Nice to See You Again? ACC Rivals Meet in Playoffs for 2nd Time in 32 Years

NCAA Tournament matchups between members from the same league are relatively rare. When ACC rivals Louisville and North Carolina State met in the East Regional semifinals, it was the 23rd such confrontation but only the third in the last 13 years. It was the first time for an intra-conference confrontation as early as the regional semifinals in the NCAA playoffs since 1986.

The Big Ten Conference accounted for seven of the first 18 NCAA Tournament games pitting league members against each other. Florida coach Billy Donovan played in one of the playoff intraconference matchups in 1987 when he scored 20 points for Providence in an 88-73 triumph over Georgetown in the Southeast Regional final.

Year Conference Playoff Round NCAA Tourney Result Between Members of Same League
1976 Big Ten national championship Indiana 86 (May scored team-high 26 points), Michigan 68 (Green 18)
1980 Big Ten regional semifinals Purdue 76 (Edmonson/Morris 20), Indiana 69 (I. Thomas 30)
1980 Big Ten national third-place Purdue 75 (Carroll 35), Iowa 58 (Arnold 19)
1981 ACC national semifinals North Carolina 78 (Wood 39), Virginia 65 (Lamp 18)
1983 ACC regional final North Carolina State 63 (Whittenburg 24), Virginia 62 (Sampson 23)
1985 Big East national semifinals Georgetown 77 (Williams 20), St. John's 59 (Glass 13)
1985 Big East national championship Villanova 66 (McClain 17), Georgetown 64 (Wingate 16)
1986 SEC regional semifinals Kentucky 68 (Walker 22), Alabama 63 (Coner 20)
1986 SEC regional final Louisiana State 59 (Williams 16), Kentucky 57 (Walker 20)
1987 Big East regional final Providence 88 (Donovan/D. Wright 20), Georgetown 73 (Williams 25)
1987 Big East national semifinals Syracuse 77 (Monroe 17), Providence 63 (Screen 18)
1988 Big Eight regional final Kansas 71 (Manning 20), Kansas State 58 (Scott 18)
1988 Big Eight national championship Kansas 83 (Manning 31), Oklahoma 79 (Sieger 22)
1989 Big Ten national semifinals Michigan 83 (Rice 28), Illinois 81 (Battle 29)
1992 Big Ten regional final Michigan 75 (Webber 23), Ohio State 71 (Jackson 20)
1992 Great Midwest regional final Cincinnati 88 (Jones 23), Memphis State 57 (Hardaway 12)
2000 Big Ten regional final Wisconsin 64 (Bryant 18), Purdue 60 (Cardinal/Cunningham 13)
2000 Big Ten national semifinals Michigan State 53 (Peterson 20), Wisconsin 41 (Boone 18)
2001 ACC national semifinals Duke 95 (Battier 25), Maryland 84 (Dixon 19)
2002 Big 12 regional final Oklahoma 81 (Price 18), Missouri 75 (Paulding 22)
2009 Big East regional final Villanova 78 (Anderson 17), Pittsburgh 76 (Young 28)
2013 Big East regional final Syracuse 55 (Southerland 16), Marquette 39 (Blue 14)
2015 ACC regional semifinals Louisville 75 (Harrell 24), North Carolina State 65 (Lacey 18)