Yes, The ACC Was Down In 2024-25, But Look For A Major Rebound In 2025-26
Things are about to change in a big way.
One of the concerns for Duke going into the postseason this year was that the unusually weak ACC might have cost the Blue Devils when the games got tougher. And while that may have happened against Houston, it’s also worth noting that the ACC had a representative in the Final Four yet again.
Just a reminder, with national champions in bold:
- 2025 - Duke
- 2024 - NC State
- 2023 - Miami
- 2022 - Duke and UNC
- 2019 - Virginia
- 2017 - UNC
- 2016 - UNC and Syracuse
- 2015 - Duke
- 2013 - Louisville
- 2010 - Duke
- 2009 - UNC
- 2008 - UNC
- 2005 - UNC
- 2004 - Duke and Georgia Tech
- 2002 - Maryland
- 2001 - Duke
- 2000 - UNC
Even in a down year, the ACC was represented.
And while this year was a very weak year indeed for the traditional basketball powerhouse, early signs are that things may be quite different next year. Consider:
- Duke will still be and has a considerable NIL fund to boot.
- Louisville has really killed it in the portal.
- UNC has also done well in the portal and brings in 5-star forward Caleb Wilson.
- NC State is making rapid moves under new coach Will Wade and should be vastly improved.
- Miami, now coached by former Duke assistant Jai Lucas, is building rapidly.
- Notre Dame will return guards Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry and also add a highly regarded freshman class.
- We will still have to see what Ryan Odom does at Virginia, but he will at least bring in a promising backcourt.
- Syracuse is also doing well so far in the portal.
We’ll have to see how all of this balances out as the musical chairs of the portal continue, not least of all at Clemson where Brad Brownell will lose a lot of talent from a very competitive team this year that beat Kentucky at home during the ACC-SEC Challenge, but the trend lines as of now look great.
Everything starts with coaching and Jon Scheyer, Pat Kelsey, Hubert Davis, Wade, Lucas, Odom, SMU’s Andy Enfield and Notre Dame’s Micah Shrewsberry, will all be fine. Damon Stoudamire showed some chops this season under adversity as well.
In short, the conference should rebound quickly and several teams will be threats to make deep runs next March.