2025 ACC College Basketball Conference Tournament: Bracket, Key Players and Predictions

It’s been an interesting season of basketball for the ACC. Newcomers SMU, Stanford and California started league play this year, but couldn’t really provide a boost to a league that’s fallen off this year. The ACC got trounced by the SEC in the ACC/SEC challenge and had perennial league contenders like Virginia, Miami, and Florida State stumble badly. Currently, ESPN only has three teams projected to make the NCAA tournament as at-large invites; of course, the ACC was considered down last year as well, and we all know how that turned out.

Duke dominated much of the ACC (and the headlines) en route to the regular season championship. Clemson and Louisville also have had very good years; the Cardinals in particular look like a team that could be dangerous in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. The rest of the league will have to hope they either make enough noise in the conference tournament to catch the selection committee’s eye or win the ACC championship outright.

The final ACC standings are below:

1. Duke Blue Devils 28-3 (19-1)

2. Clemson Tigers 26-5 (18-2)

3. Louisville Cardinals 25-6 (18-2)

4. Wake Forest Demon Deacons 21-10 (13-7)

5. North Carolina Tar Heels 20-12 (13-7)

6. SMU Mustangs 22-9 (13-7)

7. Stanford Cardinal 19-12 (11-9)

8. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 16-15 (10-10)

9. Virginia Cavaliers 15-15 (8-12)

10. Virginia Tech Hokies 13-18 (8-12)

11. Florida State Seminoles 17-14 (8-12)

12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 14-17 (8-12)

13. Pittsburgh Panthers 17-14 (8-12)

14. Syracuse Orange 12-18 (7-13)

15. California Golden Bears 13-18 (6-14)

16. N.C. State Wolfpack 12-19 (5-15)

17. Boston College Eagles 12-19 (4-16)

18. Miami Hurricanes 7-24 (3-17)

Despite the addition of three teams to the ACC this year, the championship bracket will still include only 15 teams. Miami, Boston College and will not be making the trip to Charlotte and have seen their seasons come to an end. Last year, the Wolfpack won the ACC tournament as an 10 seed by winning five games in five days; this year, the Wolfpack were knocked out of contention before playing their last conference game. Duke will be the heavy favorite, but there’s always a chance another team makes a run.

This year the ACC tournament will be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The opening rounds will tip off on March 11th at 2pm, with the championship game held March 15th on ESPN. Most of the games will either be shown on the ACC Network or on ESPN.

Players To Watch:

Cooper Flagg (Freshman guard, Duke)

At this point there’s not really much more that can be said about the freshman phenom. He’s likely the ACC Player of the Year and a potential National Player of the Year candidate. It’s rare a freshman can live up to the hype Flagg had coming into this year, but he’s earned every accolade. He leads Duke in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game and is a matchup nightmare for anyone guarding him. On a team with several good-to-great players, Flagg is elite and will make every Duke game worth watching.

Chucky Hepburn (Senior guard, Louisville) 

Hepburn transferred to Louisville after three solid seasons at Wisconsin. He absolutely blossomed as the go-to option for the Cardinals, improving in pretty much every statistical category. Hepburn averages 16.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and six assists per game. He is shooting 45.2% from the field, 36% from three, and is an 84.8% free-throw shooter. He’s almost certainly going to be named to the first team of the All-ACC team and will be a player to watch during the month of March.

Maxime Raynaud (Senior forward, Stanford)

It’s been a solid ACC basketball debut for Stanford; the Cardinal finished with a XX-XX record that included a win over ACC blueblood North Carolina. Raynaud has been a big reason why Stanford has found success.

Raynaud is averaging a double-double this season, recording 20.2 points and 10.9 rebounds a game. His three-point shooting has also come on as of late. Reynaud is 10-25 from distance in his last four games, which is good for someone who usually plays at the center position. His ability to step out and take shots creates matchup issues for many of STanford's opponents. The Cardinal will rely on him to carry the load in the ACC tournament.

Ian Schieffelin (Senior forward, Clemson)

Schieffelin was a key piece in Clemson’s run to the Elite Eight last year but has been even better for the Tigers this season. The senior is averaging 13.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game; like Raynaud, he is a tough cover for opposing defenses. He averages almost three assists per game and can shoot threes effectively. 

Schieffelin is one of the few frontcourt players in the ACC that is comfortable facing Duke despite the Blue Devils size advantage. He played 36 minutes and had a double-double in Clemson’s win over Duke in February. Schieffelin has the kind of postseason experience that could carry CLemson to the championship game.

Teams to watch:

The Favorite: Duke

Duke has absolutely dominated in conference play this year. Their 19 regular season wins is an ACC record. Their only defeat in conference play was a narrow road loss to a good Clemson team. While the freshman duo of Flagg and Kon Knueppel have captured most of the headlines around the team, the Blue Devils also have several veteran players to offer a steady hand to rely on. Nor are they reliant on one player; when Flagg got in foul trouble in the Blue Devils last game against North Carolina, players like Maliq Brown and Sion James stepped up. They are the heavy favorite to cut down the nets in Charlotte as they chase an overall number one seed in the NCAA tournament.

Contenders: Louisville and Clemson

Louisville has had a one heck of a bounce-back season under first year head coach Pat Kelsy. The Cardinals only lost two games in conference play, to Duke and to Georgia Tech. It’s worth noting that the Duke loss came shortly after Louisville lost Koren Johnson and Kasean Pryor for the season back in November. Despite this, Louisville was tied with Duke with under nine minutes left before fading. Keep an eye on Louisville sharpshooter Reyne Smith though; if he is unable to play in the ACC tournament due to a leg injury he sustained against California the Cardinals will struggle to hit threes.

Clemson gave Duke their only conference loss this season, a 77-71 home win against the Blue Devils. The Tigers two losses are to Louisville and Georgia Tech. Clemson plays absolutely stifling defense; their opponents’s average offensive possession length is 19.2 seconds, the longest in the country. The Tigers don’t give up easy shots and are top-20 in the country in offensive efficiency. They probably match up better against Duke than anyone else in the ACC.

Dark Horses: SMU and Virginia

I touched on Virginia’s ability to potentially steal an NCAA tournament bid last week; the Cavaliers repaid me by going out and getting trounced by a poor Syracuse team in their last game of the season. Nevertheless, logic remains the same; Virginia plays at one of the slowest paces in the country, limiting the overall number of possessions in a game and allowing for higher than normal variance in the outcome. They also are the second best three point shooting team in ACC games; there’s been many upsets pulled because an inferior team limited the pace of the game and hit timely threes. While a Wahoo run is certainly unlikely, it’s not completely out of the question.

SMU has the second best offenses in the ACC games this season. The Mustangs also shoot 38% from three point range, also second best in the conference. And finally, SMU is among the best teams in the country at corralling offensive rebounds, giving any already good offense second chances. If SMU can tighten up their defense a little, a run to the championship is possible; it also helps that they are on the other side of the bracket of Duke.

Predictions

First Round

#13 Pitt over #12 Notre Dame

#10 Virginia Tech over #15 California

#11 Florida State over #14 Syracuse

Second Round

#8 Georgia Tech over #9 Virginia

#13 Pitt over #5 North Carolina

#7 Stanford over #10 Virginia Tech

#6 SMU over # 11 Florida State

Quarterfinals

#1 Duke over #8 Georgia Tech

#4 Wake Forest over #13 Pitt

#2 Louisville over #7 Stanford

#3 Clemson over # 6 SMU

Semifinals

#1 Duke over #4 Wake Forest

#2 Louisville over #3 Clemson

Final

#2 Louisville over #1 Duke

Overall, not too many major upsets in the bracket until the final. UNC's at-large chances fall to near zero if they lose their first game, but it feels like a hangover from the Duke game is coming and Pitt is a bad matchup for them.

I’m going to assume that Reyne Smith suits up and is effective for the Cardinals; otherwise, a semifinal loss to Clemson is probably more likely. Still, in what will be considered a sizable upset I see the Cards cutting down the nets. Kelsey’s team has gotten better as the season rolls along, and Chucky Hepburn is the kind of star that can put a team on his shoulders. Duke has been steamrolling teams in the ACC, but this is partly because the overall quality of the ACC is down this year. That being said, the Blue Devils will still be one of the favorites to cut down the nets in April.