Quick, quick! College hoops begins tomorrow but we’ve still got to talk about the Atlantic Coast Conference. This year the league won’t be as exciting as it may have been in the past, but regardless, there is plenty of basketball talent in the ACC, so let’s get into our conference preview full of picks, predictions and future bets.
ACC Basketball History
Ven-Allen Lubin will suit up for NC State this season after hitting the transfer portal
Past 10 ACC Regular Season Champions
- 2025: Duke Blue Devils (ACC Tournament Champs)
- 2024: North Carolina Tar Heels
- 2023: Miami Hurricanes & Virginia Cavaliers
- 2022: Duke Blue Devils
- 2021: Virginia Cavaliers
- 2020: Florida State Seminoles
- 2019: Virginia Cavaliers & North Carolina Tar Heels
- 2018: Virginia Cavaliers (ACC Tournament Champs)
- 2017: North Carolina Tar Heels
- 2016: North Carolina Tar Heels (ACC Tournament Champs)
Plenty of different representatives at the top of this conference, but clearly Duke and North Carolina run the show (most of the time). In the past decade, the only National Champions in this conference were Virginia in 2019, and North Carolina in 2017, with Duke winning 11 years ago in 2015.
The Tar Heels have also lost two national title games in this decade, back in 2016 to Villanova on Kris Jenkins last second shot, and then in 2022 as well against Kansas.
ACC Basketball Betting Odds
Cameron Boozer is the top freshman on the Wooden Award oddsboard
Odds to Win the NCAA Basketball National Championship (ACC Schools)
Odds are courtesy of BetOnline as of November 2, 2025 at 10:06 a.m. eastern. Use Promo Code BNBOL55 for an instant 55% deposit bonus in your account.
- Duke Blue Devils +1200
- Louisville Cardinals +2200
- North Carolina Tar Heels +4000
- NC State Wolfpack +5000
After those four, everyone else in the conference is listed at 100-1 or greater. Once again, we will likely see a top heavy ACC, especially when looking at the odds just to win the conference.
Odds to Win the ACC Regular Season
- Duke Blue Devils +165
- Louisville Cardinals +200
- NC State Wolfpack +700
- North Carolina Tar Heels +850
- Virginia Cavaliers +1800
- Clemson Tigers +2200
- SMU Mustangs +2500
- Miami Hurricanes +3000
- Syracuse Orange +4000
As we can see with the betting odds, the top four are so much better than the rest. After Syracuse priced at 40-1, next up on the list is Pitt at 75-1, Wake Forest at 80-1, followed by Virginia Tech who begins the 100-1 or longer train.
The nature of the ACC is changing, with Roy Williams, Tony Bennett and of course, Mike Krzyzewski no longer coaching their schools, but the league is still in good hands.
ACC Team Previews and Predictions
Pat Kelsey and the Louisville Cardinals are the second favorite to win the ACC
Time is running out before the season begins, so let’s talk about the top four teams in this conference that will certainly be head and shoulders above the rest.
No. 1 Duke Blue Devils
Only two teams received first place votes, one of which was the Blue Devils for good reason. However, once again, Duke will be relying on plenty of freshmen to get the job done. Most notably, Cameron Boozer leads the team, alongside his brother Cayden (sons of Carlos). Sure, they have some returning players in Caleb Foster, Isaiah Evans and Patrick Ngongba II, but the Boozer Brothers and Dame Sarr will do a bunch of the dirty work for Duke.
No. 2 Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals have TONS of transfers and some incredible talent. Mikel Brown Jr. is the nation’s top freshman point guard, and he looks to lead a talented team. Virginia transfer Isaac McNeely is one of the country’s best three point shooters, making over 40% of his shots from deep the past two seasons. He teams up with Ryan Conwell of Xavier and Adrian Wooley of Kennesaw State to round our a very talented back court.
Kasean Pryor returns from an injury to lead the front court, along with Aly Khalifa of BYU and Sananda Fru. If anyone can take down the Dukies, it’s Pat Kelsey’s team.
Will Wade is the new head coach of the NC State Wolfpack this year
No. 3 NC State Wolfpack
Will Wade is back to coaching high major basketball after some time at McNeese State. He immediately snagged Darrion Williams of Texas Tech, who will be one of the ACC’s best forwards this season. Wade also signed Tre Holloman from Michigan State, Terrance Arceneaux of Houston, and Ven-Allen Lubin from in-state rival, North Carolina.
We know how good of a coach Will Wade is, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this Wolfpack team competes for the conference in his first year at the school.
No. 4 North Carolina Tar Heels
The Tar Heels have been looking to rebuild since Roy Williams left. Sure, they almost got themselves a championship in 2022, but Hubert Davis needs to give these boosters some results, cause we know the football team in Chapel Hill isn’t doing much.
Kyan Evans is set to lead the offense as a true point guard coming from Colorado State, Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar is going to be their go-to shot blocker and paint presence, and Jarin Stevenson of Alabama will be tasked with scoring right away. The Tar Heels have a very tough non- conference schedule, which does not give me much confidence in this team going forward.
This is clearly Duke’s conference to lose, but I could see the Cardinals and Wolfpack giving them a run for their money.
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