ACC Commissioner John Swofford has sent a letter to the Division I men's basketball committee requesting that conference strength be added to the list of criteria considered when the NCAA tournament field is selected.

Coaches say they plan to remind the media more often next season about the conference's strength.

Two weeks ago, I mentioned that one of the ACC's biggest offseason stories would be (again) looking into expanding the conference basketball season to 18 games. For the third straight season, the current system of scheduling has been a talking point.

Last year, Virginia won a share of the ACC regular season crown with what was, statistically, the weakest schedule in the conference. This past season, Virginia Tech played UNC, Duke and Clemson just once apiece ... and that may have cost them an NCAA Tournament bid.

Now, the ACC may look into expanding the season from 16 to 18 games.

The Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 all play the 18-game schedule and it hasn't hurt them come tournament time. The ACC is currently in a tournament funk (getting bids and winning games) and losing those bids to teams from those conferences.

Some say that adding the two extra games actually hurts the conference's RPI because it means those bad teams have to play more games, too. True, but one of the reasons the ACC continues to sit near the top of those RPI standings is because their "bad" teams are usually better than the other league's "bad" teams.

If you have never seen a Clemson Tigers game over the last ... say ... three years, then you captured everything about them in this one game against Villanova.

The Tigers pressed and punched their way to a 36-18 lead with five minutes left in the first half. Then, as it always seems to happen for Clemson, it all fell apart. Nova went on a 46-21 run that spanned both halves and built up a seven point lead with under four minutes remaining.

Clemson helped facilitate this by making bad shot decisions, turning the ball over, not feeding the big dogs down low and playing poor defense. There was the fantastic fouling of a three point shooter as the shot clock expired (by the way, the shot banked in). There was James Mays and Trevor Booker shooting a combined five shots on the day ... and both fouling out. Terrence Oglesby, Cliff Hammonds and KC Rivers went a combined 4-of-25 from three point land.

There are four ACC teams playing in the NCAA tournament -- North Carolina, Duke, Clemson and Miami. Duke begins the conference's participation in the dance Thursday against Belmont (the rest play on Friday).

Obviously, the ultimate goal for each school is to win the National Championship ... but what is each team's success point? I mean, where is the line that would determine this year as successful?

North Carolina. Everyone around the Tar Heels is expecting nothing less than a championship. But is it a bust if they don't? I'm not too sure. If you go by everyone's feel, this exact Tar Heel team will be back next year (sans Quentin Thomas) and adding a healthy Bobby Frasor and recruits Ed Davis, Ty Zeller and Larry Drew. If that is the case, then the Heels may have another shot at winning a title if they fall short this year.

Now, that assumes that guys like Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington are returning next year (signs point to that they are). Plus, this UNC team has spent more time as #1 than any other team in the nation and feel they are ready to win this thing now. Let's be honest: it would be very disappointing for Carolina fans if they didn't finish.

The ACC season has ended and after two months of almost exclusively playing other conference teams, four teams set out across this nation to begin their quest for the national championship.

Squarely in the bullseye is North Carolina, who not only received a #1 seed in the East Region (meaning they get to play in Raleigh and Charlotte) but gained the tournament's top overall seed. Players and fans alike have been buying time until this moment. The ACC regular season and tournament titles are great but the 2007-08 season is a bust without a championship.

Despite their recent swoon, you have to say Duke has been a pleasant surprise. This was a team that were beaten by VCU in last year's tournament and was struggling on the offensive end. They have turned that around, becoming one of the best scoring teams in the nation and landing a #2 seed in the West Region. They'll start off against Belmont on Thursday in Washington, DC.

It was a tough one, but North Carolina won their second straight ACC tournament championship ... and a record 17th overall.

Clemson was a very worthy opponent, making their first ACC Championship game appearance since 1962. The spent the day using their maddening press to create turnovers. It didn't last though.

As I said earlier, the running theme in UNC-Clemson games this year is Clemson's pressing defense being effective, yet growing tired as the game went along. That was very evident in this game as well. The Tigers really got under the Tar Heels skin and created most of their offense off the press. However, UNC was able to get easy baskets when they beat the press with long passes.

I also said that free throw shooting was a problem for Clemson ... especially down the stretch. The Tigers missed three big free throws down the stretch and they went 14-of-26 for the game.

And they couldn't stop Wayne Ellington. Ellington averaged 31.5 points in the two games against the Tigers during the season. He led the way with 24 points today.

Many expected North Carolina to be in Sunday's ACC Championship game. Not as many expected Clemson to be their opponent.

The Clemson Tigers have long been the ACC's whipping boy. Despite being a charter member of the conference, they have never won an ACC tournament. Horace Grant is the school's lone Player of the Year. Their only regular season championship was in 1990. They are 0-53 against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. They haven't been to the ACC Championship game since 1962.

This, however, has become a breakout season for the Tigers. It is Clemson's first winning season in conference play since 1996-97 and they will appear in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998. And they're finally back in the title tilt.

Sure, all the buzz was for a Duke-UNC title game. Clemson nixed that idea by beating the Blue Devils. That may end up being the best for everyone since the Tigers and Heels played a couple a great games during the season. Both went into overtime and both involved the Heels snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Both were the ACC's best games of the season.

Remember that the ACC tournament has been a four day event since 1993 (when Florida State joined the league) but hasn't seen a full slate of first round action since the conference added Miami and Virginia Tech four years ago.

Still, the 2008 ACC tournament has been boring.

Thursday got us off to a bad start. Maryland, who was on the bad side of the NCAA tournament bubble, was beaten by 11th-seeded Boston College. Now you may argue that this is the kind of depth the conference has that an 11th seed can win ... but understand that the BC Eagles had lost 12 of their last 13 games. They are bad.

Move over to the Miami-NC State game. Heading into the season, NC State was supposed to be a challenger to the ACC crown. Instead, they lost their last eight games and finished in the basement. Still, we all remember they caught fire during last year's ACC tournament and may have some surprises for us all.