The 2017–18 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2017, followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in late December 2017 and concluded in March with the 2018 ACC men's basketball tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The Virginia Cavaliers won an outright regular season championship, their third in five years under the guidance of Tony Bennett, who also received his third ACC Coach of the Year Award. He also became the only living three-time winner of the Henry Iba Award for national coach of the year.

The Cavaliers finished 17–1 in the conference, finishing four games above second-place Duke. Virginia went on to win the tournament by handily defeating Louisville 75–58, Clemson 64–58, and North Carolina 71–63 in the championship game. Sophomore guard Kyle Guy was named Tournament MVP as well as First-Team All-ACC. Both the Virginia–North Carolina title game and Duke–North Carolina semifinal game set the Barclays Center attendance record for college basketball games, and conference leadership vowed to return the ACC tournament to New York again in the near future.Virginia wins third ACC tournament title: ‘Hoos defeats UNC, 71–63, accessed March 11, 2018ACC loves NYC: Expect tournament to be back in Brooklyn, accessed March 11, 2018

Head coaches

Coaching changes On February 16, 2017, NC State head coach Mark Gottfried was fired, but the school allowed him to finish out the season. He finished at NC State with a six-year record of 123–86. On March 17, the school hired UNC Wilmington head coach Kevin Keatts as head coach.

On September 26, 2017, federal prosecutors in New York announced that Louisville was under investigation for an alleged "pay for play" scheme involving recruits. The allegations state that an Adidas executive conspired to pay $100,000 to the family of a top-ranked national recruit to play at Louisville and to represent Adidas when he turned pro. The criminal complaint does not name Louisville specifically but appears to involve the recruitment of Brian Bowen, a late, surprise commit to the school. On September 27, head coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich were placed on administrative leave.

Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Record at school ACC record ACC titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsBoston College Jim Christian Ohio 4 29–67 6–48 0 2 0 0Clemson Brad Brownell Wright State 8 124–103 56–66 0 5 0 0Duke Mike Krzyzewski Army 38 998–271 399–166 15 33 12 5Florida State Leonard Hamilton Washington Wizards 16 304–195 126–124 1 8 0 0Georgia Tech Josh Pastner Memphis 2 21–16 8–10 0 4 0 0Louisville David Padgett (Interim) Louisville (Assistant) 3 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Miami Jim Larrañaga George Mason 7 139–69 64–42 1 8 1 0NC State Kevin Keatts UNC Wilmington 1 0–0 0–0 0 2 0 0North Carolina Roy Williams Kansas 15 398–115 169–65 3 28 8 3Notre Dame Mike Brey Delaware 18 382–187 179–113 1 14 0 0Pittsburgh Kevin Stallings Vanderbilt 2 16–17 4–14 0 9 0 0Syracuse Jim Boeheim Syracuse (Assistant) 41 903–354 42–27 0 29 4 1Virginia Tony Bennett Washington State9 188–83 88–50 1 7 0 0Virginia Tech Buzz Williams Marquette 4 53–48 22–32 0 6 0 0Wake Forest Danny Manning Tulsa 4 43–52 16–38 0 2 0 0 Notes: Year at school includes 2017–18 season. Overall and ACC records are from time at current school and are through the end the 2016–17 season. NCAA tournament appearances are from time at current school only. NCAA Final Fours and Championship include time at other schools

Preseason

Preseason watchlists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. WoodenNaismithRobertsonCousyWestErvingMaloneAbdul-JabbarOlson Deng Adel – Louisville Grayson Allen – Duke Marvin Bagley III – Duke Joel Berry II – North Carolina Bruce Brown – Miami Bonzie Colson – Notre Dame Trevon Duval – Duke Matt Farrell – Notre Dame Ben Lammers – Georgia Tech Deng Adel – Louisville Grayson Allen – Duke Marvin Bagley III – Duke Joel Berry II – North Carolina Bruce Brown – Miami Wendell Carter Jr. – Duke Bonzie Colson – Notre Dame Trevon Duval – Duke Matt Farrell – Notre Dame Den Adel – Louisville Grayson Allen – Duke Marvin Bagley III – Duke Joel Berry II – North Carolina Bruce Brown Jr. – Miami Wendell Carter Jr. – Duke Bonzie Colson – Notre Dame Trevon Duval – Duke Trevon Duval – Duke Quentin Snider – Louisville Joel Berry II – North Carolina Matt Farrell – Notre Dame Bryant Crawford – Wake Forest Jerome Robinson – Boston College Grayson Allen – Duke MJ Walker – Florida State Lonnie Walker – Miami Tyus Battle – Syracuse Gary Trent Jr. – Duke Deng Adel – Louisville Bruce Brown Jr. – Miami Marvin Bagley III – Duke Wendell Carter Jr. – Duke Bonzie Colson – Notre Dame Marques Bolden – Duke Ben Lammers – Georgia Tech Omer Yurtseven – NC State Deng Adel – Louisville Grayson Allen – Duke Joel Berry II – North Carolina Bruce Brown Jr – Miami Bonzie Colson – Notre Dame Ben Lammers – Georgia Tech

Preseason polls

AP AthlonSports BleacherReport Blue RibbonYearbook CBS Sports Coaches ESPN KenPom NBC Sports SBNation SportsIllustratedBoston College 95 Clemson 47 Duke 1 4 1 3 1 1 1 6 2 1 3 Florida State 55 Georgia Tech 44 Louisville 16 7 23 6 18 16 17 16 12 13 9 Miami 13 15 13 16 10 12 11 27 11 7 12 North Carolina 9 9 12 10 11 9 16 13 17 11 18NC State 109 Notre Dame 14 18 14 19 12 14 20 22 14 19 15Pittsburgh 121 Syracuse 68 Virginia 16 9 Virginia Tech 25 53 23 Wake Forest 57

ACC Preseason Media Poll In the end of October, 2017 members of the media gathered in Charlotte to vote on the preseason ACC awards. Conference finish, Preseason ACC teams, rookie of the year, and player of the year were all voted on. The results can be seen in the sections below.

Preseason poll First place votes shown in parentheses.

Duke (57) – 1020 North Carolina (7) – 921 Notre Dame (4) – 852 Miami (1) – 809 Louisville – 733 Virginia – 690 Virginia Tech – 549 Florida State – 519 Georgia Tech – 468 Syracuse – 420 Wake Forest – 378 NC State – 310 Clemson – 289 Boston College – 181 Pittsburgh – 141

Preseason All-ACC teams 2017 ACC Men's Basketball PreSeason All-ACC Teams First Team Second TeamBonzie Colson, Notre Dame (64) Grayson Allen, Duke (60) Joel Berry II, North Carolina (58) Marvin Bagley III, Duke (26) Ben Lammers, Georgia Tech (25) Bruce Brown Jr., Miami (22) Quentin Snider, Louisville (12) Deng Adel, Louisville (12) Josh Okogie, Georgia Tech (11) Jerome Robinson, Boston College (11)

ACC Preseason Player of the year Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame (49) Grayson Allen, Duke (9) Joel Berry II, North Carolina (9) Bruce Brown Jr., Miami (1) Jerome Robinson, Boston College (1)

ACC Preseason Rookie of the year Marvin Bagley III, Duke (58) Lonnie Walker, Miami (3) Lavar Batts Jr., NC State (2) M. J. Walker, Florida State (2) Jalek Felton, North Carolina (1) Aamir Simms, Clemson (1) Oshae Brissett, Syracuse (1) De’Andre Hunter, Virginia (1)

Regular season

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week     First Place votes shown in ()

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 FinalBoston College AP C Clemson AP RV RV 25 19 20 18 20 16 11 15 18 19 20C RV RV 25 17 18 17 20 15 12 17 18 20 18 15Duke AP 1 (33) 1 (34) 1 (54) 1 (65) 1 (65) 4 4 4 2 (21) 7 5 4 4 9 12 5 5 5 9C 1 (20) 1 (29) 1 (30) 1 (30) 4 3 3 2 (4) 6 5 4 5 8 10 5 3 4 6 4Florida State AP 19 24 24 24 23 RV RV RV RV RV 25 RV RV C RV RV RV 19 25 25 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 18Georgia Tech AP C RV Louisville AP 16 18 19 17 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C 16 18 17 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV Miami AP 13 11 11 10 10 6 6 15 15 18 25 RV RV 25 RV 24 22C 12 11 13 11 8 7 16 17 19 23 24 RV 25 RV RV RV 25 25 RVNorth Carolina AP 9 9 9 13 11 7 5 13 12 20 15 10 19 21 14 10 9 12 10C 9 9 11 10 7 4 14 11 18 14 10 17 22 16 10 9 11 9 14NC State AP RV RV RV C RV RV RV Notre Dame AP 14 13 13 5 9 18 RV RV RV RV C 14 12 5 8 18 RV RV RV 25 RV Pittsburgh AP C Syracuse AP RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV Virginia AP RV RV RV 18 15 16 13 9 8 3 (1) 2 (1) 2 (1) 2 (17) 2 (16) 1 (30) 1 (42) 1 (48) 1 (65) 1 (65)C RV 25 15 12 16 14 9 8 3 2 2 2 (8) 2 (8) 3 (5) 2 (8) 1 (17) 1 (32) 1 (32) 5Virginia Tech AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RVC RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV Wake Forest AP C

Notes: The week 2 Coaches Poll did not release at the same time as the week 2 AP poll. The AP poll does not release a final poll after the NCAA tournament, where as the Coaches Poll does.

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games, and at least 1 against each opponent.   Boston CollegeClemsonDukeFlorida StateGeorgia TechLouisvilleMiamiNorth CarolinaNC StateNotre DamePittsburghSyracuseVirginiaVirginia TechWake Forestvs. Boston College – 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1vs. Clemson 0–1 – 1–0 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1vs. Duke 1–0 0–1 – 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–2vs. Florida State 1–1 1–1 1–0 – 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0vs. Georgia Tech 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 – 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–1vs. Louisville 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 – 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 2–0 0–2 0–1vs. Miami 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 – 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 0–2 0–1vs. North Carolina 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 – 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1vs. NC State 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 – 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–2vs. Notre Dame 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 – 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1vs. Pittsburgh 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 – 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0vs. Syracuse 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 – 2–0 0–1 1–1vs. Virginia 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 – 1–1 0–1vs. Virginia Tech 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 – 0–1vs. Wake Forest 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 –Total 7–11 11–7 13–5 9–9 6–12 9–9 11–7 11–7 11–7 8–10 0–18 8–10 17–1 10–8 4–14

Player of the week Throughout the conference regular season, the Atlantic Coast Conference offices named one or two Players of the week and one or two Rookies of the week.

Week Player of the week Rookie of the week November 13, 2017 Marvin Bagley III, Duke Marvin Bagley III, Duke Luke Maye, North Carolina November 20, 2017 Grayson Allen, Duke Wendell Carter Jr., DukeNovember 27, 2017 Marvin Bagley III (2), Duke Marvin Bagley III (2), Duke December 4, 2017 Luke Maye (2), North Carolina Marvin Bagley III (3), Duke December 11, 2017 Ky Bowman, Boston College Lonnie Walker, Miami December 18, 2017 Marcquise Reed, Clemson Oshae Brissett, Syracuse December 26, 2017 Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame Wendell Carter Jr. (2), Duke January 2, 2018 Ty Jerome, Virginia Marvin Bagley III (4), DukeJanuary 8, 2018 T. J. Gibbs, Notre Dame Chris Lykes, MiamiJanuary 15, 2018 Luke Maye (3), North Carolina Marvin Bagley III (5), Duke January 22, 2018 Gary Trent Jr., Duke Gary Trent Jr., Duke Omer Yurtseven, NC State January 29, 2018 Allerik Freeman, NC State Marvin Bagley III (6), Duke Lonnie Walker (2), Miami February 5, 2018 Gabe DeVoe, Clemson Gary Trent Jr. (2), Duke Lonnie Walker (3), Miami February 12, 2018 Jerome Robinson, Boston College Jordan Nwora, Louisville February 19, 2018 Grayson Allen (2), Duke Oshae Brissett (2), Syracuse De'Andre Hunter, Virginia February 26, 2018 Allerik Freeman (2), NC State Wendell Carter Jr. (3), Duke March 5, 2018 Bonzie Colson (2), Notre Dame Marvin Bagley III (7), Duke

Records against other conferences 2017–18 records against non-conference foes as of (Feb. 3, 2018). Records shown for regular season only.