The regular season is over which means you'll be able to turn on your TV today for some Clean, Old-Fashioned, ACC Tournament games here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
Let March officially begin ๐
โ ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 8, 2026
The bracket for the 2026 T. Rowe Price ACC Men's Basketball Tournament is set!
๐ https://t.co/BZPuOUOV5X
๐๏ธ https://t.co/XX8LfqA4pE pic.twitter.com/2FLTdCiJM2
Before we get into some conference tournament storylines, in the interest of transparency, I decided to release my All-ACC Ballot here. No, I was that was the one non-Jon Scheyer vote (coaches can't vote for their own players) that didn't go to Cam Boozer for ACC POY.
1st Team All-ACC
Cameron Boozer - Duke
Caleb Wilson - UNC
Malik Reneau - Miami
Juke Harris - Wake Forest
Thijs De Ridder - Virginia
2nd Team All-ACC
Ebuka Okorie - Stanford
Henri Veesaar - UNC
Ryan Conwell - Louisville
Tre Donaldson - Miami
Boopie Miller - SMU
3rd Team All-ACC
Rob McCray V - FSU
Pat Ngongba II - Duke
Dai Dai Ames - California
Quadir Copeland - NC State
Amani Hansberry - Virginia Tech
All-Defensive Team
Maliq Brown - Duke
Dame Sarr - Duke
Patrick Ngongba II - Duke
Chance Mallory - UVA
Johann Grรผnloh - UVA
All-Freshman Team
Cameron Boozer - Duke
Caleb Wilson - UNC
Ebuka Okorie - Stanford
Thijs De Ridder - UVA
Chance Mallory - UVA
Coach of the Year
Jon Scheyer - Duke
Most Improved Player
Juke Harris - Wake
6th Man of the Year
Maliq Brown- Duke
Who plays themselves in/out of the field?
If you weren't watching bubble teams this past weekend, they all lost. That's not hyperbole, they all lost. No seriously, everyone lost.
Of @ESPNLunardi's last seven at-large teams and his first five teams out of the field, nine were in action today.
โ Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 8, 2026
All nine lost.
Missouri
Texas
SMU
Indiana
New Mexico
Auburn
Virginia Tech
Cincinnati
California
0-9 today.
Now we're in a position where your tournament hopes can either continue to live day by day or you can hear the bubble pop when the buzzer goes off.
SMU has completely off the rails. Losers of four in a row, they're in the tournament as things stand right now it feels, but they have a date with Syracuse on Tuesday. While the Orange aren't exactly a horrific loss by the metrics, a fifth loss in a row might be enough to end the Mustangs' hope.
Cal desperately needed a Q1 win over Wake Forest on Saturday. Instead, they pressed down 5 with four seconds left and let a senior walk-on dunk for his first points of his career. The fighting Mad Dogs probably need a couple of wins to get back in good standing. Well they get a red-hot FSU team, and if they win that, they're rewarded with Duke. Have fun!
Virgina Tech have been the "what-if" kings so much so they might take the title from Justin Herbert. Boopie Miller's half court heave, Ebuka Okorie's game winner, Nate Calmese's step back game winner, sorry I'll stop. Injuries have played a massive part in their struggles this year, never seeming to be healthy. They get a first-round matchup against Wake Forest as old friends Steve Forbes and Mike Young get to play for a third time this year, splitting the first two. A win would keep the Hokies in a good place, a loss would be devastating. I'll shoot my shot that whoever wins that game will beat Clemson on Wednesday evening.
Can Duke withstand the injuries?
This is the big question and a lot of it will depend on health. Or will it? Per Anna Snyder of the Fayetteville Observer, Scheyer doesn't expect either of Caleb Foster or Pat Ngongba II to play in the ACC tournament. It didn't matter much as they whipped UNC in the second half without both.
FSU gave Duke all they could handle in Tallahassee back in January. UNC did already get drubbed, but they're still talented even without Caleb Wilson. I'll pass on Louisville because Scheyer might just have Pat Kelsey's number. Miami and UVA can present challenges without both.
This can go one of two ways: we either see the flaws without two key cogs that could represent the floor of this National Title contender or the Coach of the Year reminds everyone why he (rightfully) won that award.