Sights and Sounds From the 2026 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
A Cal writer's first foray into ACC Basketball territory
Having previously attended two PAC-12 Tournaments in Las Vegas, I looked forward to spending several days in ACC country. When Cal went one-and-done, I was able to have more of a fan’s view for the rest of my time in Charlotte and absorb the basketball atmosphere of postseason play in North Carolina.
The ACC Tournament messaging was very all-encompassing. All promotional materials, videos, included all teams. The merchandising was different. Cal and Stanford did not have the same variety of options to purchase. Of note, Cal did not have any hats available, and fewer variety of shirts. I get it, it’s about what they can sell, and the Cal fanbase did not show up in multitudes to this event. Still it is frustrating to see a clear differentiation between schools.
I’ve mentioned in several of my game articles that the East Coast announcing crews frequently flub Cal names and information. Thankfully, there was none of those types of miscues this week.
There is no love lost between the various North Carolina schools. No such thing as sibling support. During the FSU/Duke matchup, the Tarheel fans in attendance were on their feet rooting for Florida State to pull of the upset. A local journalist told me they would not even root for each other in the national championship game, conference pride notwithstanding. NC State garnered the same reaction, but not at the same level as Duke and UNC.
Miami and Florida State fans traveled very well, more so than the closer Louisville and Clemson fan bases. Cal and SMU did not have much representation in their games.
The above picture was taken during the Wednesday afternoon SMU/Clemson game. I talked briefly to the young man wearing the jersey. He indicated that Chris Bell was his favorite Syracuse player and was sad when he transferred out. He has been following Bell since transferring and is glad he’s thriving.
This is the kind of thing that I think makes the ACC special. I can’t imagine, for example, someone showing up to a 2024 Pac-12 Tournament Oregon game and wearing a sighed Washington State TJ Bamba jersey.
It’s too simplistic to say that ACC fans are more invested in College Basketball than PAC-12 fans were. Arizona fans took over Las Vegas for the championship weekends in 2023 and 2024. What I will say is they take it more seriously. WriteForCalifornia was the only West Coast school-centric journalism group to attend Charlotte in person. Part of that is the fact that Cal and Stanford were middle of the pack teams. Had both of them finished even slightly higher up in the standings, maybe a local reporter gets sent back East. Meanwhile, Haas Pavilion had visiting media show up this year from UNC, Duke, Clemson and Louisville (of the games I attended).
The ACC Tournament rotates between Charlotte and Greensboro, NC. In 2024, the ACC committed to keeping multiple sports championships in the state of North Carolina through at least 2029, in part to help smooth over the ACC expansion of SMU, Stanford and Cal. Don’t expect this event to be in the Bay Area or Dallas within the foreseeable future.
I will always miss getting to cover Pac-12 Football Media Day and Cal hoops at UCLA/USC. With that said, I should go visit my family in Raleigh and catch the hoops tourney one of these years.
Interesting perspective with great photos and sharp observations. Nice to see Cal and Oski get some notice, any notice.
In the 90s I did some newspaper ad sales training in Huntsville, Alabama, and did a little impromptu riff on Tide Pride vs. Cal Golden Bear Territory. A young lady in the back row raised her hand. I acknowledged her and she asked, “Did you say Gummy Bears?!”