ACC baseball tournament shifts to single-elimination format

So long, cursed pool play.

Earlier today the ACC announced a new single-elimination baseball tournament format that will include all 16 teams. (Syracuse being the lone school without a baseball team.) So no more worrying for anybody about actually making the tournament field, and now all of the games actually have stakes.

There were (unintentional) single-elimination games in the pool format anyhow, and it was past time to get rid of a setup that created meaningless matchups.

Adding teams to the field doesn’t exactly streamline the proceedings, though. Both Tuesday and Wednesday will include four games, so if the weather doesn’t cooperate—or we get some extra-inning marathons—the schedule’s going to get hairy.

The top four teams will receive a double-bye to the quarterfinals on Thursday and Friday, while seeds five through eight get a single-bye. If you’re in the top four, then, you can treat the tournament like you would a weekend series in terms of your starting pitching, which feels right to me. Should make for a better tournament, too.