ACC Preview: 2026-27 College Basketball Predictions & Best Bets Recap
Colby Dant (@thecolbyd), Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac) and Noah Bieniek (@NoahB77_) break down the ACC basketball preview for 2026-27, with a shout to Troy Chewning (@Troychewning) and the preview crew. Duke is the unanimous pick to win the league, and Pitt gets no love at all.
Why The ACC Is Finally Climbing Again
Colby Dant grew up on this league and came back from ACC Media Days feeling optimistic. The tournament numbers back him up. In 2025, Duke was the only ACC team to win a first-round game. Then 2026 brought a real jump, because the league went five and five through the first two rounds. Ryan McIntyre counts seven bids last year, or eight with SMU in the play-in. That is double the four-bid league from two years ago. But Duke was again the only ACC team left in the Sweet 16. So the climb is real, and the next step is getting a second program to the second weekend.
Ryan McIntyre credits the coaching hires, and Colby Dant thinks whole athletic departments got serious too. Luke Murray said at Media Days he would not have taken the Boston College job unless the school got aligned. Virginia Tech also added two late roster pieces after new AD Brian White arrived and the collective stepped up. Then there are the fan bases. He lives in the Carolinas now, and the NC State fans in his neighborhood are thirsty for a winner. So are Syracuse, Louisville and both Virginia schools. Because that history is already there, the guys think the fans show up the second these programs start winning.
Five of the 18 programs have new head coaches. Mike Malone is the headline, because he left the NBA with a title for North Carolina. Jerry McNamara is back home at Syracuse, and he already owns a first-half moneyline win over Duke from Siena. Luke Murray takes over Boston College after years beside Dan Hurley, including two national titles. Scott Cross won back-to-back Sun Belt titles at Troy before Georgia Tech hired him. Then NC State went home for Justin Gainey, a Rick Barnes assistant and former Wolfpack player. A coach who played there usually cares more, and that matters here. McNamara also gave the best interview of the week, telling the room Syracuse wins now and is not waiting.
Buying Stock In Georgia Tech And The Orange
Noah Bieniek opened the stock-up segment in the basement. Georgia Tech went 2-16 in the ACC and finished 18th last year. He has the Yellow Jackets 10th this season, because he trusts Cross to build a balanced team fast. Colby Garland is a ball-dominant point guard who can shoot it and distribute. Victor Valdez also followed Cross from Troy after averaging 15 points, four boards and four and a half assists. Cross told the room that everybody on his roster crashes the glass. Ryan McIntyre agrees they will be better than last year, but he thinks the culture really clicks in year two.
Ryan McIntyre bought Boston College instead. It is an old roster built from mid-major winners. Monie Williams comes from Montana and Duggan comes from Charleston. He is not calling for a Miami-style flip, but he sees five or six ACC wins. Colby Dant also circled BC, because Williams carries a chip from never getting a power-conference offer. Williams pitched the Oakland point guard lineage of Gary Payton and Damian Lillard, and that sold it. Keep an eye on Furphy, the UConn transfer, if you play DFS in early November.
The real stock-up play for Colby Dant is Syracuse, which went 6-12 in conference last year. He thinks the Orange can be a tournament team. McNamara stressed length in the portal, and nobody projected for real minutes is shorter than 6-foot-5. The backcourt includes Gavin Doty, the star transfer who followed McNamara from Siena. So expect an active defense that challenges a lot of outside shots. Don’t expect much Boeheim zone yet, because McNamara says it takes years to install. Noah Bieniek pegs the ceiling at fifth in the ACC. Then came the reminder that fifth went 12-6 last year, which would flip the whole season.
Stock Down On The Tar Heels And Pitt
Noah Bieniek went with the obvious stock-down team in North Carolina. The Tar Heels went 12-6 and 24-9 last year and earned a 6 seed. He has them eighth, because nobody knows what a Mike Malone college team looks like yet. The front court is inexperienced, and this program usually wins with star bigs. Avdija, the Virginia Tech transfer, and Utah volume scorer Terance Brown can score, but identity and fit are the questions. Malone got asked at Media Days about NBA coaches flopping in college, and it did not land well. He answered that those guys were not college coaches first. He also pointed out that he started as an assistant under Greg Kampe at Oakland.
Ryan McIntyre took his rival, Pitt, and he did not hide the Mountaineer bias. The Panthers went 5-13 last year and finished 15th. Capel has made the tournament once in eight years, with a losing ACC record in six of them. Capel said last year’s team was hurt and had no bench. He says this roster has more depth, better guard play and more size. Nobody on the show is buying it. Clemson came up next as a fade, with departures like Dylan Hunter on the list, right before the Wi-Fi dropped. But the remaining two hosts both lean toward blindly backing Brad Brownell anyway.
Our ACC Basketball Preview Rankings Start With Duke
All three hosts have Duke first. Ryan McIntyre has the Blue Devils winning the regular season for a third straight year. Jon Scheyer has posted a top-20 defense in all four of his seasons. The worry is the clutch, because Duke keeps turning into isolation ball when games tighten. John Blackwell arrives from Wisconsin, and Patrick Ngongba should grow from his 10.5 points and six rebounds. The non-conference slate also helps, with Michigan State, Illinois and UConn on neutral floors plus a trip to Florida. Noah Bieniek has them reaching the Elite Eight again. He stops short of the Final Four.
After Duke, the order splits. Ryan McIntyre has Virginia second, because Ryan Odom’s group returns continuity after a 30-win season. Chance Mallory is also the breakout guard to watch after he shot 34.5% from three as a freshman. Noah Bieniek has Louisville second instead, built around Kansas transfer Flory Bidunga. Bidunga averaged 13.5 points and nine boards on 64% shooting, and Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad runs the point. Miami sits fourth on both of their boards, while the texted list from Colby Dant had the Hurricanes second. Together, that puts the same four teams in everyone’s top four.
Sorting Out The Jumbled Middle
Noah Bieniek called the rest of his board a jumbled mess, sorted by coaches he trusts and rosters that fit. He has Clemson fifth because Brownell keeps winning through stretch bigs, and Samford transfer Dylan Faulkner is next. SMU is sixth, with Tulane transfer Rohan Brumbaugh coming off 20 points per game. Ryan McIntyre went bolder, putting Virginia Tech fifth because Mike Young has continuity and an old roster. The Hokies land 11th for Bieniek, and the Colby list splits the difference at ninth. Syracuse ranks somewhere between sixth and ninth on all three boards. Then North Carolina sits seventh or eighth everywhere.
NC State is the swing team. Noah Bieniek has the Wolfpack ninth, because he likes Hofstra transfer Preston Edmead and shooter Paul McNeil. McNeil took seven threes a game at 42.5% last season. Ryan McIntyre has them 13th, and the Colby list has them 14th. Notre Dame also splits the room, landing 10th on two boards but 13th for Bieniek. Meanwhile McIntyre flipped Stanford up to 11th, trusting Kyle Smith to beat his preseason number again. The Colby list has Stanford dead last, so somebody is going to be very wrong.
The Bottom Of The League
The basement belongs to programs with new coaches or rebuilt rosters. Noah Bieniek has Pitt 16th and Wake Forest 17th, then Boston College 18th with a first-year coach. He likes Forbes, but Wake’s spending looks thin by power-conference standards. Ryan McIntyre has Wake 15th and sees another season around 7-11 in the league. He also keeps BC at 16th, because older transfers from winning programs should be a pain come February. Georgia Tech lands 17th on his board, since he likes Cross more than the roster. Then he drops Pitt dead last, with no identity and no trust in Capel.
Duke Cuts Down The Nets In Greensboro
Duke is the pick to win the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, and nobody argued. Player of the year got more interesting. Noah Bieniek took Flory Bidunga, because he thinks the Big 12 big man bullies ACC front courts. He projects double-digit rebounds and plenty of points in Louisville’s up-tempo system. Ryan McIntyre went with Thijs De Ridder at Virginia after 16 and six last season. Then for coach of the year, Bieniek picked Jerry McNamara if Syracuse gets back to the tournament. McIntyre took Mike Young, as long as Virginia Tech cracks the top five. And if anyone knocks off Duke for the regular-season crown, McIntyre says that coach wins it automatically.
2026-27 College Basketball Conference Previews
| MEAC | AMERICA EAST | NEC |
| MAAC | BIG EAST | SOCON |
| PATRIOT LEAGUE | OVC | ASUN |
| UAC | BIG SOUTH | SWAC |
| SOUTHLAND | SUMMIT LEAGUE | SUN BELT |
| BIG SKY | HORIZON LEAGUE | IVY LEAGUE |
| CUSA | BIG WEST | CAA |
| PAC 12 | BIG TEN | ACC |
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
01:18 ACC Season Preview Episode
09:37 Grew Up on ACC Basketball
14:02 ACC Storylines
19:56 Five New Coaches
27:44 Stock Up, Stock Down Format
28:58 Stock Up: Georgia Tech
37:24 Stock Down: North Carolina, Pitt & Clemson
48:44 ACC Rankings: Duke, Virginia, Louisville & Miami
1:05:56 Syracuse, North Carolina, NC State & Georgia Tech
1:13:56 Cal, Stanford & Notre Dame
1:21:12 Florida State, Wake Forest, Pitt & Boston College
1:31:15 Colby Rankings
1:34:17 End of Year Predictions
1:39:13 Sign-Off & Socials
