We know these aren't the best times for ACC men's basketball. Three straight years shut out of the Final Four: that hasn't happened since the conference's first decade of existence.
Meanwhile the super-sized Big East has two teams in the Final Four this weekend. (Sorry, Louisville and Syracuse don't count as ACC members until they formally start competing within the league.) The Big 10 was routinely touted as the nation's best league all season, and has Michigan in the Final Four field.
Even the Missouri Valley Conference, Horizon League, and Colonial Athletic Association have sent members to the national semifinals more recently than the ACC.
For all that, if you take a longer view, and consider Final Four participation since 1990, the ACC is still the leader.
Over that 24-year period the league has sent 21 teams to the Final Four. No conference can match that. Nor, in fact, has any league had as many Final Four entrants since 1990 as Duke and North Carolina combined. Those two schools have 17 appearances over those 24 seasons, still one more than the Big 10.
As for NCAA titles, ACC schools captured eight since 1990 - four by Duke (1991,1992, 2001, 2010), three by UNC (1993, 2005, 2009), and one by Maryland (2002). That's two more than the Southeastern Conference, the next-closest league with six championships over that span.
| FOURTUITOUS Final Four Appearances By Schools And Leagues Since 1990 |
||
|---|---|---|
| No. | League/School | Members Or Years |
| 21 | ACC | North Carolina (9), Duke (8), Georgia Tech (2), Maryland (2) |
| 17 | Duke/UNC | 1990, 1991 (2), 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 |
| 16 | Big 10 | Michigan State (5), Indiana (2), Michigan (3), Ohio State (3), Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin |
| 14 | SEC | Kentucky (6), Florida (4), Arkansas (2), LSU, Mississippi State |
| 12 | Big East | Connecticut (4), Syracuse (3), Louisville (2)*, Georgetown, Villanova, West Virginia |
| 10 | Big 12 | Kansas (6), Oklahoma State (2), Oklahoma, Texas |
| 9 | UNC | 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009 |
| 8 | Duke | 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010 |
| 8 | Pac-10 | UCLA (4), Arizona (3), Stanford |
| 6 | Kansas | 1991, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2012 |
| 6 | Kentucky | 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2011, 2012 |
| 5 | Michigan St. | 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2010 |
| 4 | Connecticut | 1999, 2004, 2009, 2011 |
| 4 | Florida | 1994, 2000, 2006, 2007 |
| 4 | UCLA | 1995, 2006, 2007, 2008 |
| * Joined Big East in 2005-06. Made Final Four in 2005 as member of Conference USA. | ||
| LEAGUELY SPEAKING NCAA Titles By League Since 1990 |
|
| League | Titles |
| ACC | 8 |
| SEC | 6 |
| Big East | 4 |
| Pac-12 | 2 |
| Big 12 | 1 |
| Big 10 | 1 |