ACC changes baseball tournament from pool play to single-elimination format
FILE – The ACC logo sits atop the chain marker during the second half of an NCAA college football game between Duke and North Carolina A&T in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. Legal online sports betting in North Carolina is poised to begin in March on the eve of the region’s beloved Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament. Members of the state lottery commission voted Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, to set noon March 11 as the time in which sports betting can commence on mobile devices and computers. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker, File)
(AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference is changing its baseball tournament to a single-elimination format.
The league announced Wednesday its move away from a pool-play format. Now all 16 teams participating in baseball will join a tournament that gives double-round byes into the quarterfinals for the top four seeds and single-round byes to the No. 5 through No. 8 seeds.
The previous format included 12 teams using a round-robin format through pool play to determine which four teams would advance to a single-elimination semifinal and championship round for the title, which created some games that would have little or no bearing on whether the winner advanced.
The ACC said the change was proposed by the league’s head coaches and was supported by the athletes.
The schedule for the 2025 event would run May 20-25, the day before the NCAA unveils its 64-team bracket for the march to the College World Series. It will be held in the Durham for the 14th time.
