Two of those teams are in the West Regional in Los Angeles, with No. 1 seed North Carolina stomping its way to a Sweet 16 matchup with No. 4 seed Alabama. On the other side, No. 6 seed Clemson had one of the most surprising wins in the second round over No. 3 Baylor and will play No. 2 seed Arizona to kick off the second weekend of the tournament.

North Carolina and Clemson Advance to Sweet 16 in West Regional

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell believes the different playstyles in the conference prepared his team, and likely others, for the NCAA Tournament. “I've been in our league 14 years. I knew the quality of play that we had this year. I thought we were extremely deep,” Brownell said. “I just think that there's great parity in our league.”

Player Perspective

“Every year we get not enough respect and disrespected all year – 'the conference is down' – and then we come here and start waxing people,” said Clemson senior center PJ Hall.

ACC Basketball's Reputation

North Carolina forward Armando Bacot has similar feelings about the perception of the conference. He said the respect “kind of went down.” One thing he did note is there were teams like Pittsburgh who beat three of the conference’s tournament teams but didn’t make it to the big dance. “This year there were a lot of ACC teams that were deserving that didn't get a chance to make it in,” Bacot said. “Hopefully everyone sees after this year how competitive ACC basketball is and how good the teams are.”

Coach's Confidence

North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis believes the conference didn't have to prove anything — in his mind the ACC has always maintained its position atop the college basketball world. The ACC claims the most men’s college basketball national championships and has been represented in 13 of the past 22 Final Fours.

Consider the Context

The ACC's performance in the NCAA Tournament is highlighting the competitiveness and talent in the conference, proving that it remains a powerhouse in college basketball.