The 2025–26 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2025, followed by the start of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in December 2025 and concluded in March 2026. The 2026 ACC men's basketball tournament was held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, in March 2025. This was the 72nd season of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball. The top 15 teams from regular season play earned postseason bids to the 2026 ACC men's basketball tournament. After scheduling 20 conference games per team from 2019–20 to 2024–25, the conference decided to return to 18-game conference schedules (the same as they had from 2012–13 to 2018–19).

The Duke Blue Devils finished as regular season champions with a 17–1 conference record. They finished two games ahead of Virginia, who finished with a 15–3 conference record. The title was Duke's twenty-second overall. Duke went on to win the ACC tournament over Virginia. It was their twenty-fourth tournament title, the most in conference history.

Head coaches

Coaching changes After the 2024–25 season, Leonard Hamilton retired as head coach of Florida State. On March 9, the Seminoles announced the hiring of Luke Loucks as the new head coach.

Jim Larrañaga stepped down from his head coaching role at Miami on December 26, 2024. Bill Courtney was the Hurricanes' interim coach for the remainder of the season. Courtney was not retained as the head coach, and Miami announced the hiring of Jai Lucas on March 6, 2025.

NC State fired Kevin Keatts at the conclusion of the 2024–25 season. Will Wade was announced as his replacement on March 22, 2025.

Tony Bennett announced his retirement as head coach of Virginia on October 17, 2024. Ron Sanchez was named interim head coach for the season, but was not retained for the 2025–26 season. Ryan Odom was announced as the new head coach on March 21, 2025.

Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Record at school ACC record ACC titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsBoston College Earl Grant Charleston 5 61–72 27–53 0 0 0 0California Mark Madsen Utah Valley 3 27–38 6–14 0 0 0 0Clemson Brad Brownell Wright State 16 292–196 146–128 0 5 0 0Duke Jon Scheyer Duke 4 89–22 48–12 2 3 1 0Florida State Luke Loucks Sacramento Kings 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Georgia Tech Damon Stoudamire Boston Celtics 3 31–35 17–23 0 0 0 0Louisville Pat Kelsey Charleston 2 27–8 18–2 0 1 0 0Miami Jai Lucas Duke 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0NC State Will Wade McNeese 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0North Carolina Hubert Davis North Carolina 5 101–45 56–24 0 3 1 0Notre Dame Micah Shrewsberry Penn State 3 28–38 8–25 0 0 0 0Pittsburgh Jeff Capel Duke 8 114–107 55–79 0 1 0 0SMU Andy Enfield USC 2 24–11 13–7 0 0 0 0Stanford Kyle Smith Washington State 2 21–14 11–9 0 0 0 0Syracuse Adrian Autry Syracuse 3 34–31 18–22 0 0 0 0Virginia Ryan Odom VCU 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Virginia Tech Mike Young Wofford 7 105–85 53–60 1 2 0 0Wake Forest Steve Forbes East Tennessee State 6 92–65 50–48 0 0 0 0 Notes: Year at school includes 2025–26 season. Overall and ACC records are from the time at current school and are through the end of the 2024–25 season. NCAA tournament appearances are from the time at current school only. NCAA Final Fours and championship include time at other schools.

Preseason

Recruiting classes

+ Rankings Team 247 Sports On3Recruits ESPN Commits Boston College 68 51 NR 4 California 87 54 NR 2 Clemson 37 40 NR 4 Duke 1 1 1 5 Florida State 83 98 NR 4 Georgia Tech 31 29 17 5 Louisville 25 39 NR 4 Miami 16 21 23 7 NC State 50 13 NR 3 North Carolina 5 15 25 4 Notre Dame 13 11 9 4 Pittsburgh 62 60 NR 4 SMU 6 9 10 5 Stanford 32 91 NR 4 Syracuse 17 16 14 5 Virginia 26 46 NR 4 Virginia Tech 39 84 NR 5 Wake Forest 87 66 NR 2

Notes: Rankings are up to date as of September 17, 2025.

Preseason watchlists

Wooden AwardNaismithCousyWestErvingMalone Abdul-Jabbar Mikel Brown Jr. Cameron Boozer Markus Burton Ryan Conwell Isaiah Evans Donnie Freeman Baye Ndongo Patrick Ngongba II Malik Reneau Dame Sarr Malik Thomas Seth Trimble Ernest Udeh Jr. Henri Veesaar Darrion Williams Caleb Wilson

Preseason polls

AP Blue RibbonYearbook CBS Sports Coaches ESPN Fox Sports KenPom NCAA SportsSporting News SportsIllustratedBoston College – – – – – – 90 – – 146California – – – – – – 87 – – 119Clemson – – 48 – – – 32 RV – 52Duke 6 4 5 5 12 9 7 7 1 4Florida State – – 94 – – – 96 – – 87Georgia Tech – – 85 – – – 70 RV – 102Louisville 11 10 12 9 7 7 14 11 17 8Miami – – 70 – – – 76 RV – 50North Carolina 25 25 24 25 25 – 33 23 – 21NC State RV – 35 RV 24 – 38 22 – 33Notre Dame – – 55 – – – 77 – – 76Pittsburgh – – 67 – – – 63 – – 83SMU – – 41 – – – 43 – – 44Stanford – – 82 – – – 89 – – 107Syracuse – – 79 – – – 68 – – 72Virginia RV – 29 RV – – 59 – – 20Virginia Tech – – 66 – – – 71 – – 56Wake Forest – – 63 – – – 49 – – 62

ACC Preseason Media poll

The preseason poll and Preseason All-ACC Teams were released on October 14, 2025, prior to the season beginning and after ACC Media Day. The results of the poll are below.

Preseason poll

ACC MediaPoints 1. Duke 866 (34) 2. Louisville 842 (15) 3. North Carolina 741 4.NC State 710 5. Virginia 623 6. SMU 616 7. Clemson 510 8. Miami 500 9.Syracuse 489 10. Notre Dame 477 11. Wake Forest 412 12. Virginia Tech 355 13. Georgia Tech 315 14. Pittsburgh 301 15. Florida State 221 16. California 156 17. Stanford 138 18. Boston College 107Reference:

Preseason All-ACC teams

2025 ACC Men's Basketball Preseason All-ACC Teams First Team Second Team Cameron Boozer – Duke Isaiah Evans – Duke Markus Burton – Notre Dame Boopie Miller – SMU Darrion Williams – NC State JJ Starling – Syracuse Mikel Brown Jr. – Louisville Baye Ndongo – Georgia Tech Ryan Conwell – Louisville Caleb Wilson – North Carolina

ACC preseason player of the year Darrion Williams - NC State - 23 Cameron Boozer – Duke – 19 Markus Burton – Notre Dame – 2 JJ Starling – Syracuse – 2 Donald Hand Jr. – Boston College – 1 Baye Ndongo – Georgia Tech – 1 Caleb Wilson – North Carolina – 1

ACC preseason freshman of the year Cameron Boozer – Duke – 43 Mikel Brown Jr. – Louisville – 3 Caleb Wilson – North Carolina – 2 Neoklis Avdalas – Virginia Tech – 1

Early season tournaments

Team Tournament Finish Boston College Charleston Classic – Lowcounty Bracket 4th California Empire Classic Champions Clemson Charleston Classic – Palmetto Bracket Champions Duke Champions Classic Won vs. Kansas Florida State None Georgia Tech Emerald Coast Classic 4th Louisville None Miami ESPN Events Invitational – Magic Bracket 3rd North Carolina Fort Myers Tip-Off – Beach Division 2ndNC State Maui Invitational 6thNotre Dame Players Era Festival 4th Pittsburgh Legends Classic 4th SMU None Stanford Acrisure Invitational Champions Syracuse Players Era Festival 8th Virginia Greenbrier Tip-Off – Mountain Division 4th Virginia Tech Battle 4 Atlantis 4th Wake Forest Bahamas Championship 3rd

Regular season

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

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 Wk20 FinalBoston College AP N/A C California AP RV RV N/A RV C RV RV RV RV Clemson AP RV RV RV RV RV N/A RV 22 18 22 20 20 RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 21 18 19 19 18 24 RV RV Duke AP 6 4 (2) 5 (1) 4 4 3 (7) 3 (3) 6 N/A 6 6 5 4 4 4 3 1 (56) 1 (55) 1 (56) 1 (50) 4C 5 4 (1) 4 (2) 4 (1) 4 (1) 3 (2) 3 (3) 6 5 6 6 5 4 4 6 3 1 (27) 1 (28) 1 (28) 1 (26) 4Florida State AP N/A C Georgia Tech AP N/A C Louisville AP 11 12 6 6 6 11 11 16 N/A 20 20 23 20 24 24 21 24 RV 24 23т 23C 10 12 6т 5 6 11 11 14 13т 18 19 21 20 23 23 21 20 RV 24 24 23Miami AP RV RV RV N/A RV RV RV RV RV RV 22 RV 25 24C RV RV RV RV RV 23 25 23 22North Carolina AP 25 18 18 16 16 14 12 12 N/A 17 14 22 16 14 11 16 18 17 19 21 RVC 25 20 19 17 17 15 13 12 12 17 15 24 18 18 13 20 19 18 19 21 RVNC State AP RV RV 25 23 RV RV N/A RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV 22 RV RV RV RV Notre Dame AP RV RV N/A C Pittsburgh AP N/A C SMU AP RV RV N/A 24 RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV 25 RV RV RV Stanford AP RV RV N/A C Syracuse AP N/A C Virginia AP RV RV 24 23т 21 N/A 23 16 14 17 18 15 14 11 13 10 9 17C RV RV RV RV RV 25 22 21 21 23 16 15 17 17 15 14 12 13 11 8 15Virginia Tech AP RV RV RV N/A RV C RV Wake Forest AP RV N/A C

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.   Boston CollegeCaliforniaClemsonDukeFlorida StateGeorgia TechLouisvilleMiamiNorth CarolinaNC StateNotre DamePittsburghSMUStanfordSyracuseVirginiaVirginia TechWake Forestvs. Boston College – 86–75 74–50 67–49 80–72 65–53 75–62 74–6876–54 × 79–71 62–65 94–70 70–64 73–81 73–66 72–63 67–68vs. California 75–86 – 77–55 71–56 63–61 85–9065–76 90–70 85–86 78–84 × 71–72 72–56 69–73 66–7866–72 107–100 84–60 78–75 80–73vs. Clemson 50–74 55–77 – 67–54 70–65 63–7776–79 75–80 59–69 67–63 80–76 61–76 68–7352–63 70–74 64–66 61–64 × 76–66 85–77vs. Duke 49–67 56–71 54–67 – 87–91 79–85 73–8452–83 × 64–93 56–100 54–70 75–82 50–80 64–101 51–77 58–72 69–90vs. Florida State 72–80 61–63 65–70 91–87 – 71–80 × 79–66 113–69 79–82 74–75 80–88 94–86 61–58 69–92 69–68vs. Georgia Tech 53–65 90–8576–65 77–6379–76 85–79 80–71 – 87–70 91–81 91–75 74–78 89–74 89–66 × 95–72 82–72 94–68 71–65 83–67vs. Louisville 62–75 70–90 80–75 84–7383–52 × 70–87 – 89–92 77–74 77–118 65–76 59–100 80–76 62–77 79–70 71–85 80–88vs. Miami 68–7454–76 86–85 69–59 × 81–91 92–89 – 66–75 76–77 69–81 69–76 69–77 70–79 76–85 86–83 66–67 77–81vs. North Carolina × 84–78 63–67 66–79 75–91 74–77 75–66 – 82–58 69–91 65–79 97–83 95–90 77–8764–77 80–85 82–89 84–87vs. NC State 71–79 × 76–80 93–64 69–113 78–74 118–77 77–76 58–82 – 96–90 72–81 83–84 85–84 68–88 76–6190–61 73–82 57–7078–96vs. Notre Dame 72–71 76–61 100–56 82–79 74–89 76–65 81–69 91–69 90–96 – 73–68 89–81 86–72 100–97 89–76 ×vs. Pittsburgh 65–62 56–72 73–6863–52 70–54 75–74 66–89 100–59 76–69 79–65 81–72 68–73 – 86–67 75–67 67–47 × 76–80vs. SMU 70–94 73–69 74–70 82–75 × 77–69 83–97 84–83 81–89 67–86 – 95–75 79–78 72–68 76–77 79–91vs. Stanford 64–70 78–6672–66 66–64 80–50 88–80 72–95 76–80 79–70 90–95 84–85 67–75 75–95 – × 70–55 68–69 68–63vs. Syracuse 81–73 100–107 64–61 101–64 86–94 72–82 77–62 85–76 87–7777–64 88–68 72–82 78–79 × – 72–59 76–74 88–83vs. Virginia 66–73 60–84 × 77–51 58–61 68–94 70–79 83–86 85–80 61–7661–90 97–100 47–67 68–72 55–70 59–72 – 70–75vs. Virginia Tech 63–72 75–78 66–76 72–58 92–69 65–71 85–71 67–66 89–82 82–73 76–89 × 77–76 69–68 74–76 – vs. Wake Forest 68–67 73–80 77–85 90–69 68–68 67–83 88–80 81–77 87–84 70–5796–78 × 80–76 91–79 63–68 83–88 75–70 –Total 4–14 9–9 12–6 17–1 10–8 2–16 11–7 13–5 12–6 10–8 4–14 5–13 8–10 9–9 6–12 15–3 8–10 7–11 × – Matchup not played in 2025–26 Updated after the season.

Player of the week Throughout the conference regular season, the Atlantic Coast Conference offices named Player(s) of the week and Rookie(s) of the week.