The ACC did more with less in the NCAA Tournament last year.

That refers more to the greater number of teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 and less to the number of bids it received compared to other power conferences.

And it is not the first time this has happened.

Four of the league’s five invited teams made it to the second week of the tournament with NC State, which finished 10th in the regular season, making it all the way to the Final Four.

It’s an accomplishment Commissioner Jim Phillips is rightfully proud of. Although it’s not something he would like to continue. That’s why it has started a campaign designed to create a more positive national perception of the conference and prevent it from being “undervalued” in the future.

It is evident that he has a big job ahead of him.

Only two ACC teams, usual suspects Duke and North Carolina, were among the 25 teams ranked in the Associated Press preseason poll.

Talking about the problem is a good start. But the only way to change the perspective is for your teams to win more during the regular season.

With that part of the process scheduled to begin on opening day Monday, here are 10 burning questions facing the ACC as a new season begins:

10. Who will be the best of the 3 new ACC teams?

Just like in football, SMU has among the newcomers the best chance to make an immediate splash. The Mustangs hired Andy Enfield to coach a team that won 20 games a year ago, return top 3-point shooter Chuck Harris and added Wake Forest point guard Boopie Miller from the transfer portal. Mark Madsen posted a 10-win improvement in his first season at Cal last year. But after losing their top 9 scorers from a veteran team that went just 13-19, the Bears will likely take a step back this year. At Stanford, new coach Kyle Smith has a major rebuild ahead of him after leading Washington State to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. However, he has a good piece to build around in 7-1 center Maxime Raynaud, the Cardinal’s leading scorer and rebounder in 2023-24.

9. What 3 teams are out of the ACC Tournament?

The league didn’t know how to manage an 18-team tournament, so it stuck with its current pool of 15 teams and excluded the bottom 3 finishers in the regular season standings. That’s sure to ruffle some feathers among the ACC’s old guard the first time one of its original members doesn’t take the field. But that’s not likely to happen this season. Aside from newcomers Stanford and Cal, the most likely candidate to stay home from Charlotte in March is Boston College. Although Earl Grant led the Eagles to a 20-win season and an NIT bid, he has his work cut out for him to stay out of the bottom 3 after losing his top 5 scorers, including star great Quinten Post to the NBA , and the guards. Jaeden Zackery and Claudel Harris will transfer.

8. How big a leap can Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Syracuse make in Year 2 with coaches?

It is said that players make their greatest improvement between their first and second years. Coaches Damon Stoudamire, Micah Shrewsberry and Adrian Autry can only hope the same thing happens with the building programs. Tech’s Stoudamire has the advantage that his two best returning players (big man Baye Ndongo and point guard Naithan George) are ready to take that sophomore leap. Syracuse’s Autry got off to the best start of the three in leading the Orange to a 20-12 record in his first season replacing his mentor Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. But he might have the toughest task in Year 2 without All-ACC guard Judah Mintz. Shrewsberry has the best chance to make a quantum leap because of his history (he took Penn State to the NCAA Tournament in Year 2) and the return of ACC Rookie of the Year Markus Burton.

7. Can Miami recover from last year’s disappointment?

The Hurricanes went from the high of a Final Four to the low of missing the NCAA Tournament over the course of just one season. Part of the decline can be attributed to a series of injuries, the most significant of which slowed point guard Nijel Pack even when he was able to play. The herd is healthy again and again. So is wing Matthew Cleveland, the 2022 ACC Sixth Man of the Year while at Florida State. With the addition of five-star freshman guard Jalil Bethea and a transfer class led by big man Lynn Kidd, whose 8.2 points per game improvement last season at Virginia Tech was the best in the league, coach Jim Larrañaga should be trending. the right direction again.

6. Is this the year Steve Forbes takes Wake Forest to the NCAA tournament?

No one has suffered more from the negative perceptions of the ACC than deacons. Twice in the last 3 seasons they have won 20+ games overall and 11 or more in conference. Thresholds that once guaranteed ACC teams entry into the NCAA Tournament. However, on both occasions Forbes’ team was left out. That is expected to change this season. Wake was picked third, behind blue bloods Duke and North Carolina, in the ACC preseason poll. The reason for the optimism is the return of All-ACC guard Hunter Sallis, along with versatile guard Cam Hildreth and big man Efton Reid, along with Forbes’ usual haul of talent out of the transfer portal. He also addressed the strength of the scheduling argument that has hurt the Deacons in the past by crafting a non-conference schedule bolstered by games against Michigan, Florida and Texas A&M.

5. What are NC State and Clemson doing for an encore?

The Wolfpack made history by winning 5 games in 5 days for their first ACC Tournament championship since 1987, then rode the wave of momentum all the way to the Final Four. The Tigers nearly joined them in Phoenix by advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Of the two, Brad Brownell’s team is the best equipped to repeat that success. Although cornerstone big man PJ Hall is gone, Clemson still has two of the ACC’s best players in Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin to build around. State’s Kevin Keatts, on the other hand, will have to revamp the way his team plays in the absence of big-time center DJ Burns. He also has to replace leading scorer DJ Horne. Keatts has reloaded with a talented group of signings. But as we’ve seen many times, the portal can be an unpredictable proposition.

4. How much better will Louisville be under Pat Kelsey?

The bar is low after 2 historically poor seasons under Kenny Payne, including a 2023-24 campaign in which the Cardinals went 8-24 and finished 326th among 351 Division I teams in scoring defense and 223rd in scoring offense . Given Kelsey’s fiery personality and a coaching resume that includes five NCAA tournament appearances at Winthrop and College of Charleston, there is reason to believe a big jump up the ACC standings is possible. So far, so good. Kelsey and his completely rebuilt roster, equipped with the nation’s top-ranked transfer class, got off to a promising start with exhibition wins against Young Harris and Spalding. That may not seem like much. But it’s a tangible step forward after exhibition losses to Division II opponents Lenoir-Rhyne and Kentucky Wesleyan the past two years.

3. What will Virginia be like without Tony Bennett?

If you’re expecting the Cavaliers to suddenly morph into something different and start playing fast-paced 21st century basketball just because Bennett suddenly walked away, you’ll be disappointed. Interim coach Ron Sanchez has been Bennett’s right-hand man since 2003, when they were at Washington State, so their basic philosophies are similar. There will surely be some subtle adjustments, especially now that transfer point guard Jalen Warley has announced he will be leaving the program. But due to the makeup of the roster and the timing of Bennett’s retirement, they won’t be drastic. So get ready to keep getting into the groove for at least one more season.

2. Can North Carolina bounce back without a true low-post big man?

Rebounding is as time-honored a Tar Heels tradition as pointing to the passer after an assist or wearing Alexander Julian argyle. They have led the ACC in each of the last 11 seasons. But with the departure of Armando Bacot, finally, and Harrison Ingram, who accounted for more than half of the team’s rebounds last season, there are legitimate questions about where this year’s rebounds will come from. Neither of the two big returners – Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers – are traditional low-post big men. Freshman James Brown is a project. Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin plays more than 6-7 and will help. But as coach Hubert Davis has said, rebounding will have to be a team effort for UNC to reach its potential. The Tar Heels’ recent exhibition win against Memphis is a good sign. They faced the Tigers to a 41-41 tie on the glass.

1. How will the hype surrounding Cooper Flagg compare to Zionmania?

The anticipation surrounding Flagg’s arrival at Duke is greater than Zion Williamson’s arrival in 2018. Remember, Williamson wasn’t even the highest-rated recruit in the Blue Devils’ class that year. It was RJ Barrett. It wasn’t until the 6-7, 285-pound freshman scored 28 points while showing off his full range of dunks, 3-pointers and ball-handling skills in a 118-84 blowout of Kentucky in the Champions Classic that Zionmania began to take off. Flagg is legit too. And there’s a good chance he will live up to his high expectations and, like Williamson, be the first player selected in the NBA Draft. But that’s where the comparisons end. They have different body types and abilities. Flagg will put up numbers and help the Blue Devils fight for a championship. Zion was a unicorn. It’s hard to imagine anything compared to the hype that surrounded his first college season.