For the sake of the conference, that’s not such a bad thing. While the debate as to whether Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski should apologize to Oregon’s Dillon Brooks, four other ACC teams will fight for two Final Four spots on Sunday. 

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The North Carolina-Notre Dame and Virginia-Syracuse matchups validate the decision to add Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse in 2013 and Louisville (also not one of those teams) in 2014. ESPN reported the conference is on track to bring in record-breaking revenue from this year’s tournament. Is it fair to dub the ACC the king now and forever? 

“I learned a long time ago that it’s a foolish game to say one league is better than the other,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “There are just too many variables. I think the top conferences are very, very good, and it’s an imperfect system to say, well, they did better in the NCAA Tournament. I mean, you can use that, but I don’t know. It’s very difficult.” 

Not that difficult. The ACC set a record for Sweet 16 teams with six and now guaranteed itself not only two spots in the Final Four, but a spot in the national championship game. Half of the Elite Eight is an ACC tournament redux, only Miami is out and Syracuse is in. 

And Duke, last year’s national champion, is out of the mix. That’s not saying the Blue Devils’ place as a national powerhouse is lost. It’s just saying the addition of the Big East bloc strengthened the depth of the conference. 

Since 1990-91 — a 25-year sample — the ACC is tied with the Big Ten with 20 Final Four appearances. Duke and North Carolina have 17 of those, while Maryland — now in the Big Ten — had two. The only other ACC school with a Final Four appearance is Georgia Tech (2003-04). 

Now, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Virginia have a chance to join that group. North Carolina, which has a league-best nine Final Four appearances in that stretch, also is in. The Tar Heels and Cavaliers lived up to their billing as No. 1 seeds so far. 

“Virginia had a little glitch early, but I thought Virginia and North Carolina were the two best teams in the league,” Boeheim said. “They’re both really, really good basketball teams, really well-coached teams, a lot of leadership, a lot of senior leadership.” 

That showed up in the Elite Eight. The Cavaliers and Tar Heels averaged 92.5 points in that round. Notre Dame is back in the Elite Eight for the second straight season. Syracuse’s Tyler Lydon completed that Elite Eight puzzle with a blocked shot in the final seconds against Gonzaga on Friday. 

“Obviously it’s a strong conference with a lot of great teams in it,” Lydon said. “I think that does a great job of preparing us for this time of year.” 

Who could argue with that?