Entering the 2026-27 college basketball season, Duke University is favored to claim its fourth Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship under head coach Jon Scheyer, who is in his fifth year leading the Blue Devils. Despite not featuring a national player of the year this season, Duke remains a top contender due to its strong roster depth and balanced lineup.
Duke has won two ACC titles and produced the Associated Press national players of the year in 2024 and 2025, including NBA draft prospects Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer. The Blue Devils concluded last season with a 35-3 record in ACC play and are anchored this year by NBA prospects Patrick Ngongba II and Dame Sarr. The team also bolstered its backcourt with transfer guard John Blackwell from Wisconsin, who averaged 19.1 points last season, and welcomed a highly regarded recruiting class headlined by 7-foot-2 big man Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje. Scheyer highlighted his squad’s depth and frontcourt size as key strengths going into the campaign.
Duke faces strong competition from other ranked ACC programs, notably No. 9 Virginia and No. 11 Louisville, with No. 14 Miami also in the mix. Virginia, under second-year coach Ryan Odom, made significant progress last season, reaching the ACC tournament final and winning its first NCAA tournament game since 2019. The Cavaliers return three starters, including preseason ACC player of the year Thijs De Ridder, who averaged 15.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in his first season transitioning from European professional basketball.
Louisville, coming off a 24-11 season, aims to leverage a heavily transfer-reliant roster bolstered by one of the nation’s top incoming classes. The Cardinals’ notable addition is Kansas big man Flory Bidunga, a 6-foot-9 forward known for his scoring efficiency and rim protection, ranking fourth nationally in blocks per game. Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey emphasized the potential of his team’s increased length and athleticism to enhance their defense and rebounding.
The ACC features several key transfers poised to impact the season, including Louisville’s Jackson Shelstad and Seth Trimble, and North Carolina’s trio of Neo Avdalas, Terrence Brown, and Matt Able. Shelstad, who averaged 15.6 points at Oregon before suffering a hand injury, shone in a preseason win over No. 17 Kansas. Trimble joins after a successful legal bid to secure a fifth year of eligibility following his pivotal role at North Carolina last season.
Duke’s Boumtje Boumtje is the favorite for ACC rookie of the year, regarded as a highly skilled, 17-year-old prospect expected to remain in college for at least two seasons before NBA eligibility in 2028. Duke’s recruiting class, ranked No. 1 nationally for the third consecutive year by 247Sports, also includes point guard Deron Rippey Jr. and big man Cameron Williams.
This season also continues a period of significant coaching turnover within the ACC. North Carolina stands out with the hiring of Michael Malone, the former NBA championship-winning Denver Nuggets coach, replacing Hubert Davis. Other new hires include North Carolina State’s Justin Gainey, Syracuse’s Gerry McNamara, Boston College’s Luke Murray, and Georgia Tech’s Scott Cross. The average tenure of ACC coaches has notably declined from 13.5 years in 2020-21 to just over four years currently, reflecting a broader transition in the conference’s leadership following the retirements of coaching legends such as Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, and Jim Boeheim.
Preseason projections place Duke first in the ACC, followed by Virginia, Louisville, Miami, and North Carolina rounding out the top five.