Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament

Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament
Conference Baseball Championship
Sport	Baseball
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Number of teams	10
Format	2 division round-robin tournament and championship game
Current stadium	Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Current location	Durham, NC
Played	1973–1978, 1980–present
Last contest	2017
Current champion	Florida State
Most championships	Clemson Tigers (10)
TV partner(s)	FS South, Sun Sports, CSN Mid-Atlantic, NESN, SportSouth
Official website	TheACC.com Baseball
Host stadiums
Louisville Slugger Field (2017) Durham Bulls Athletic Park (1996, 1998–99, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015–16) NewBridge Bank Park (2010, 2012, 2014) Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville (2005–08) Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium (2003–04) Florida Power Park (1997, 2002) Knights Stadium (2000–01) Greenville Municipal Stadium (1987–95) Durham Athletic Park (1984, 1986) Russ Chandler Stadium (1985) Boshamer Stadium (1973, 1975, 1981–83) Doak Field (1974, 1980) Beautiful Tiger Field (1976–78)
Host locations
Louisville, KY (2017) Durham, NC (1984, 1986, 1996, 1998, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015–16) Greensboro, NC (2010, 2012, 2014) Jacksonville, FL (2005–08) Salem, VA (2003–04) St. Petersburg, FL (1997, 2002) Fort Mill, SC (2000–01) Greenville, SC (1987–95) Atlanta, GA (1985) Chapel Hill, NC (1973, 1975, 1981–83) Raleigh, NC (1974, 1980) Clemson, SC (1976–78)

The Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament, sometimes referred to simply as the ACC Tournament, is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In 2014, the event adopted a modified ten-team pool play format. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

History

The ACC has a history of odd formats for its baseball championship. Since 1973, the first year of the tournament, the format has changed six times. The current format is a four-group, three-team round robin tournament with the winner of each grouping playing in a single-elimination tournament for the semifinals and finals.

1973–78

See Example: 1976 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament

For the first six seasons of the tournament, the ACC had seven members, resulting in a format where the #1 seed received a bye to play the winner of the #4 v #5 match-up. The first round of the tournament was single-elimination with the losers going home. After the first round, the remaining 4 teams played a traditional double-elimination-style tournament.

1979

Due to conflicts with exams, the ACC opted to not hold a tournament. Instead, the regular season winner Clemson was given the conference's automatic bid to the 1979 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

1980–2003

Example: 1981 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament

Beginning with the addition of Georgia Tech to the conference in 1980, the ACC began using a format closer to that of a true double-elimination tournament with a few exceptions.

• The winner of the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinal match (Game 12) would play the winner of either Quarterfinal match of the Loser's Bracket (Game 10 or 11). The decision of which teams faced each other was determined by whether or not they had already faced each other in the tournament.

From TheACC.com:

On Saturday (The Semifinals) of the ACC Baseball Tournament, the match-up between the four remaining teams is determined by previous opponents. If teams have played previously in the tournament, every attempt will be made to avoid a repeat match-up between teams, regardless of seed. If it is impossible to avoid a match-up that already occurred, then the determination is based on avoiding the most recent, current tournament match-up, regardless of seed. If no match-ups have occurred, the team left in the winners bracket will play the lowest seeded team from the losers bracket.

• If the winner of the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinal match (Game 12) loses in the Semifinal match (Game 13), that team will receive a bye and play the winner of the Finals match in a winner-take-all championship game.

1991–2003

With the introduction of Florida State into the ACC to bring the total teams to nine, the baseball tournament added a Play-In game where the bottom two teams in the conference regular season standings played in a winner-takes-all game for the 8th spot in the regular tournament.

2004

In 2004, the ACC began using a true eight-team double-elimination tournament with the bottom two teams in regular season conference play facing each other in a single-elimination game where the winner got the #8 spot in the regular tournament.

2005

In 2004, the conference expanded to 11 teams with the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech. Beginning with the 2005 Baseball Tournament, the tournament switched from a true eight-team double-elimination to two four-team double-elimination brackets with winner of each side playing in a winner-take-all championship game. The bottom four teams in conference play faced off in a single-elimination bracket, with the winner earning the #8 spot in the tournament.

2006

In 2005, Boston College joined the conference, bringing the total number of members to 12. Instead of adjusting the tournament yet again, the tournament would remain the same format as was developed in 2005, but the ACC eliminated the play-in round.

2007–2013

See Example: 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament

Beginning in 2007, the ACC developed a new tournament format that eliminated the brackets altogether. This new format was a two-group, four-team round robin tournament with the winner of each grouping playing in a winner-take-all championship game. Only the top eight teams in the regular season conference standings were invited to play in the tournament. On July 6, 2009, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced a decision to move three future baseball tournaments out of Myrtle Beach, citing miscommunications with the NAACP concerning the display of the Confederate flag in South Carolina. (Charlotte was included in the NAACP Boycott because Knights Stadium was in York County, South Carolina, less than five kilometers from the state line.) The 2010 ACC tournament was initially scheduled to take place at Fenway Park, but cost-containment for schools (most of whom would have to fly to Boston) was cited for moving the tournament to Greensboro.^[1][2]

2014-2016

Beginning in 2014, with the expansion of the conference, the tournament expanded to ten teams. The four lower seeds (7 vs 10 and 8 vs 9) played a one-game play-in game to participate in pool play with the 6 higher seeds.^[3]

2017

On September 14, 2016, the ACC announced that the 2017 tournament slated to be played in Durham, NC, along with neutral site championships for seven other sports, would be moved out of the state of North Carolina due to the controversial NC House Bill 2.^[4] On October 4, 2016, it was announced that Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky would be the new host venue for 2017.^[5]

On October 6, 2016, the ACC announced that the tournament would expand to twelve teams and have a new format. The regular season winners of the Atlantic and Coastal divisions will claim the top two seeds, while the remaining seeds would be determined by conference winning percentage. The teams would be split up into four 3-team pools. The pools would be a round robin format, with each team in the tournament guaranteed a minimum of two games. The four winners of pool play would then advance to a four team, single-elimination bracket to determine the league champion.^[6]

Pool A consists of #1 Seed Louisville, #8 Florida State & #12 Notre Dame. Pool B consists of #2 North Carolina, #7 NC State & #11 Boston College. Pool C has #3 Wake Forest, #6 Miami & #10 Georgia Tech. Pool D has #4 Virginia, #5 Clemson & #9 Duke. These pool games take place Tuesday 5/23/2017 through Friday 5/26/2017. The winners of each pool advance to Semifinals on Saturday (Pool A winner vs. Pool D winner, Pool B winner vs. Pool C winner). The Championship game between those winners is Sunday 5/28/2017.

As far as determination of the champion, the format is equivalent to a single-elimination tournament in which the seeds #1 through #4 get a first-round bye. This is because there are two ways in which the three teams in a pod can sort themselves out. The first way is that one team finishes 2-0 (another 1-1, and the third 0-2). In this case, the 2-0 team advances to the semi-finals. The other way is that all three teams finish 1-1. In this latter case, the highest seed team advances to the semifinals. ^[7] Therefore the two lower seeds must win both of their games to advance, but the top seed need only beat the winner of the game between the two lower seeds. Furthermore, the two lower seeds in each pool play first, then each plays the top seed. This means that the game between the two lower seeds is an elimination game. When the winner of that game plays the top seed, the matchup is perfectly equivalent to a quarter-final game (the winner advances to the semi-finals). The only difference between the pool format and a single elimination format is that the loser of the game between the two lower seeds still plays the higher seed, however that game has no implications for any team in regards to the ACC tournament championship.

Champions

By year

By school

All current ACC members with baseball programs have appeared at least once in the tournament except Pittsburgh, which joined the conference in 2013. Syracuse, which also joined in 2013, has not sponsored varsity baseball since 1972.

Italics indicate school is no longer a member of the ACC.

References

External links

• Official website