Of all the casualties of the latest round of conference realignment, the dip in excitement of ACC basketball is far down the list — but certainly worth noting. Maybe you're reading this somewhere down on Tobacco Road, dying for the season to start and very confused about what I mean.
May I remind you that NC State will play Duke as many times in conference play this season as it will Stanford or SMU (once), while the Wolfpack will need to play a lifeless home-and-home with Cal this year?
The ACC was once the premier league in college hoops, home to some of the best regional rivalries. Now its an 18-team behemoth, lacking some of the character that once made it so great.
Blame NIL and the transfer portal for Tony Bennett's sudden retirement, but don't forget the drain he'd likely be feeling during a mid-January conference road trip to the Bay Area.
The size of this conference also makes things a touch watered down from a preseason betting angle. You really need to squint to find more than two or three teams with a chance to win the regular season conference championship, especially with Duke as a heavy favorite.
Therefore, in this preview I'll list the odds for each team to be crowned atop the ACC, but stay more focused on their outlook for the season and key games on their early-season slate.
All odds are via DraftKings
2024-25 ACC Regular Season Conference Title Future Odds
| Team Name | Odds (Via DraftKings) |
| Duke | +125 |
| North Carolina | +360 |
| Wake Forest | +1000 |
| Miami (FL) | +1500 |
| Clemson | +1500 |
| Louisville | +1800 |
| NC State | +2000 |
| Virginia | +2500 |
| Syracuse | +3500 |
| SMU | +3500 |
| Pitt | +4000 |
| Notre Dame | +5000 |
| Virginia Tech | +7000 |
| Stanford | +8000 |
| Georgia Tech | +8000 |
| Florida State | +10000 |
| Cal | +10000 |
| Boston College | +15000 |
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Duke Blue Devils (+125)
College basketball fans, welcome to the Cooper Flagg show. If the all-everything freshman phenom gets off to the start many expect of him, Flagg and the Blue Devils will be the talk of the national media.
Flagg enters college with the level of hype that would lead to legitimate shock if he looks like anything less than one of the best players in the country.
One of the things that could hold him back from that fate, however, would be a disappointing supporting cast.
That shouldn't be the case, in theory. Duke has a ton of talent around Flagg, yet at this point, that talent is largely theoretical. Duke returns just two contributors from last season, relying heavily on a trio of transfers, plus the rest of a stacked freshman class.
Jon Scheyer doesn't have a ton of time to make things work, with three top-10 opponents in Duke's first eight games, which doesn't even include Kentucky.
By the time conference play rolls around though, Duke should be primed to be the best team in then ACC.
North Carolina Tar Heels (+360)
In today's world of transfer portal mayhem, a top-10 team returning its backcourt feels like a minor miracle.
That's the case in Chapel Hill, where the Heels will go as far as their guards will take them.
The headliner is fifth-year senior (and First Team All-"He's Still in College???" guy) RJ Davis, who's already logged over 4,000 minutes and 2,000 points for Carolina. He should figure to be one of the best scoring guards in the country.
He's flanked by Elliot Cadeau, who had an up-and-down campaign as a freshman. In 2024, coaches aren't looking for point guards with a higher turnover rate (20.7) than 3-point shooting percentage (18.9), but Cadeau managed that feat.
Offseason and preseason chatter, of course, claims Cadeau has turned the corner with his shot, opening up his game to reach new levels. I'll believe that when I see it on the floor.
The backcourt duo is aided by a few returning pieces, along with Cade Tyson, a proven shooter from his time at Belmont.
If you're looking for one reason to pull the trigger on the Heels at +360 to win the conference, look no further than their schedule. Duke's three two-time ACC opponents are the three teams chasing it in the preseason Vegas odds (UNC, Wake Forest and Miami), while Carolina gets two dates with NC State and Pitt.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons (+1000)
Admittedly, I spent all of last season waiting for Wake to turn on the afterburners and well, wake up. The Demon Deacons never really did, always making more sense on paper than on the court or on a tournament resume.
Steve Forbes' group finished 28th in KenPom, but it couldn't collect the wins needed to find its way into the Big Dance. After a 16-7 start, including 8-4 in the ACC, the Deacs dropped five of seven, including losses to dismal Georgia Tech and Notre Dame teams.
Out of conference, Wake played four decent teams and lost three times, only beating an injury-riddled Florida at home.
Key pieces from that team return, none more important that Hunter Sallis, who should contend for ACC Player of the Year alongside Flagg and Davis.
Cameron Hildreth and Efton Reid III also bring tons of production to the perimeter and interior, respectively.
Somewhere in the collection of treasures Forbes pulled from the transfer portal there should be a diamond in the rough that emerges as a major contributor.
I feel a little burned by my belief in this team last season, yet the expectation should be for the Deacs to take another step forward in 2025.
Miami Hurricanes (+1500)
There's optimism around this Miami team, which is unexpected given the events of last season and the early rounds of the transfer portal. The Canes ended last season dropping 10 in a row, and then Norchad Omier headed for Baylor, Wooga Poplar went to Villanova and Kyshawn George jumped to the NBA.
Jim Larranaga responded, bringing in four transfers from the portal that averaged double figures in scoring in college hoops last season, including Jalen Blackmon, a 21.3 point-per-game scorer for Stetson.
He added that group to returnees Matthew Cleveland and Nijel Pack, who are both expected to step forward this season. Pack missed five of the final 10 losses due to an injury, a likely reason for the skid.
On top of that collection of talent, Miami (FL) welcomes the highest-ranked recruit in school history, Philadelphia's Jalil Bethea.
If he can make an immediate impact, consider the Canes among the ACC's elite.
Clemson Tigers (+1500)
It was a tale of two seasons for the Tigers last year. The regular season was a clear disappointment, with an 11-9 ACC record ending with an ACC Tournament loss to Boston College.
The NCAA Tournament, however, provided new life for these Tigers, who ripped off three wins and reached the Elite Eight.
Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin will look to bring the momentum from that team into 2025.
Clemson will go as Hunter goes. If he grows into a true star, this team has a tournament future. If he struggles to elevate from his position as PJ Hall's second fiddle, the Tigers don't have the top-end talent to swing with the league's best.
Louisville Cardinals (+1800)
College basketball rebuilds used to sputter and restart for years. Now with NIL money and the transfer portal, a coaching start can strap dynamite to a re-build and kick it into gear in just one offseason.
To that end, say hello to the 2024-25 Louisville Cardinals, led by Energizer Bunny head coach Pat Kelsey.
He got to work quickly, bringing in starters from around college basketball.
Wisconsin's Chucky Hepburn, Sun Belt Player of the Year Terrence Edwards Jr., Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year Koren Johnson, Colorado's J'Vonne Hadley, BYU's Noah Waterman and Kelsey's former players at Charleston, Reyne Smith and Kobe Rodgers, are all talents that scored 9.5 or more points per game for a team that plays in a power conference or made the NCAA Tournament.
If you're a believer in Kelsey and think he has the magic to build those parts into a team this season, this is the mid-range long shot worth an investment. I jump into that category, with futures bets on the Cardinals to win the ACC and reach the Final Four in my back pocket.
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NC State Wolfpack (+2000)
The best players from last season's miracle Final Four run have departed, with DJ Burns Jr., Casey Morsell and DJ Horne all gone, yet the bones of that team still exist.
To see this team living up to the shadow of last year's Wolfpack, you need to be a believer that one of the transfers Kevin Keatts brought to Raleigh — Mike James from Louisville or Bowling Green's Marcus Hill — can produce at a high level.
If not, you're crossing your fingers for a freshman to fill the void quickly, which is a tough ask in this ACC.
Virginia Cavaliers (+2500)
Bennett retired right before the season, in large part to allow his assistant Ron Sanchez to elevate into the head coaching role.
It's a shrewd move by Bennett to help out a friend, but in no way is it the best thing for the Virginia program. If Bennett retired in May, would Virginia have hired a guy with one head coaching stint, one in which he lead Charlotte for five years and never even won a game in the Conference USA Tournament? Not likely.
Maybe Sanchez learned some lessons from his first shot in the big chair, but I'm skeptical he can be anything close to the coach Bennett has been year after year.
Early on in the season, I'll be fading the Hoos until Sanchez proves otherwise.
Syracuse Orange (+3500)
The Orange have some hope in Year 2 of the post-Jim Boeheim era.
Returning perimeter players J.J. Starling and Chris Bell should blossom into high-level players, aided by the steady presence of Colorado transfer Eddie Lampkin Jr. in the paint.
That trio should be enough to have Syracuse competing for a postseason bid.
We'll learn plenty about the Orange in a November 21 neutral-site game against Texas in Brooklyn.
SMU Mustangs (+3500)
The Mustangs gallop into their first season of ACC play as somehow the least preposterous of the three new schools in this conference.
SMU is now led by former USC head coach Andy Enfield, who raided the transfer portal to try to build a team capable of competing in a power conference.
I'm skeptical he did well, and I was generally underwhelmed by Enfield's tenure at USC.
The learning curve here could be clear, with early January games against Duke and North Carolina proving that point.
Pittsburgh Panthers (+4000)
Jeff Capel lost the two best players from a team that failed to reach the NCAA Tournament and didn't do much to replace them.
The Panthers return some secondary pieces — like guard Jaland Lowe — that will need to step into much larger roles.
If not, Capel is expecting a lot of Damian Dunn, a big time scorer at Temple who then looked overmatched playing for Houston in the Big 12 last season.
If Capel doesn't have the answers, this would be seven years and just one NCAA Tournament appearance, which included a stop in the First Four.
It's maybe not time to move on, but there will be Pitt fans Googling Capel's buyout information if they're sitting at home next March.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+5000)
Micah Shrewsberry deserves props for his work last season. When Mike Brey stepped away, the cupboard was left bare in South Bend. Shrewsberry's team was expected to struggle, and did at times, but won five of six at one point in conference play.
The Irish now bring back ACC Rookie of the Year Markus Burton, as well as coach's son Braeden Shrewsberry, who added double-figure scoring last year.
Princeton transfer Matt Allocco brings big time March experience and veteran leadership.
It's a stretch to see this team playing in the postseason, though it'll compete on a nightly basis and surprise some teams.
Last season, the Irish were 14-8 ATS in the ACC and 15-9 as an underdog against the spread. I'm banking on that trend continuing.
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Virginia Tech Hokies (+7000)
With the recent dismissal of transfer Hysier Miller due to the investigations into a gambling probe around last season's Temple team, the Hokies' roster looks pretty barren of scoring capable of putting them in contention against the better teams in the ACC.
November dates with Penn State and Michigan could quickly show how dire things will get in Blacksburg this season.
The crazy thing about this mega-sized conference: We're talking about Virginia Tech being terrible and there's still five teams below the Hokies. What a mess.
Stanford (+8000) & California (+10000)
I can't believe these teams are playing in the ACC. The frequent flier miles racked up by the Cardinals and Bears will be bountiful.
The ACC schedule makers did their best to alleviate those issues for both teams, lumping road dates into four East Coast two-game road trips, plus a fifth trip to Dallas to play SMU.
I'm very eager to see how that affects these teams over the course of a season. There's also the flip side, as nearly every team that comes to Palo Alto or Berkeley for a conference game is flying across the country to do so.
The home-road splits of these two clubs are one of the key things to watch as a college hoops bettor this season.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (+8000)
Damon Stoudamire's second year at Tech depends largely on the development of two international rising sophomores.
Baye Ndongo and Naithan George were solid last season, but now they need to carry the load for the Yellow Jackets.
Florida State Seminoles (+10000)
It's hard to see the great career of Leonard Hamilton going out with a whimper. As coaches nearly half his age choose to retire from the NIL and transfer portal rat race, Hamilton remains in Tallahassee.
It's been three years since the Noles played in the Big Dance or registered an over .500 conference record, with more of the same expected this year.
Boston College Eagles (+15000)
If you, dear reader, made it this far, I applaud you. Your prize for reading about the prior 17 teams is the chance to hear me rant about the basketball program at my alma mater. It's a disgrace. I stepped on campus as a freshman 15 years ago, mere months after the Eagles played in the NCAA Tournament.
They haven't been back since.
Steve Donahue was given four years to figure things out before being shown the door. Jim Christian was given one of the most inexplicable seven-year runs in coaching history.
Now it's Year 4 for Earl Grant, a coach who was considered a questionable, if not bad hire the day he arrived on campus. He enters his fourth year projected by the media, sportsbooks and his fellow coaches to finish last in the ACC.
I don't know if another spin of the coaching carousel is the answer, but I know that Grant isn't the answer, either. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Hey, the hockey team is ranked pretty high. Isn't that nice?
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