2026 ACC Tournament

The regular season has ended and with it comes the dawn of one of the greatest weeks in sports with conference tournaments. This year’s edition of the ACC Tournament is at Spectrum Center in Charlotte which is a fitting locale as both the Hornets and ACC are experiencing a resurgent 2026. This is going to be a little bit different than the regular season edition of the ACC with JP articles as now in the ACC Tournament we’re going to go game-by-game for the first round previewing each matchup before talking about the BYE teams and then finally giving predictions for the whole tournament. Without further ado, let’s dive in.

First Round Matchups

#10 Stanford vs #15 Pittsburgh

2pm ACCN

Stanford and Pitt get us started on Tuesday afternoon where the last team in the tournament takes on one of the hottest squads in the league. Stanford ended the regular season winning 6 of their last 8 games to notch back to back 20-win campaigns for the first time in over 10 years. Meanwhile Pitt went from last in the ACC a few weeks ago to nabbing the final seed by way of beating Syracuse in overtime on Saturday coupled with Notre Dame’s loss to Boston College. This is a sacrificial first game as you have a Stanford team that is freshly back on the bubble, playing its best basketball, and absolutely cannot afford to lose. Ebuka Okorie himself should be more than enough to beat the Panthers but the Cardinal have had some unlikely heroes emerge as well with the likes of Benny Gealer and Jeremy Dent-Smith having big games in key wins. Stanford as a whole is shooting very well right now and I think they should win this one easily.

#11 SMU vs #14 Syracuse

4:30pm ACCN

We go from one of the ACC’s hottest teams to arguably two of its coldest as SMU enters the ACC Tournament off the heels of a 4-game losing streak that has burnt almost every bit of cushion the Mustangs had built up in their hopes for a NCAA Tournament bid. The worst part for SMU is how in this streak the last three games have not even been close and has seen the Mustangs get run off the floor in extremely poor efforts. The defense is a real issue for this SMU team and something Syracuse could look to exploit but the Orange are on a 5-game losing streak of their own. The isolation scoring of Donnie Freeman is impressive but I don’t think it is enough to take down SMU, and for the Mustangs this is one they just absolutely have to have as they careen towards the cut-line for the dance.

#12 Virginia Tech vs #13 Wake Forest

7pm ACCN

Saving the best for last as the final game of the first round in Charlotte gives us VT vs Wake in what could be a really fun shootout game. Mike Young and Steve Forbes have both recently been announced as returning to their schools for next year and Young’s squad is still technically in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament. VT blew yet another chance at a big win on Saturday and now will likely need to reach the ACC Championship to get a bid. Juke Harris and Myles Colvin vs Amani Hansberry and Ben Hammond is an exciting showdown here and I am pretty excited for this one. I do think VT with a lot more to play for and just an overall better squad should win this game though.

Second Round Teams

#7 North Carolina State Wolfpack

Plays winner of Stanford vs Pitt 12pm ESPN

N.C. State is another ACC team that ended the regular season on a sour note losing 6 of their final 7 contests in what was an otherwise impressive first year under Will Wade. The Wolfpack are still on the right side of the NCAA Tournament cut line but have seen their seeding prospects go from around a 6 to closer to a 10/11 seed. The one big way to try and fix that would be to catch fire again and blitz through the ACC Tournament and the Wolfpack do have the shooters to do that. They’ll be facing either a Stanford team they just lost to on Saturday or a Pitt team they beat back in January. Stanford’s star power of Okorie and the surging supporting cast they have shown got the better of the Pack in Raleigh but can State stop it from happening again. If the Wolfpack can find their shot again they actually have a pretty favorable path to the Championship having UVA and Miami as the top teams on their side of the bracket, with a showdown against the Cavaliers waiting for them if they win on Wednesday.

#6 Louisville Cardinals

Plays winner of SMU vs Syracuse 2:30pm ESPN/U

Louisville won an absolute humdinger of a shootout in South Beach on the final day of the regular season and while that didn’t affect their seeding for the tournament it gave the Cards a nice boost to their résumé and some good film on who their quarterfinal opponent would be if they can get past SMU or Syracuse. Frankly if you are Louisville you have to feel good about playing either of those teams given that both squads are on a combined 9-game losing streak heading into the tournament. Still, if you are Louisville the explosive scoring power of Boopie Miller and Jaron Pierre is well documented as the two helped SMU to a 95-85 win over the Cardinals on February 17th. Louisville right now is solidly on the 6 seed line but could find themselves jumping up with a deep run in Charlotte.

#8 Florida State vs #9 California

7pm ESPN2/U

The only game of the second round that is set in stone right now is a very intriguing matchup between two squads that started ACC play horribly and finished on some real good notes. Cal started 1-4 while Florida State was the last team in the league to notch a conference win starting 0-5. Cal won 4 of their last 6 but have seen their tournament hopes dashed with those two losses coming against bad Pitt and Wake teams. The Golden Bears still had a successful season but will likely need a deep run to try and get themselves back in the bubble. Florida State after their 0-5 start finished the season 10-3 with wins against NCAA Tournament squads like Miami, Clemson, and SMU. This is a clash of styles as the Seminoles love to live on the run and shoot 3s at one of the highest rates in America hoping to bury their opponents under a blinding barrage of deep shots while Cal favors a slower defensively oriented style. It feels like we’ll know about what kind of game this will be early but FSU can turn it on at any point. Dai Dai Ames, Justin Pippen, and Chris Bell vs Robert McCray V, Lejae Jones, and Chauncey Wiggins is going to be really, really fun to watch.

#5 Clemson Tigers

Plays winner of Virginia Tech vs Wake Forest 9:30pm ESPN2/U

The Tigers are the last of the single BYE teams and finished off their regular season with a close loss vs UNC before a senior day win against Georgia Tech. Brad Brownell has guided Clemson to a top 5 finish in the ACC for the 5th time in the last 6 seasons. Clemson lost to both VT and Wake in their one meeting with both during the regular season as they were a part of that February swoon the Tigers suffered. If there’s one thing Brownell hasn’t managed to do in his time stewarding Clemson it is fix their ACC Tourney woes. Clemson is the only team of the original ACC members to have never won the ACCT Championship and the Tigers hold a 24-71 all-time record which is the worst winning percentage amongst teams with multiple ACCT trips (sorry Stanford, SMU, and Cal). This probably isn’t the team to get Clemson back to Championship Saturday for the third time ever (first since 2008) but Clemson has gotten some encouraging performances as of late from RJ Godfrey, Jestin Porter, and Nick Davidson who are essential to any kind of postseason success and if the Tigers can get past VT/WF they would face a Caleb Wilson-less UNC team for a date in the semifinals. 

Double BYE Teams

#2 Virginia Cavaliers

Plays winner of N.C. State vs Stanford/Pitt 12pm ESPN/2

Virginia wrapped up 2nd place in the league in an amazing first year for Ryan Odom with the Cavaliers only three losses in league play being a road 3OT game against VT, a home game vs UNC at full strength, and a road game against Duke. Not too shabby. Virginia has beaten their potential opponents in the quarterfinals by a combined 64 points across 3 meetings. UVA is looking to get back to the ACC Championship for the first time since 2023 and win it for the first time since 2018. Virginia is currently on the 4 seed line and with a few quality wins in Charlotte they could find themselves as a 3 on Selection Sunday. Virginia matches up pretty well with just about everyone on their side of the bracket and the only team they wouldn’t be favored against would be in a hypothetical championship game vs Duke, but then again no one would be favored against the Blue Devils right now. 

#3 Miami Hurricanes

Plays winner of Louisville vs SMU/Syracuse 2:30pm ESPN/2

The single largest win increase from 2025 to 2026 belongs to the Miami Hurricanes who went from 7-24 a year ago to 24-7 and a third place finish in the league. Jai Lucas has done a phenomenal job and put Miami on track for their first NCAA Tournament bid since their trip to the Final Four in 2023. If chalk plays out Miami will have a rematch against Louisville after Saturday’s phenomenal season finale. Miami has played themselves to a consensus 7 seed right now but have some big time opportunities in Charlotte that could move them up at least two seeds if they take advantage. However far Miami goes in this tournament will come down to how they perform at the FT line as the Canes can get to the charity stripe very well but shoot just over 68% there which ranks 323rd in the country. Tre Donaldson and Malik Reneau have the star power possible to guide Miami to Championship Saturday but it would take an extra gear to give Miami their first title since 2013. 

#1 Duke Blue Devils

Plays winner of Florida State vs Cal 7pm ESPN/2

The outright regular season champion of the ACC and current #1 team in all of college basketball come into Charlotte a little bit banged up with the news from Jon Scheyer Tuesday morning that Patrick Ngongba and Caleb Foster will miss the ACC Tournament due to injuries. Duke UNC was a good game with the Blue Devils having a 47-44 lead in the opening minutes of the 2nd half before a 24-2 run just TKO’d the Tar Heels. This team can just decide the game is over whenever they feel like it and I would be shocked if they don’t win this tournament, not to spoil my predictions. There isn’t a single matchup disadvantage with this Duke team against any other opponent they could face as Duke looks to win back to back ACC Tournaments for the first time since 2010 and 2011. In terms of their first opponents Duke defeated FSU 91-87 on the road on January 3rd and beat Cal 71-56 on the road as well a few days later. I do think it would be kind of interesting to see Florida State’s style against Duke. Even with the injuries this is their tournament to lose.

#4 North Carolina Tar Heels

Plays winner of Clemson vs VT/Wake 9:30 ESPN/2

Well North Carolina got some absolutely brutal news this past week as Freshman star Caleb Wilson has been ruled out for the season after breaking his thumb on his other hand while rehabbing to try and come back for the Duke game. Despite that the Tar Heels played admirably in Cameron until the aforementioned 24-2 run of doom. Now UNC turns their attention to the ACCT where they will try to win their first title since 2016. Those chances took a real hit with Wilson’s injury but they have still been a very good team without him, the bad news is that they match up with Duke in the semifinals in all likelihood if they move on. UNC matches up pretty well against any of their prospective quarterfinal opponents with recent wins against Clemson and VT with a January 3 point win at home against Wake. Zayden High just got a whole lot more important for UNC and I think we’re going to see a lot of him in Charlotte. 

PREDICTIONS

First round

#10 Stanford over #15 Pitt

Reason: Ebuka Okorie. Cmon.

#11 SMU over #14 Syracuse

Reason: Jaron Pierre and Boopie Miller don’t go down easy

#12 Virginia Tech over #13 Wake Forest

Reason: Good game but Juke Harris can’t do it all

Second round

#7 N.C. State over #10 Stanford

Reason: Wolfpack avenge the loss and heat up from 3

#6 Louisville over #11 SMU

Reason: SMU’s defense just is too bad right now

#8 Florida State over #9 California

Reason: Their 3s will blot out the sun

#5 Clemson over #12 Virginia Tech

Reason: Clemson’s defense is suffocating and they hit their 3s

Quarterfinals

#2 Virginia over #7 N.C. State

Reason: Close game but UVA’s defense locks it down late

#6 Louisville over #3 Miami

Reason: Mikel Brown Jr. lights it up

#1 Duke over #8 Florida State

Reason: Their 3s will not blot out the sun

#5 Clemson over #4 North Carolina

Reason: Clemson gets another great RJ Godfrey game and doesn’t go large swaths of the game without hitting a 3 this time

Semifinals

#2 Virginia over #6 Louisville

Reason: UVA’s advantage down low proves too much

#1 Duke over #5 Clemson

Reason: it is Duke

Championship

#1 Duke over #2 UVA

Reason: I think this will be a better game than their first matchup but Duke still handles it

A little chalky? Yes. But I think that’s just the nature of things right now in the ACC. I could see some of these games swinging differently and that’s why this time of the year is so great! There will be at least one more ACC article where we break down the NCAA Tournament for the ACC teams that make it but until next time thanks for reading with us this season!