We Speak Men's College Basketball
ACC Men’s Basketball Opens 2026-27 Regular Season on Sunday
The 74th season of Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball begins on Sunday, November 1. Notre Dame tips off the nation’s college basketball schedule, as it plays Villanova on Sunday in the Eternal City Tip-Off in Rome, Italy. FOX has the national broadcast at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The Notre Dame game marks the first of 39 ACC non-conference games over the first eight days of the season. That includes four matchups against ranked opponents, highlighted by No. 14 Miami’s opener against top-ranked Florida in Tampa, Florida, on Monday, November 2, at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
Also this week: Wake Forest plays at No. 24 Vanderbilt on Thursday at 6 p.m. on ESPN2, No. 9 Virginia battles No. 12 Arkansas in Washington, D.C., on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN and California takes on No. 10 Houston on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET on The CW.
Four ACC teams are ranked in the preseason national polls: Duke (No. 2 AP/USA Today), Virginia (No. 9 AP/No. 10 USA Today), Louisville (No. 11 AP/USA Today) and Miami (No. 14 AP/No. 17 USA Today).
Upcoming Schedule
Sunday, November 1
Villanova vs. Notre Dame | FOX | 9:30 AM
Eternal City Tip-Off, Palazzo dello Sport, Rome, Italy
Monday, November 2
No. 1/1 Florida vs. No. 14/17 Miami | ESPN2 | 6 PM
Orion180 Tip-Off Classic, Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, Fla.
Army at No. 2/2 Duke | ESPNU | 6:30 PM
Western Carolina at North Carolina | ACCN | 7 PM
Stetson at Clemson | ACCNX | 7 PM
Rider at Pitt | ACCNX | 7 PM
New Haven at Syracuse | ACCNX | 7 PM
Campbell at NC State | ACCNX | 7:30 PM
Adams State at California | ACCNX | 8 PM
Southern at SMU | ACCNX | 8 PM
UMES at Wake Forest | ACCNX | 8 PM
FAMU vs. Florida State | ESPNU | 8:30 PM
Orion180 Tip-Off Classic, Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, Fla.
Chattanooga at No. 11/11 Louisville | ACCN | 9 PM
Eastern Washington at Stanford | ACCNX | 10 PM
Tuesday, November 3
Coppin State at Virginia Tech | ACCNX | 7 PM
Hampton at Georgia Tech | ACCNX | 7 PM
Wagner at Boston College | ACCNX | 7 PM
Drexel at No. 9/10 Virginia | ACCN | 7:30 PM
Wednesday, November 4
Radford at California | ACCNX | 9 PM
Thursday, November 5
Wake Forest at No. 24/21 Vanderbilt | ESPN2 | 6 PM
Buffalo at Pitt | ACCNX | 7 PM
Mercer at Virginia Tech | ACCNX | 7 PM
Mercyhurst at Notre Dame | ACCNX | 7 PM
Central Connecticut at Syracuse | ACCNX | 7 PM
Coastal Carolina at No. 2/2 Duke | ACCN | 8 PM
VMI at SMU | ACCNX | 8 PM
Friday, November 6
UMass vs. Boston College | ESPN+ | 4 PM
Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, TD Garden, Boston, Mass.
Northeastern at No. 9/10 Virginia | ACCN | 5 PM
Wofford at North Carolina | ACCN | 7 PM
American at Clemson | ACCNX | 7 PM
Troy at Florida State | ACCNX | 7 PM
Georgia Southern at Georgia Tech | ACCNX | 7 PM
East Tennessee State at NC State | ACCNX | 7 PM
Wagner at No. 14/17 Miami | ACCN | 9 PM
Oakland at Stanford | ACCNX | 10 PM
Saturday, November 7
Morehead State at No. 11/11 Louisville | ACCNX | Noon
Sunday, November 8
No. 12/13 Arkansas vs. No. 9/10 Virginia | ESPN | 1 PM
Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Penn State vs. Pitt | ESPN2 | 8 PM
The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pa.
No. 10/8 Houston vs. California | The CW | 8:30 PM
Tahoe Blue Events Center, Lake Tahoe, Nevada
All times Eastern. Rankings: AP/USA Today Coaches.
ACC Men’s Basketball Quick Hits
- Following a vote of the league’s media, two-time reigning ACC champion Duke was selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2027 ACC Championship. The Blue Devils were followed in the poll by Virginia, Louisville, Miami and North Carolina.
- Virginia’s Thijs De Ridder was named the Preseason ACC Player of the Year, while Duke’s Joakim Boumtje Boumtje was picked as Preseason Rookie of the Year.
- ACC teams feature challenging schedules again this season and currently are scheduled to play 86 games against teams from other power conferences, the most of any league: 38 vs. SEC, 19 vs. Big 12, 15 vs. Big East, 14 vs. Big Ten. This does not count additional matchups that could come in MTEs.
- 16 ACC schools are slated to play at least four non-conference games against power conferences.
- ACC programs feature 28 players who earned All-Conference honors last season, including 18 first-team honorees.
- 2026 All-ACC First Team honorees Malik Reneau (Miami) and Thijs De Ridder (Virginia) return for the 2026-27 season.
- Five new head coaches will be featured on ACC sidelines this season: Luke Murray (BC), Scott Cross (GT), Michael Malone (UNC), Justin Gainey (NC State) and Gerry McNamara (Syracuse).
ACC Men’s Basketball History
- Eight ACC teams earned 2026 NCAA Tournament bids: Clemson, Duke, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, SMU and Virginia.
- It marked the third time in league history in which at least eight ACC teams earned NCAA berths: 2016-17 (nine) and 2017-18 (nine).
- ACC Men’s Basketball has won 15 NCAA national championships, including three of the last 10. Teams currently in the ACC have combined to win eight of the last 24 NCAA crowns and 19 overall.
- North Carolina leads the way with six national titles, followed by Duke (5), Louisville (2), NC State (2) and Cal, Stanford, Syracuse and Virginia (1 apiece).
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SEC Basketball Update: Florida Picked to Win the League, Seven Teams in the Preseason Top 25
The SEC’s seven teams ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 are the most in the nation: Florida 1st, Texas 7th, Tennessee 8th, Arkansas 12th, Alabama 20th, Kentucky 23rd, and Vanderbilt 24th.
The SEC is the top-ranked conference entering the 2026-27 season, according to KenPom. The SEC has led the KenPom conference rankings in each of the last two seasons, including a record rating of +22.09 in 2025.
The SEC leads all conferences with 10 teams ranked in the Top 30 of KenPom’s preseason team rankings. All 16 teams ranked in the Top 100.
Florida was the favorite to win the 2027 SEC championship in a preseason poll of media from around the league and nation. Texas was picked to finish second and is followed by Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama. Florida’s Thomas Haugh was selected by the media as the preseason player of the year.
The top two winningest active coaches in the nation reside within the SEC: Arkansas’ John Calipari (1st with 863 wins) and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes (2nd with 861 wins). Calipari ranks ninth all-time in Division I history while Barnes is 10th.
Twenty-four percent of the players on 2027 NBA Opening Day rosters that went to college attended SEC schools. The SEC led all conferences with 109 players on NBA Opening Day rosters.
The SEC’s 10 NCAA Tournament selections in 2026 were the third-highest total by a conference. The SEC set the record with 14 selections in 2025, and the Big East had 11 in 2011.
2026 was the second straight year the SEC advanced eight teams to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and the SEC finished 14-10 in the NCAA Tournament. Auburn won its first National Invitation Tournament championship — the SEC’s first NIT title since South Carolina in 2006 — and Oklahoma finished second in the College Basketball Crown championship.
Honors: Rueben Chinyelu (UF) was named NABC and Naismith Men’s College Defensive Player of the Year in 2026. Three of the five SEC players that earned All-America honors in 2026 return: Florida’s Thomas Haugh, Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner and Florida’s Rueben Chinyelu. Florida’s Todd Golden was named 2026 SEC Coach of the Year; Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. was SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
Fans: the SEC has led the nation in attendance in each of the last two seasons, averaging 11,648 fans per game in 2025 and 11,123 in 2026. Kentucky led the nation in total attendance in 2026 (355,165), Arkansas ranked third and Tennessee fourth.
The release also carries the full upcoming SEC schedule for the season’s opening week (Nov 5–10), including Wake Forest at No. 24 Vanderbilt (Nov 5, ESPN2), Jacksonville at No. 1 Florida (Nov 5), No. 12 Arkansas vs. No. 9 Virginia at the Capital Showcase in Washington, DC (Nov 8, ESPN), Florida at Florida State (Nov 10, ESPN2) and Kentucky vs. Kansas at the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago (Nov 10, ESPN).
ACC Men’s Basketball Opens 2026-27 Regular Season on Sunday
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