With the addition of three new universities to the Atlantic Coast Conference before the start of the 2024-2025 school year, the conference had to make some adjustments to accommodate the newcomers.
One of the widely-talked about topics was conference tournaments in various sports, as the tournament format needed to be re-evaluated with 18 teams in mind.
For men's basketball, the conference opted to maintain a 15-team format, one that is expected to remain unchanged.
The ACC plans to again have 15 of its 18 teams participate in its conference tournament this season, per a league official.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 18, 2025
The Big Ten announced earlier today that all 18 of its 18 teams would participate in the 2026 Big Ten Tournament after only 15 participated last season.
Jon Rothstein provided the details of the ACC's plans to only include 15 of 18 teams in its 2026 conference tournament. The conference has decided not to follow the trend of other conferences, such as the Big Ten, who have shifted toward a tournament format where all 18 teams participate.
Essentially, you must be within the top 15 of the conference standings to make the ACC Tournament, which is a big event for teams who are looking to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Of course, in the case of the UNC basketball program, you simply expect to make the field each and every year. In fact, you have the mindset of being one of the teams who have a double-bye on a yearly basis.
We also know this: if the Tar Heels somehow don't make the field of teams, you best believe changes would be coming in Chapel Hill.