a more extensive schedule on teams’ performances and NCAA Tournament prospects. The ACC’s disappointing results during the 2024-25 season, where only four of 18 teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament, played a significant role in prompting the change. This equated to a mere 22.2% of the league’s teams making the tournament, the lowest representation since the expansion of the field in 1985.
Programs like Duke, which consistently ranks among the league’s elite, have championed the reduction, arguing that fewer games could enhance their ability to secure better seeds in the NCAA Tournament. The underlying logic is that minimizing matchups with lower-performing teams will strengthen overall records and improve the conference’s credibility.
Despite the reduction in conference games, some experts suggest that merely decreasing the schedule will not resolve the conference’s challenges. Critics point out that the root of the problem lies in the overall quality of teams within the ACC, citing a troubling trend where the conference had the lowest nonconference winning percentage among major leagues last season. For the fourth consecutive year, the league also failed to maintain a winning record against top-100 opponents.
The ACC aims to reinvigorate its teams by allowing them to replace two conference games with nonconference contests, which could bolster their chances of securing at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. This change is intended to empower teams, enabling them to craft a stronger out-of-conference resume.
Under the new scheduling format, each team will encounter 16 different opponents, featuring two home-and-home series and 14 single-game matchups, with one opponent omitted from their slate. For instance, in the 2025-26 season, North Carolina could face Duke in both home and away games, along with another major rival like NC State. Following these matchups, teams will have a balanced set of home and away games against the rest of the conference.
This decision follows the SEC’s record-breaking performance last season, where it secured 14 NCAA Tournament bids, including sending seven teams to the Sweet 16. In stark contrast, the ACC struggled, with many of its teams finishing poorly in key rankings, which has raised questions about the league’s overall competitiveness.
The ACC, which has long been recognized as one of the premier basketball conferences, faces challenges to reclaim its status. Over the last five seasons, it has consistently ranked low in overall strength among major conferences. Nonetheless, the ACC has still seen noteworthy NCAA Tournament success, with teams like North Carolina and Duke making deep runs in recent tournaments.
The adjustment aligns the ACC with other prominent conferences like the SEC and Big 12, which also employ an 18-game league schedule. Meanwhile, the Big Ten and Big East maintain their 20-game formats. As the ACC adapts its structure, it aims to restore its standing in collegiate basketball while navigating the complexities of a competitive landscape.