A few ACC traditions endure. One is the Duke-North Carolina rivalry. The ACC Tournament at year’s end is another, although its stature has been lessened by the near-equal weight given to a first-place finish during the regular season.
The round-robin is gone. Playing the tournament in the heart of the region, where everyday fans can reach it easily and find affordable accommodations, is gone, certainly through the next two years in Brooklyn.
Maryland, a founding member of the ACC, is gone.
Gone, too, is the quaint notion the conference is an assemblage of like-minded, closeknit universities sharing high academic ideals.