What the ACC Exapnsion Means

The ACC division just added three more teams and is now a 15-team division.

Commissioner John Swofford welcomed Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame to the ACC at a news conference that took place in Manhattan yesterday, officially expanding the division.  The question on most people’s minds, though, was the ACC going to expand further.

I would not anticipate it being in the future.

-Swofford

So the ACC is sticking with 15 teams  for a while it seems.  Regardless, this expansion is a big one that is going to really shake up the ACC.  All three of the teams added to the division made impressive tournament runs last season and will now rival the likes of Miami and North Carolina.

The biggest addition to the ACC are without a doubt the Syracuse Orange.  Last year the Orange went all the way to the final four and are the team with the 12th best odds (25/1) of taking the NCAA Championship this year.

The ACC shake-ups aren’t quite done.  They will be trading Maryland, who is leaving for the Big Ten next year, for Louisville which was an exchange done with football in mind more than basketball.  In fact, this whole deal was done with football in mind.  However, the ACC happened to pick up schools that also have solid basketball programs as well.

The additions has to hit the Tar Heels the hardest as they have struggled in recent years to maintain their traditional top-spot amongst the division and with these three power-house teams entering the division things are not going to get any easier for North Carolina.

At the end of the day, the real winners from this expansion are college basketball fans.  The ACC has always been known for its basketball.  With the addition of these three great teams, the ACC just may have become the most competitive basketball division in the entire NCAA.  It will make for some entertaining games and fun betting at the very least.