In 2019, the Atlantic Coast Conference comprised three of the four No. 1 seeds. In 2025, it’s feasible that the conference could send only three teams total. 

The dominance of what was once the NCAA’s premier basketball conference is a figment of a time long since past. Titans of ACC coaching like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, UVA’s Tony Bennett, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and UNC’s Roy Williams, all of whom were in that 2019 tournament which saw Bennett’s Cavaliers hoist the trophy at the end, have retired.

Other elite coaches like Notre Dame’s Mike Brey and Miami’s Jim Larranaga have passed on the reins of their programs, with Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton the next in line, recently announcing his intentions to retire upon the season’s end.

Father Time remains undefeated when it comes to coaching careers, but without fail he always delivers us an ACC conference tournament to remember for years. The ACC isn’t the force it once was, but if last year’s miracle championship run by North Carolina State showed us anything it’s that — stop me if you’ve heard this before — anything can happen in March.

The Blue Devils

Headlined by presumptive No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg and an unparalleled armada of freshman talent like fellow five-stars Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach and Isaiah Evans, Duke has stormed through the weakest ACC in years, losing only one conference game in a 77-71 loss to Clemson on the road.

What separates this Duke team from their past iterations with similar levels of talent is their veterans. Transfers Mason Gillis, Sion James and Maliq Brown, as well as junior point guard Tyrese Proctor, have all made an enormous impact on all three levels of the court and have helped elevate the Blue Devils to the second-best offense and fourth best defense in the country, according to Ken Pomeroy. The Blue Devils are just one of four this year to beat the Auburn Tigers’ juggernaut and are slated to continue that dominance in the ACC tournament. 

Simply put: it’s Duke’s tournament to lose.

Second-tier Contenders

Clemson: The Tigers have the most impressive intra-conference win this year, defeating Duke in a tightly-contested home bout. They are led by the sibling duo of Chase and Dillon Hunter, both of whom possess a dynamic ability to score from inside and beyond the three-point line. Down low, the veteran pair of Victor Lakhin and Ian Schieffelin are a stifling presence, hauling in over 15 rebounds a game and making life very difficult for smaller guards looking to find their way to the rim.

The Tigers’ relatively strong résumé is polluted by puzzling losses to South Carolina and a triple-overtime loss to Georgia Tech, but when everything is clicking for tenured head coach Brad Brownell, Clemson can beat anyone in the conference.

Louisville: After years of incredible ineptitude under former head coach Kenny Payne which saw the once-proud Cardinals win only 12 games over the course of the last two seasons, Pat Kelsey has turned things around incredibly quickly. Kelsey rebuilt the program through the transfer portal, bringing in former Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn and former James Madison guard Terrence Edwards Jr. to lead the turnaround. 

The Cardinals have numerous weak points, including turnovers and sometimes the simple issue of not being able to effectively score. When they’re firing on all cylinders, they can push the best teams in the ACC to the brink, but in a stronger conference they would not rank as close to the top as they do in the ACC.

Wake Forest: Strong guard play leads the way in March, and Hunter Sallis has the qualities of a March superstar written on him in ink. A physically imposing guard with high-caliber acceleration, Sallis can contend with any opponent’s best player on any given day.

Unfortunately for the Demon Deacons, the rest of their roster doesn’t stack up. Quality supplementary players like Efton Reid III and Cam Hildreth allow them to stay in games against top competition, but it tends to not be enough to get over the hump.

SMU: Andy Enfield’s squad, led by Wake Forest transfer Boopie Miller, has an impressive 22-9 record but has yet to hold their own against the top teams in the ACC, losing to Louisville and Duke by a combined 52 points. Even with that, the Mustangs have an outside shooting ability that could get hot at the right time and lead to victories in the tournament. 

Dark Horses

UNC: It is an odd feeling to put a program this historic as a dark horse, but the underwhelming Tar Heels haven’t shown the qualities of a tournament team. If the prolific guard duo of R.J. Davis and Ian Jackson can get hot at the right time, they have the upside to fight their way back into contention. 

Stanford: Maxime Raynaud is a true star, a 7-foot-1 center with a smooth touch from outside and a natural ability to score. Although Raynaud is the type of player that could lead a strong team to a title, the Cardinal have not provided him with much help. Duke transfer Jaylen Blakes has come into his own as a scorer and high-level on-ball defender, but it would take a lot of help from a weak supporting cast to push this ACC newcomer into the title fight.

Pitt: Jeff Capel’s Pittsburgh teams seem cursed to never break through, always near the top of the standings but never with the star power to go the extra mile. The production lost when first round pick Bub Carrington went to the draft has been made up for by the guard pair of Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett, who are quality scorers. However, the Panthers lack the necessary interior strength to be considered a contender. 

Cinderellas

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets have shown the primary quality necessary for a Cinderella run — the ability to keep games uncomfortably close with higher-caliber opponents. See: their triple overtime win against Clemson and close losses to Georgia and North Carolina.

California: The Golden Bears have lost a fair amount, but they rarely get blown out. If their shooters, notably Andrej Stojakovic, can hit a hot streak, they could be a team to monitor for upsets.

Prediction

Duke wins the ACC tournament.

Goliath conquers the pesky league of Davids and waltzes to a league-leading 23rd ACC championship. Even at their worst, the combination of talent, experience and coaching that the Blue Devils have is too much for any one team to overcome.