winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). Newly installed Penrith CEO Corey Payne has launc

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Atlantic Coast Conference has shaken off a four-year Final Four drought with strong back-to-back postseason runs that have included winning one national title, playing for another and putting three teams in the national semifinals.The trick now is to keep that momentum going for the league that considers itself college basketballs best. The ACC also wants to increase its number of NCAA Tournament bids toward a still-unreached target of 10 invitations.I think with our 15 programs and as good as those programs generally are, I dont think its unrealistic to point to that, Commissioner John Swofford said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press during the leagues preseason media day. But I also dont think, if youve got seven, eight, nine and everybody talked about 10, thats not failure -- especially when theyre winning in the tournament.The ACCs series of expansions over the past decade were supposed to push the league to juggernaut status by adding programs like Louisville, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh to a lineup that featured tradition-rich charter members Duke and North Carolina.Its taken some time -- maybe a little longer than expected, the way North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried sees it -- but the league is starting to earn that status.I think youre seeing now what we thought was going to happen a couple of years ago, said Gottfried, whose Wolfpack has been to the NCAAs in four of his five previous seasons with two Sweet 16 runs. Couple of years ago, we all said this is the best basketball league in America. It probably wasnt just yet.I think what youre seeing now, its happening. Just took a few years for us to get there. And part of that is because I think everybodys better.Compare that to a year earlier, when Gottfried said the league had work to do to earn its claim as the nations best by regularly earning more than the six bids it got in 2015. The league went on to tie its record of seven and wouldve had a new high mark had a 23-win Louisville team not sat out with a self-imposed postseason ban amid an ongoing NCAA investigation into allegations that a former staffer hired escorts and strippers for sex parties with recruits and players.Once in the tournament, ACC teams kept winning.North Carolina reached the NCAA championship game. Syracuse made a surprise run to the Final Four. Four teams reached the Elite Eight and a record six teams got to the Sweet 16.The league finished with a record 19 NCAA Tournament wins, surpassing the previous mark of 18 set by the Big East in 1985.And that came one year after Mike Krzyzewskis Blue Devils -- this years preseason favorite for the 15th time under the Hall of Famer -- won the NCAA title.The ACCs two-year run of 36 NCAA wins is also a record for all leagues, surpassing the Big East (2008-09) and the Big Ten (1999-2000) by eight.Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, whose Fighting Irish have gone to two straight Elite Eights, believes momentum from a strong finish can carry through the offseason and into the next season. He figures thats a factor in the ACCs broader success from the past two tournaments.Once you get to that second weekend, then youve got a group of guys coming back, Brey said. They talk about stuff like that. Then if you get the bid, theyre more believing they should advance. Theres a confidence instead of maybe a fear or an anxiety. I think thats whats happened with a number of programs.If Brey is right, the league could be in for another big year. Duke is considered a national-title contender, while UNC and Virginia have earned top-10 rankings in several preseason publications.If one of those teams have a deep run, then it will be up to the next tier -- Louisville, Syracuse, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Florida State and Miami -- to get the league within reach of double-digit NCAA Tournament bids.I think they both matter in their own regard, but everybody wants to say, `Oh the Big 12 put this many teams in or `the Big Ten put this many teams in, Miami senior guard Davon Reed said. And thats good. The ACC not only puts a lot of teams in, but I think our record in the tournament each year ... speaks for itself -- the ACCs quality and the wins that they produce in the tournament.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap---Online:More AP College Basketball site: http://collegebasketball.ap.org Discount Fake Shoes .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. Fake Yeezy . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. https://www.fakeshoes.net/ . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. Fake Nike Shoes . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. Wholesale Fake Shoes . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). Newly installed Penrith CEO Corey Payne has launched a scathing critique of the scheduling for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup for ignoring western Sydney.Payne took aim at the NRL and RLWC organisers after Sydney was given just two fixtures in the draw for the tournament announced in Brisbane on Tuesday.World No.20 Lebanon will play Wayne Bennetts England on November 4 and co-hosts Australia on November 11 at ANZ Stadium next year.Christchurch, Wellington, Melbourne and Darwin will host quarter-finals before semi-finals move to Brisbane and Auckland.Brisbanes Suncorp Stadium will host the final.That brought a stinging rebuke from Payne, who penned a letter apologising to all Rugby League fans living in Western Sydney.I am extremely disappointed that we have been snubbed by the NRL for commercial reasons, Payne wrote.It doesnt make any sense to me that the only two RLWC games scheduled for Sydney will not be played in our backyard.It is a mind-boggling decision which makes me questionn the NRLs strategic agenda for Australias fastest growing economy and population.ddddddddddddPayne said the Panthers had moved to make their home Pepper Stadium an attractive venue to host a RLWC fixture, including hosting post-match functions, organising junior league gala days and school visits at their own expense and offering the venue at cost price.It is a real shame that the NRL cannot see the opportunity out here in the west, Payne continued.If they cannot make RLWC games commercially viable in Western Sydney then I must be living on the moon.All we wanted to do is bring Rugby League, business and the community together in Western Sydney to celebrate the World Cup.Western Sydney deserves better.Rugby League World Cup CEO Michael Brown said the lack of fixtures in Sydney had come down to the NSW state governments unwillingness to pay for the events. 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