(Photo by Catalina Fragoso – Double G Media)

Brooklyn, NY – For the first time in history, the ACC Tournament will make its way to “The Big Apple,” as the star-studded conference will play its end of the year tournament at the Barclay’s Center from March 7-11.

This year, the ACC has been perceived by many college basketball fans as the best conference in the nation. Additionally, the ACC has been the center of pre-March Madness talks as the conference is expected to have more teams than any other conference in the tournament this year. In his most recent bracket projection (March 6; 3 pm ET,) ESPN March Madness Analyst Joe Lunardi has ten ACC teams making the NCAA tournament, thus putting the ACC one shy of tying the record for most teams, from a single conference, to make the NCAA Tournament (11 teams made it from the Big East in 2011.)

Along with the teams, the ACC tournament has been at the center of speculation as the tournament is being held in Brooklyn, New York for the first time in its history. Since the addition of former Big East schools Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Pitt in 2013 following with Louisville in 2015, the geographical focus of schools has shifted more to the North.

Last year, the ACC tournament was held at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C., marking the first time the tournament has been as north as Maryland since 2005. Now, the push-up North has continued as the ACC has reached an agreement with the Barclays Center to host the tournament this year and in 2018.

In an article written by CBS Sports writer Jon Solomon, Solomon stated last year that the tournament felt “odd” without having a hometown team. With the tournament being in Brooklyn, this will mark the second straight year the tournament will be without a hometown team.

In saying that, is it necessarily a bad thing that New York City doesn’t have a team in the ACC Tournament? No, and here is why.

New York City is a city that lives and breathes basketball. From the courts at Rucker Park to the bright lights of Madison Square Garden basketball is present everywhere you go in the city.

This year, New York City basketball fans have been disappointed by the performance of their NBA teams. As of March 6th, the Brooklyn Nets are 11-51 and the New York Knicks are 26-38. Simply put, quality basketball has not existed in New York City for the past few years.

Since both New York teams have been terrible this season, basketball fans in New York City are desperate to watch some quality basketball. In saying that, New Yorkers need to turn their attention to the ACC tournament this week. The ACC tournament will provide entertaining and competitive basketball and is truly a must-see event.

In an attempt to increase the popularity of the ACC Tournament in New York City, city officials have been doing their best this week to rally support for the tournament. As of 3 pm ET yesterday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams declared that this week would be officially recognized as “ACC Tournament Week” in Brooklyn (talk about an endorsement!)

It may be weird, but I suspect the ACC tournament will be a huge success this week. New York City, one of the basketball’s heartlands, is going to get the quality basketball it deserves this week.