The ACC's New Young Guard Hopes to Carry the Torch.

During an exclusive interview with Tar Heels Roundtable, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips was bullish about the league receiving more bids for the NCAA Tournament this basketball season. 

"Last year, we only had four. And that's just not good enough," Phillips said "I think you've got to start marching back to where you've traditionally been, which is nine or 10."

The ACC's four bids in March mark the low point of what has been a down decade in terms of the conference's participation numbers in March Madness. In each of the three prior seasons, the ACC saw just five teams make the dance.

But with many older legends retiring in recent years — during a period of time that college sports have changed dramatically — the league is now being leaning on younger coaches with a lot of energy.

For example, Pat Kelsey inherited a Louisville program that had won just five conference games in the previous two seasons under Kenny Payne. However, that didn't prevent Kelsey from finishing 18-2 in league play and advancing to the ACC Tournament championship game in his first year. This season, his Cardinals were picked to finish second in the ACC and are ranked 11th in the preseason poll.

The only ACC program picked ahead of the Cards is No. 6 Duke, which beat Louisville in March's ACC title game on its way to a Final Four appearance. Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer, who is 38 years old and recently signed a contract extension, has won 80% of his games in three seasons at Duke along with two conference championships.  

The league is expecting similar results from two more coaching newcomers this year.

NC State's Will Wade capitalized on a heightened budget in Raleigh with a roster picked to finish fourth in the ACC this season. The Wolfpack also is the top unranked team receiving votes for the AP preseason Top 25.

Meanwhile, Virginia replaced Tony Bennett with Ryan Odom this offseason. Odom, whose father was a former Wake Forest head coach and Cavaliers assistant, is best known for beating UVA with 16th-seeded UMBC in Charlotte back in 2018. His team is picked to finish fifth in the ACC this season.

Beyond that, SMU returns a lot of its scoring, including lead guard Boopie Miller, and Clemson has become a recent mainstay in the NCAA Tournament. 

So it'll remain to be seen if the ACC can return to glory during the NCAA Tournament this upcoming March.