ACC Basketball Was Better In 2026, But Still Not Good Enough

The ACC is a few levels below the SEC in college basketball and several levels below the Big 12 and Big Ten. The league had eight teams in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, and only one, Duke, reached the Sweet 16. However, this was a good year for the conference. How can both things be true? Let’s discuss:

Reality check

For the ACC to lose seven teams in the first week of the NCAA Tournament is undeniably brutal. There’s no way around that. When that happens, the ACC cannot be viewed as one of the top three conferences in college basketball. We can all admit it and move on. However, this is where the conversation gets interesting.

Not all ACC losers were busts: consider Miami

Miami won one NCAA Tournament game before being eliminated by Purdue. The Hurricanes were a clear success story this season despite not reaching the Sweet 16. Jai Lucas seems like a very good hire, a young coach with a very promising future.

Virginia

Ryan Odom was spectacular in Year 1 at Virginia, but the Cavaliers probably weren’t as good as their third-place finish in the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee sent the Hoos packing in the round of 32. Virginia didn’t reach the Sweet 16, but the broader story around the program is positive. That’s why the ACC had a good year despite a bad NCAA tournament.

North Carolina State

Losing to Texas in the First Four was a bitter failure, but one should expect Will Wade to improve his roster in Year 2 at NC State. Wade was open about his dissatisfaction with the type of roster he had last season. Expect it to make positive changes. The state is in a position to improve next season. Now the portal calls. The Wolfpack needs to make a splash. Wade seems capable of doing that.

louisville

Louisville not making the Sweet 16 is a disappointment, but with Mikel Brown injured, Pat Kelsey can’t be said to have performed poorly. Louisville has had horrible injury luck with Kelsey. KaSean Pryor’s injury was brutal for last season’s team, and Brown’s injury had an equally huge effect on this year’s group. If Louisville can recover and stay healthy, it can become a serious national player. Again: Just because a team hasn’t made it to the Sweet 16 doesn’t mean its future isn’t positive. Such is life for several ACC basketball programs.

SMU

Andy Enfield led SMU to the NCAA Tournament in Year 2. SMU lost to Miami-Ohio, but Enfield has been a good coach in a program that fired his predecessor to put all its chips in the middle of the table and trust in Enfield’s ability. The move hasn’t been a home run, but it has been more positive than negative.

Clemson

Brad Brownell continues to participate in the NCAA tournaments, but his teams are often beaten in the first round. This was precisely such a case against Iowa last Friday. Brownell had an Elite Eight run in 2024 plus a Sweet 16 in 2018, but the lack of NCAA tournament wins is a legitimate source of frustration. Those two seasons (2024 and 2018) are the only seasons in which Clemson won a game in the round of 16 in March Madness. Clemson has been a good program over the past eight years (the previous seasons under Brownell were failures), but it should still improve in March.

North Carolina

This is undoubtedly where the ACC basketball world has a big headache. The fact that UNC basketball is not a heavyweight really hurts the league. Hubert Davis has slowed Carolina down and the Tar Heels need to find a solution, with or without him.

ACC basketball’s biggest problem

The reason we can say the ACC has had a good 2026 season despite a bad NCAA Tournament is because the conference’s schools as a whole took steps forward. However, this means that a year ago the conference was far behind the competition. He dug himself a hole so deep that it will take time to fully recover. There was some recovery this year, but not enough to fully make up the gap.

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech’s hiring of Troy’s Scott Cross shows a seriousness about basketball that has been missing from several ACC basketball schools in recent years. The ACC basketball culture is improving, even at schools that have performed poorly in recent seasons.

Syracuse

The hiring of Gerry McNamara gives Syracuse an upgrade as Red Autry coach. This is another positive step from an ACC basketball program that did nothing good last season.

State of Florida

Luke Loucks shows signs of being the right hire at FSU. Give it two more years to make that program fully operational; is headed in the right direction in Tallahassee.

stanford

Kyle Smith is an underrated coach who does more with less. Expect him to lead Stanford to the NCAA tournament by 2028, if not 2027.

California

Mark Madsen can coach, but he’s dealing with Berkeley’s resource limitations. This is a wait-and-see situation, but Madsen needs time before we can judge him more fully.

boston university

This program retained Earl Grant last season, the kind of move that explains why ACC basketball fell off the map. The show eventually pulled the plug on Grant and is now trying to hire his replacement. Let’s see what happens.

Virginia Tech

NIL commitments to the program have improved, but the Hokies did not have a full roster last season. They have to invest more and get some visits to the portal.

stele forest

Will Wake Forest stay with Steve Forbes? The Demon Deacons have never made the NCAA Tournament in more than half a decade under Forbes. Holding it back, on the surface, makes no sense.

Notre Dame

Micah Shrewsberry has been a clear disappointment in South Bend. One wonders if the coach might leave the club in search of a better opportunity elsewhere. Notre Dame joins Wake Forest, Boston College, Syracuse and Georgia Tech as one of the ACC’s most disappointing programs this decade.

Overview

The 2026 NCAA Tournament was a disaster, but as you can see, several ACC basketball schools have improved their long-term prospects. North Carolina is the program that has to reverse course. Struggling ACC schools are mostly showing signs of starting to do the right thing, but not all. Ultimately, ACC basketball programs are improving their understanding of what they need to do. 2027 may not offer a big NCAA tournament, but the main thing is that the ACC continues to evolve like it did in 2026.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: ACC Basketball Requires Patience After Tough March Madness Results

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