ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips officially kicked off the 2025 ACC season with the opening media session on Tuesday in Charlotte. During his opening statement and a question-and-answer session with the media, he touched on some topics, and here are the three biggest takeaways from his media session.
ACC to release player availability reports ahead of each game
One thing that has always been a game in college sports, whether it's football, basketball, or any other sport, is the gamesmanship between coaches, who are not always fully honest about injuries and who is or might not be available for games. Well, Phillips is looking to change that.
According to Phillips, the ACC is instituting player availability reports for football, basketball, and baseball. For football, it will be released by the schools two days ahead of the game and then one more on gameday. For basketball and baseball, the first will be released the day before the game and one hour before tip/first pitch.
"It's the right thing,'' said Phillips about the availability reports.
Men's and women's hoop coaches split on NCAA Tournament expansion
Phillips touched on potential expansion with the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournament, and it appears the coaches on both sides are split on whether the tournament should be increased from 68 to a higher number.
Phillips said that the men coaches more or less favor it, while the women are not nearly as in favor of it. The field was once 64 and is now at 68; some would like to see it increased as high as 76. This could end up being filed under "If it's not broke, don't fix it.''
Jim Phillips makes feeling known on CFP format
Aside from talk about expansion for the NCCA Basketball Tournament, there has been talk about expansion for the College Football Playoff. Phillips spoke on where he stands with that.
“I think some of my comments have been public, relative to the CFP,” Phillips said in his opening remarks. “I’ve always believed in rewarding conference champions. And if you are in a really good conference, like we have across the P4, and you’re also part of the G6, conference championships matter. And that’s been consistent in my five years: that they should be rewarded. Fairness and access should also be part of the equation.
“We have a really good Playoff right now. It’s the 5-and-7 model. I’m open to 5-9 and 5-11. I always look to our championships to try to have as much access as possible within reason. It has to make sense.”
Talking about the models is not going to end anytime soon, and you get the feeling that we'll never get the format that everyone wants or likes.