CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Things are going pretty well for the Atlantic Coast Conference right now in women’s sports.
In ESPN’s bracketology for volleyball, two members of the conference — Pitt and Louisville — are projected to be No. 1 seeds. North Carolina and Virginia are first and second in RPI in field hockey. In soccer, Notre Dame, Stanford and Virginia are atop the latest coaches poll. In the preseason AP Top 25 Poll for women’s college basketball, Duke leads five ACC teams that are ranked.
Women’s basketball is where the ACC has really shined in recent history. Despite not winning a national title in the sport since 2018 — although Stanford won it all in 2021 as a member of the Pac-12 — the conference has sent eight teams to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last seven seasons, the most among all leagues during that span. The ACC has also sent at least one team to the Elite Eight in each of the last 23 seasons, the longest active streak among all conferences.
New for women’s hoops in the ACC this season is that its conference tournament is leaving Greensboro, North Carolina for just the second time this century. The tournament — which was the only one amongst the Power 4 to average more than 10,000 fans per session last season — will be played at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.
“We’re trying to grow the game. This is about as good a time since I’ve been in college sports to grow women’s basketball in an exponential manner,” Commissioner Jim Phillips said last week at ACC Tip-Off. “We went to an open bid process and we allowed everybody within our east coast footprint to bid… At the end of the day, the folks in the Greater Atlanta Area came up with a proposal that was outstanding… We’re excited about that. We really are. The proof will be in the pudding.”
Phillips sat down with SB Nation at the Hilton Uptown Charlotte for an exclusive conversation about a variety of topics across women’s sports within the league and the NCAA.
This conversation has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
The SEC and the Big 12 both sponsor conference tournaments for volleyball. The Big Ten and the ACC do not. Has there been any consideration in starting a conference tournament for volleyball in the ACC?
“We have had a conference tournament in the past (last in 2004), and the coaches, as we’ve gone along, made the decision that they did not want to have a championship. They just felt that the regular season was preparing them for the postseason, and we’ve certainly had a lot of success in volleyball. The (conference championship) was not helpful for us as we looked at the number of teams getting into the NCAA Tournament and placement in the NCAA Tournament. We respected that strong recommendation from our coaches and it hasn’t really been a conference push. But, would I be interested? Of course. In the end though, I do try to listen to our coaches as often as I possibly can.”
You have a softball tournament right now that’s played at campus sites, and that’s another sport really growing in audience and viewership. Has there been any consideration in making that a neutral site tournament, like you have for basketball and baseball?
“We have talked about it, and we’ll continue to discuss that as an option. We’ve not made that move. It’s worked out well so far, rotating campuses, and I think our coaches have liked that, so we’ll stay in that direction until we feel like maybe it is time to go to a neutral site. But again, as we continue to try to grow the game, that has been a way for us to move it around and get into some different communities. So far, we have felt that rotating the campuses has been the right place for our softball championship. But we’re certainly open to a (neutral site) in the future.”
To women’s basketball… The ACC’s revenue distribution model, 60 percent of that is based on the television viewership that football and men’s basketball get. With women’s basketball getting bigger broadcasting platforms — Duke vs. North Carolina is on ABC this year, for example — could women’s basketball viewership become part of the revenue distribution model?
“We have discussed it. As of now, the (Board of Directors) has not gone in that direction. But we immediately voted to make sure that postseason performance (in women’s basketball) was part of our success initiative program — which rewards football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. That’s all part of the same structure that distributes those dollars from who performs well in the postseason.”
So, it sounds like this will be something that the ACC continues to look at and see what the viewership numbers do over time.
“No question. Correct.”
We’ve been talking about the growth in women’s college basketball. The 2028 Final Four is going to be played in a football stadium — Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. If I would have told you that was a possibility 10 years ago, you would’ve said what?
“I would have been absolutely ecstatic that that could happen. That day has come, which I think is fantastic. We have to continue to invest in women’s basketball. It’s paramount for all of us. The game has never been healthier, but the game also needs us to continue to pay attention to it and to invest in it, because it’s on a really good trajectory, but it won’t be if we under-resource it. And so, we’re trying to do everything we can. I’m proud of what we’ve done in the league on how we’re marketing and promoting and branding. We added 12 additional games of new inventory — of more games than (we had) last year on ESPN. We strengthened our non-conference schedule, and so, the league is continuing to make sure that we prioritize women’s basketball.”
