The longest running conference tournament in women’s college basketball is the one that has been hosted annually since 1978 by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
As more teams in the conference began starting women’s basketball programs at the varsity level in the 1970s after Title IX, the ACC thought it could do for its women’s basketball teams what it had done since 1954 for its men. Back then, there wasn’t even an NCAA Tournament for women’s basketball. That wouldn’t come until 1982.
Still, the ACC rounded up its seven women’s basketball-playing teams and held its first tournament on Virginia’s campus in Charlottesville. Chris Weller’s Maryland Terrapins defeated Kay Yow’s NC State Wolfpack for the first championship.
After more than two decades of bouncing around campus sites and other venues in the Carolinas, the ACC seemingly found a long-term home for its women’s tournament in North Carolina’s Triad Region at the historic Greensboro Coliseum. For 25 of the past 26 years, that’s where Hall of Fame coaches and All-Americans played over several days in early March.
The annual pilgrimage to Greensboro became a tradition for women’s basketball fans across the ACC’s expanding footprint. Last year, it was the only Power 4 conference tournament to average more than 10,000 fans per day and drew its highest overall attendance since 2009.
But this week, a new era begins for the ACC. The tournament is on the move.
For the first time in its 49-year history, it will be played at a neutral site outside of the Carolinas, at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
Many fans around the sport – and even some coaches in the ACC – are asking the same question: Why?
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips argues that if there was ever a time to move the tournament around, it’s now.
‘The growth of the game has warranted us to expand our footprint,’ Phillips told USA TODAY Sports. ‘That is part of what I believe is our responsibility as a premier college basketball conference. Women’s basketball has never been better as it relates to fan interest, viewership, attendance and the rest.”
Why Duluth, Georgia?
When Jackie Carson left her position as the head women’s basketball coach at Furman to become the Senior Vice President of Women’s Basketball for the ACC nearly three years ago, she went on a listening tour around the league. One of the things she heard over and over again from the majority of the coaches was something like this: ‘We love Greensboro. Greensboro has been a great home for our tournament. But can we venture out? Can we have a destination? It doesn’t have to be every year, but women’s basketball is expanding. So can we just branch out a little bit?’
So, with the majority of coaches pleading for a different venue, Carson and the ACC went scouting for locations and opened the 2026 tournament up to a bid as their contract with the Greensboro Coliseum was expiring. The bidding was competitive, as sources familiar with the process told USA TODAY Sports that Baltimore, Tampa and Washington, D.C. were among the cities in the mix.
Ultimately, the folks in Gwinnett County, Georgia won the bid. The ACC’s 18 athletic directors unanimously voted to send the 2026 tournament to Gas South Arena. Supporting the Gwinnett Sports Commission’s bid were the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and the Atlanta Sports Commission.
‘I mean, it wasn’t close, just with the support they showed,’ Carson told USA TODAY Sports. ‘There’s something special about somebody who really wants to have you, and they rolled out the red carpet during the bidding process. So we’re excited. It seems like the state of Georgia and the surrounding areas are very excited. I know it’s a basketball hotbed.’
Gas South Arena seats 13,100 fans and is the home of the Atlanta Gladiators minor league hockey team, the Georgia Swarm professional lacrosse team, the state basketball and wrestling championships in Georgia, and the Pro Volleyball Federation’s Atlanta Vibe. It last hosted the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in 2014, and was also the host of Game 3 of the WNBA Finals in 2013.
Since then, the arena and surrounding entertainment district underwent about $300 million in renovations in recent years. It now features 30 corporate suites, two party suites and club-level seating. The ACC has sold out courtside seats in Greensboro in each of the past two seasons and aims to do the same in Duluth.
However, moving the tournament out of North Carolina wasn’t met with applause by everyone.
‘I don’t even know where Duluth is, I’ll be quite honest. I thought it was Atlanta – I’m hearing it’s not Atlanta. I don’t really know,’ North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said Sunday after her Tar Heels beat Duke. ‘I think people wanted it to move. I think Greensboro has done a really good job. … I don’t get to make those decisions. I guess we’ll see after it if that was the right decision.’
A new court for the ACC Tournament
In addition to the venue change, the ACC Tournament’s playing surface will also have a new look for the first time since 2016.
Designed by graphic artist Boston Logan, the court has hand-drawn elements that feature thoughtful tributes to the ACC’s history. Closer looks will reveal nods to the states where the tournament has been held – a peach for Georgia, a palmetto tree for South Carolina, a crown for Charlotte, and a vintage Greensboro Coliseum logo. Area codes are incorporated, as is 1978 – the year of the first tournament.
About a year ago, the process began when Phillips sent a text to Carson and simply said, ‘It’s time for a new court design.’
So Carson and Logan, the ACC’s director of creative strategy, got to work.
‘The No. 1 thing is, when you turn on that TV, I want folks to know – without that camera scrolling or anything – that’s ACC women’s basketball,’ Carson said. ‘I wanted something bold and distinct and just something that just really stood out. … And we want to paint history and I think that’s what graffiti does.’
Phillips thought it was the perfect fit.
‘It’s an expression of what the game means and it has the energy of the modern game,’ he said of the court design. ‘It’s a celebration of women’s basketball culture, and it provides a voice and attitude and personality. It’s a modern reflection of our past, but as we go into the future.’
What’s the future of the ACC Women’s Tournament?
Next year, the tournament will be on the move again.
For the first time since 1999, it’s heading back to Charlotte and will be played at the Spectrum Center – home of the Charlotte Hornets – for its 50th anniversary. In 2024, the venue set the record for the highest-attended regular season women’s basketball game in the state of North Carolina when 15,424 fans came to watch South Carolina versus NC State.
‘That’s what this championship represents, an opportunity to move it around to areas that we feel really support women’s basketball,’ Phillips said. ‘And again, a chance to host the premier women’s basketball event.’
While the 2027 tournament’s venue is locked in, locations for 2028 and beyond remain undecided. The ACC could reopen talks with cities that were involved in the bidding for this year’s tournament, return to Duluth or Greensboro, or go someplace brand new.
‘We want to continue the growth,’ Carson said. ‘More people are coming in and saying how much they would love to have us in their city. We already know multiple cities that want us in 2028. I think we have some really solid options right now.’