CLEMSON – You won’t find a coach more vocal than Brad Brownell about the state of college basketball, and he took the time Tuesday night to address an issue plaguing the ACC.

Clemson is one of many in the conference that have lost the respect of the national eye. Take the latest Bracketology from ESPN for example, which has the conference getting just three bids to the NCAA Tournament.

This is the exact issue Brownell is concerned about, and he discussed it at length after the Tigers’ win over Louisville Tuesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.

“I think the narrative with our league is ridiculous and there’s going to be stats. Somebody said we’re 9-3 against the Big 12 and you know, teams are different, right. Teams improve, (Louisville) battled some good teams in the non-conference. Maybe it was they lost by a basket or two to Indiana and Texas. Those are two that just popped off my head,” Brownell said.

The respect that comes from nearly beating good teams is not applicable to ACC teams. On the other hand, that same Big 12 conference is expected to get nine bids in the ESPN predictions. The same goes for the SEC, who the ACC is an even 6-6 against, but it’s predicted to get eight bids, including South Carolina and Alabama, two teams Clemson beat in non-conference play.

What gives?

Losses aren’t as punished in those conferences because the narrative is different. It’s a double standard that winning is hard over there but apparently isn’t on the East coast. Georgia Tech, who has taken down the three strongest teams in the ACC this season, is the perfect example of such. Their latest came Tuesday, when it took down No. 3 North Carolina at home.

”Did (Georgia Tech) win? See, like that’s a joke. So they’re good enough to beat Carolina, Duke and Clemson but they’re not very good? That’s insane,” Brownell said. “Let’s get some other teams to try and play and beat all three of us. Those guys, their freshmen are completely different and those guys weren’t even playing at the time. It’s obviously frustrating for the coaches and players in the league that the narrative is not right.”

The message was clear from Brownell, but there’s also another issue that plagues the ACC beyond perception. He used the word “cannibalize” to describe what the conference does to each other, and it hurts the resumes of Clemson and others because the NET “overreacts.”

While the Tigers and other ACC schools take a challenging schedule, there’s stat-padding that comes with a weak non-conference schedule. Brownell is seeing that from the Big 12 and other conferences, and finds it frustrating that taking easy games and dominating is beneficial. Clemson missing the tournament last year is the clear example.

“We over-schedule probably. Last two years, we’ve scheduled less guarantee games and this year we’re winning so maybe that’ll prove to be the big help but I’m watching other teams that are doing the opposite,” Brownell said. “They’re scheduling seven and eight guarantee games and winning by thirty as much as they can and their NET numbers are higher than I would expect them to be.

“A lot of the Big 12 is doing that. We need to study it better as a league, if that’s part of the trick, then we need to study it better because I don’t think our league does that as much.”

Brownell pulled no punches, and it continues to represent an issue that is punishing the ACC for competing. He went on to say that playing 20 conference games plays a factor, and moving to 18 may have to be a discussion to open up for more easy non-conference wins.

Still, that’s not the calling card of the ACC to take guaranteed victories. It is elsewhere, and Brownell was quick to mention the Big 12 among others. Clemson is still battling for an NCAA Tournament bid, but there’s other ACC teams that will not make it based on this narrative.