As 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule Ends,
ACC Teams Mostly Short On High-Profile Wins
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
Last season, when only five of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s then-15 teams played in the NCAA Tournament, there shouldn’t have been much mystery about who got into the Big Dance and why.
North Carolina, Duke and Virginia were the top three teams in the ACC standings, and they all made the NCAA Tournament field. NC State wasn’t even close to the March Madness bubble conversation heading into the 2024 ACC Tournament, but the 10th-place Wolfpack claimed the league’s automatic bid with its unforgettable five-wins-in-five-days run to the conference championship.
In between those extremes, four additional ACC squads finished with winning records in league play — fourth-place Pittsburgh (12-8), followed by Clemson (11-9), Syracuse (11-9) and Wake Forest (11-9) in a tie for fifth place — but only the Tigers received an at-large invitation from the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.
Why? Because only the Tigers of coach Brad Brownell had supplemented their solid but unspectacular ACC résumé with multiple non-conference victories over quality opponents.
That 2023-24 Clemson team, which received a strong #6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, had defeated Alabama, TCU, Boise State and South Carolina in non-league competition back in November and December. All four of those early victims went on to make the Big Dance themselves.
Meanwhile, Pitt (22-11), Syracuse (20-12) and Wake Forest (20-13 on Selection Sunday) simply didn’t have enough victories on their non-conference slates to earn the benefit of the doubt on Selection Sunday after their middling ACC finishes.
The Orange (#55 Oregon) and Demon Deacons (#26 Florida) had only one non-conference victory each over a team that went on to finish in the KenPom top 75. The Panthers had no such non-conference wins a year ago.
So far this season (please see below), with no prominent non-conference opportunities remaining on ACC teams’ regular-season schedules, only 10-2 Duke (#4 in this week’s Associated Press poll), 10-2 Pittsburgh (unranked), 10-3 Clemson (unranked) and 7-5 North Carolina (unranked) have posted multiple victories against top non-ACC opponents.
Wake Forest (#22 Michigan) and Louisville (#48 West Virginia) also have one victory each over opponents that are currently ranked among the top 50 teams in KenPom’s efficiency rankings.
One path to the NCAA Tournament for ACC teams is to dominate in conference play, especially if a squad can include wins over the league’s top teams. Another road to the Big Dance, as always, is to win the ACC Tournament.
If you finish in the upper-middle of the new 18-team ACC standings and need the benefit of the doubt on Selection Sunday, though, you’d better have some quality non-conference wins on your résumé.
In that often-important category, only four ACC teams — Duke, Pitt, Clemson and UNC — look to be in good shape right now. The others will need to upgrade their credentials and find their signature victories during conference play, where such opportunities may be few and far between.
2024-25 ACC Non-Conference Records Vs. KenPom Top 75
(Through Friday, Dec. 27)
Pittsburgh (3-2)
#19 Mississippi State 90, Pitt 57 (away)
Pitt 91, #29 Ohio State 90-OT (away)
#33 Wisconsin 81, Pitt 75 (neutral)
Pitt 86, #48 West Virginia 62 (home)
Pitt 74, #60 LSU 63 (neutral)
Clemson (3-3)
Clemson 70, #26 Kentucky 66 (home)
Clemson 75, #34 Penn State 67 (neutral)
#41 Memphis 87, Clemson 82-OT (home)
#58 Boise State 84, Clemson 71 (away)
Clemson 70, #61 San Francisco 55 (neutral)
#65 South Carolina 91, Clemson 88-OT (away)
Duke (2-2)
Duke 84, #1 Auburn 78 (home)
#8 Kansas 75, Duke 72 (neutral)
Duke 69, #24 Arizona 55 (away)
#26 Kentucky 77, Duke 72 (neutral)
North Carolina (2-5)
#1 Auburn 85, UNC 72 (neutral)
#7 Florida 90, UNC 84 (neutral)
#8 Kansas 92, UNC 89 (away)
#9 Alabama 94, UNC 79 (home)
#16 Michigan State 94, UNC 91-OT (neutral)
UNC 76, #17 UCLA 74 (neutral)
UNC 92, #32 Dayton 90 (neutral)
Louisville (2-4)
#3 Tennessee 77, Louisville 55 (home)
#26 Kentucky 93, Louisville 85 (away)
#30 Mississippi 86, Louisville 63 (home)
#37 Oklahoma 69, Louisville 64 (neutral)
Louisville 79, #48 West Virginia 70-OT (neutral)
Louisville 89, #55 Indiana 61 (neutral)
Wake Forest (1-3)
#7 Florida 75, Wake Forest 58 (neutral)
#20 Texas A&M 57, Wake Forest 44 (away)
Wake Forest 72, #22 Michigan 70 (neutral)
#57 Xavier 75, Wake Forest 60 (away)
Southern Methodist (1-2)
#19 Mississippi State 84, SMU 79 (home)
SMU 74, #60 LSU 64 (neutral)
#68 Butler 81, SMU 70 (away)
Virginia (1-4)
#3 Tennessee 64, Virginia 42 (neutral)
#7 Florida 87, Virginia 69 (away)
#12 St. John’s 80, Virginia 55 (neutral)
#41 Memphis 64, Virginia 62 (home)
Virginia 70, #54 Villanova 60 (neutral)
Boston College (1-2)
#47 VCU 80, Boston College 55 (neutral)
Boston College 63, #58 Boise State 61 (neutral)
#65 South Carolina 73, Boston College 51 (home)
Notre Dame (1-3)
#4 Houston 65, Notre Dame 54 (neutral)
#38 Georgia 69, Notre Dame 48 (away)
#52 Creighton 80, Notre Dame 76 (neutral)
Notre Dame 84, #66 Georgetown 63 (away)
Stanford (1-1)
#14 Oregon 76, Stanford 61
Stanford 71, #73 Santa Clara 69 (away)
California (0-3)
#36 San Diego State 71, Cal 50
#51 Missouri 98, Cal 93 (away)
#53 Vanderbilt 85, Cal 69 (away)
Florida State (0-2)
#7 Florida 87, Florida State 74 (home)
#60 LSU 85, Florida State 75 (away)
Georgia Tech (0-4)
#21 Cincinnati 81, Georgia Tech 58 (home)
#37 Oklahoma 76, Georgia Tech 61 (away)
#38 Georgia 77, Georgia Tech 69 (home)
#49 Northwestern 71, Georgia Tech 60 (neutral)
Miami (0-3)
#3 Tennessee 75, Miami 62 (neutral)
#42 Arkansas 76, Miami 73 (home)
#47 VCU 77, Miami 70 (neutral)
NC State (0-4)
#8 Kansas 75, NC State 60 (away)
#27 Purdue 71, NC State 61 (neutral)
#35 Texas 63, NC State 59 (home)
#40 BYU 72, NC State 61 (neutral)
Syracuse (0-5)
#3 Tennessee 96, Syracuse 70 (away)
#11 Maryland 87, Syracuse 60 (neutral)
#13 Texas Tech 79, Syracuse 74 (neutral)
#35 Texas 70, Syracuse 66 (neutral)
#66 Georgetown 75, Syracuse 71 (home)
Virginia Tech (0-4)
#22 Michigan 75, Virginia Tech 63 (neutral)
#34 Penn State 86, Virginia Tech 64 (neutral)
#53 Vanderbilt 80, Virginia Tech 64 (home)
#65 South Carolina 70, Virginia Tech 60 (neutral)
