Political correctness sends ACC from Tobacco Road to Brooklyn – Power Line (blog)

For decades, the ACC basketball tournament has been held almost exclusively in North Carolina, along Tobacco Road. Between 1954, the first year of the tournament, and 1975, it took place in that state every year.

Following a trip to Landover, Maryland in 1976 (where Virginia won its first championship), the tourney returned to North Carolina for six of the next eight seasons. After a few visits to Landover and Atlanta, it was held in the Tar Heel State for 11 consecutive years, and 14 out of 15.

During the 51 year period I have described, North Carolina teams usually made up less than half of the ACC. I dont ever recall them comprising more than half, though they might have during the very early years before I was a fan.

Yet, the ACC consistently bestowed a home state advantage on Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest, at the expense of Maryland, Virginia, and Clemson and (at various times) South Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Florida State.

Clemson has never won the tournament; it has been the runner-up only twice. Florida State has won it once (Atlanta); Virginia has won it twice (once in Maryland); Georgia Tech has won it three times (twice in Atlanta).

Maryland even though it had a great program in the 1970s, the first half of the 80s, most of the 90s, and the first several years of this century only won the tournament twice during this period (1984 and 2004). During this era it had as many trips to the Final Four as it had ACC championships. (The Terps also won the tournament back in 1958).

Fairly recently, the ACC added teams from all over the place e.g. Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Miami, Notre Dame, and Boston College (meanwhile, Maryland left the conference). North Carolina schools now make up less than 30 percent of the league. Yet, that state has hosted five of the last seven tournaments.

It would have held this years tournament too. However, political correctness accomplished what sports equity could not it drove the ACC tourney out of North Carolina.

The event is currently taking place in. . .Brooklyn. No ACC team is located in that area. The closest, I think, is Boston College, more than three and a half hours away.

At last, a truly neutral court.

The ACC moved its tournament in response to North Carolinas bathroom law. Its the same spirit of political correctness that caused the NBA to move this years all-star game from Charlotte to New Orleans and the NCAA to move two rounds of its mens basketball tournament out of the state. I expressed my disgust with this practice here.

Today, the Washington Post, without mentioning how the ACC tournament landed in Brooklyn, tried to make that borough look like a natural fit. It noted that Frank McGuire, who was a big deal coach 50 years ago, was a New Yorker who recruited successfully in that city.

No disrespect to McGuire, Charlie Scott, or Kenny Anderson, but I think this is a case of any port in a political storm. If the ACC hadnt been able to find a non-North Carolina venue in the continental U.S., I suspect it was prepared to go to Alaska. Heck, former ACC stars Trajan Langdon and Carlos Boozer came from there.

The ACC tournament isnt a big deal these days, given the inflated, incoherent nature of the conference and the fact that a large number of its teams will make the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens in Brooklyn. Unless youre a fan of one of the semi-finalists, theres not much reason to watch the event this weekend. That the conference pulled the tourney out of North Carolina for political reasons is a good reason not to watch it.

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Political correctness sends ACC from Tobacco Road to Brooklyn - Power Line (blog)