CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The ACC had a perceived "down" season last year.
Somehow.
And, yet, when Selection Sunday rolls around on March 12, the conference will in all likelihood have anywhere from eight to 10 teams slotted in the NCAA Tournament, just as it had nine through that "down" season.
Two ACC teams made the Final Four and three were in the Sweet 16 and subsequent Elite Eight last year, with North Carolina advancing to the National Championship before Kansas dispatched of them with an epic second-half comeback.
Even when the ACC is down, it is still trending up.