Pitt HC Jeff Capel Opposes Proposed ACC Scheduling Model

Pitt Panthers head coach Jeff Capel thinks everyone should make the ACC Tournament.

PITTSBURGH -- Change is coming to the Pitt Panthers' home conference in the ACC next year. The additions of SMU, Cal and Stanford will shake up the league and force officials to rethink how games and championships are scheduled. 

For men's and women's basketball, that might mean certain teams get left out of the end-of-season tournament. Commissioner Jim Phillips, who leads the league that Pitt will be a part of for the imminent future, floated the idea on the first day of ACC Tip-Off in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

"We'll do what the membership wants," Phillips said. "I think you've got to earn your way to play in I think the most prestigious postseason basketball tournaments in the country, and if you don't get to a certain threshold, then you just don't make it that year. We'll see."

Phillips emphasized that the pacing of the tournament with it beginning early in the week and continuing all the way through the end of the weekend. He's not a fan of the additional day. 

"Tuesday through Saturday or Wednesday through Sunday, that's been a nice flow," Phillips said. "It's been a nice flow I think for the media. It's been a nice flow for our teams, for fans, our staff. I'm not overly interested in adding one additional day. But we'll listen to the membership and see what they have to say."

Well, at least one person from the membership - Pitt head coach Jeff Capel - was asked about maybe keeping some members out of the conference tournament and he did not approve. 

"I wouldn't like that. I think every team deserves a chance to go to the tournament, ACC Tournament, to be a part of the championship," Capel said. "You never know what can happen. The NCAA Tournament tells you that every year. A team can get hot and maybe go on a magical run. I would hope that that's not something that comes to fruition."

There's a long way to go, but early returns on Phillips' proposed scheduling model are not positive. 

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