LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Only one conference has 2 of the Top 5 teams in the latest AP women's college basketball poll.
I'm talking about the Atlantic Coast Conference, which features No. 3 North Carolina State and No. 5 Louisville.
Guess how many teams the ACC has ranked in the AP Top 25?
That answer is also 2 -- the Wolfpack and Cardinals.
Guess who is not pleased the ACC is overshadowed by the Southeastern Conference (6 Top 25 teams), Big Ten (5 Top 25 teams) and Pac-12 (4 Top 25 teams).
Louisville coach Jeff Walz is not pleased. As the Cardinals prepare for their trip to Greensboro, North Carolina, where they will open play in the ACC Tournament against North Carolina or Wake Forest at noon Friday, Walz went to bat for his league.
"It's been a really good year in the ACC and I can look at this league and honestly say we've got 8 to 9 NCAA Tournament teams," Walz said.
(The latest bracket at ESPN has 8 ACC teams earning bids, the same number as the SEC.)
"It's been such a strange year because we only started with 3 teams ranked in the Top 25. Because they were so limited in non-conference games, it's been difficult for teams in our league to get up into the Top 25.
"With only 3 starting off in it, you're not able to play 3 or 4 teams in the Top 25 to jump up into it.
"When you look at our league, I think people are going to go, 'Well, they've only got 2 teams ranked.' It's all because of how you start the season.
"And when you get the pre-season you normally have the opportunity to play other teams. We didn't. Not many of us …
"… I think our league has been impacted by that harder than any other league in women's basketball."
The ACC's lack of respect was also reflected in the latest NCAA Tournament bracket reveal. Although N.C. State is third in the AP poll, the Wolfpack were the No. 5 overall seed by the women's tournament selection committee.
Ditto for Louisville. Fifth in AP, Louisville was No. 9 overall, a 3-seed with the committee.
The computer rankings are also unkind to the ACC. Louisville is No. 6, N.C. State No. 9 in the NCAA Net formula. They are the only ACC programs ranked in the Top 25.
*There's more. Walz was also obviously perturbed that the league hasn't done a better job of promoting itself, especially on the ACC Network.
"You can just go down the list (of ACC teams) and we're pretty darn talented" Walz said. "Now I know some people on our own network might not feel that way.
"But us coaches that deal with it, night in and night out, truly believe we are a pretty damn good league."
*Walz also said he never considered having his team opt out of the ACC Tournament because of concerns about the novel coronavirus, even though Louisville has secured its place in the NCAA Tournament.
The reason?
There will be a 9-to-10 day gap between the end of the ACC Tournament and the date teams must report to San Antonio for the start of the NCAA Tournament.
"I have no problem playing in a conference tournament, considering where ours is situated," Walz said.
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