Louisville and Miami may be close to overtaking Duke as 2026-27 ACC favorites

Throughout the offseason, there have been plenty of moves in ACC Basketball. Many teams made positive moves to boost their chances of making the NCAA Tournament, with as many as five teams consistently receiving votes in various preseason top-25 power rankings. 

However, it’s been an almost unanimous viewpoint that the Duke Blue Devils would be the clear favorites to win the ACC in 2026-27. They brought back key pieces such as Patrick Ngongba, Caleb Foster, and Cayden Boozer, and added one of the top transfers in the portal, 20 ppg scorer John Blackwell. And of course, they have several more five-star prospects joining the fold in another top-tier recruiting class.

Yet the unexpected turn of events has created uncertainty regarding the bevy of seniors suing for another year of eligibility. Dozens of players who have already been cleared have either picked new teams or returned to their previous ones from last year. Several ACC teams have already been affected, impacting Duke’s odds of being the clear favorite. 

The biggest news to this point was Louisville landing Seth Trimble. The 6’3 guard spent four years at North Carolina, coming off a career-high 14 ppg on 47% FG shooting. The proven ACC starter gives the Cardinals even more depth, paired with Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad, former Dayton guard De’Shayne Montgomery, and returning guard Adrian Wooley in the backcourt.

The Cardinals, who also landed Kansas star big man Flory Bidunga, were already around the 10-15 range in most preseason polls before the addition of Shelstad. Plus, they’re reportedly considering going after former Michigan State forward Jaxon Kohler (12.5 ppg and 8.9 rpg) for more frontcourt depth. If they somehow landed him, then Louisville could make the case to be a top-5 team.

Another ACC team to watch in the coming weeks is Miami. They already landed Michigan guard LJ Cason after that team’s coaching change and brought back star wing Sheldon Henderson (13.8 ppg), along with a quality transfer class. But they could possibly bring back star forward Malik Reneau, who led the team with 18.9 ppg and 6.5 rpg last season as their best player. 

Reneau is named in a recent state-based lawsuit in South Carolina. If the streak of these cases continues to go in their favor, he could either enter the portal or return to the Hurricanes. If that were to occur, they too would be a top-10, or even better, caliber team next season and a clear threat to the ACC.

As with other high-major conferences, this extra batch of talented veterans returning to college basketball will benefit the ACC overall. But for Duke, a team whose roster is already set, they could end up losers in all of this, with the contending teams not having a path to get enough talent to beat them. 

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