The ACC media poll did not leave much room for argument at the top. Duke took 45 of 48 first-place votes and 861 points. Virginia was second at 778, with one first-place vote. Louisville (758) and Miami (753) are right there with the Cavaliers. North Carolina, at 658, is the last team in the top five and the first one with a real gap behind it.
More 2026-27 conference previews
- 10/28 — SEC Preview
- 10/29 — Big Ten Preview
- 10/30 — Big East Preview
- 11/2 — Big 12 Preview
GameSim ran only that top matchup. Duke and Virginia, neutral site, 20 simulations with each team on the home side of the setup, 2027 rosters, injuries off. Duke won 21 of the 40. The two samples landed 12-8 Duke (67.7-64.2) and 11-9 Virginia (68.0-63.2). Across all 40 games the averages were Virginia 66.1, Duke 65.5. That is a series, not a coronation. The poll's order holds on wins. The scoring does not separate them.
The individual award went the other way. Virginia's Thijs De Ridder was the unanimous All-ACC pick and the preseason player of the year, with 30 of 48 votes. He is the first Cavalier to get that honor since Malcolm Brogdon in 2015-16. Last season, his first in college, he averaged 15.6 points and 6.2 rebounds, shot 50.8 percent, and hit 35.7 percent from three. Duke's John Blackwell was second in the player vote with 12. The first team around them is Louisville's Flory Bidunga, Miami's Sheldon Henderson, and Duke's Patrick Ngongba II. The second team is where the new pieces sit: Duke freshman Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, the preseason rookie of the year, Louisville's Jackson Shelstad, Miami's Malik Reneau, Virginia's Chance Mallory, and Virginia Tech's Amani Hansberry.
Duke has been the preseason favorite three years running and 11 times in 14 seasons. Nationally the Blue Devils open at No. 2 in the USA Today coaches poll, behind Florida. That same poll has Virginia 10th, Louisville 11th, and Miami 17th, which lines up with the league vote more cleanly than it separates 2 through 4. CBS Sports has already argued Virginia and Clemson are a little high and Miami a little low. The points say the same thing the GameSim scores say. From Virginia through Miami is one argument, and it will get settled on the floor.
The season opens Sunday, Nov. 1, with Notre Dame against Villanova in Rome. League play starts Tuesday, Dec. 29.
| Poll | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke (45) | 861 |
| 2 | Virginia (1) | 778 |
| 3 | Louisville (1) | 758 |
| 4 | Miami (1) | 753 |
| 5 | North Carolina | 658 |
| 6 | Clemson | 623 |
| 7 | Florida State | 519 |
| 8 | NC State | 502 |
| 9 | Virginia Tech | 489 |
| 10 | SMU | 443 |
| 11 | Syracuse | 353 |
| 12 | Pitt | 323 |
| 13 | Stanford | 267 |
| 14 | Wake Forest | 234 |
| 15 | California | 225 |
| 16 | Notre Dame | 153 |
| 17 | Boston College | 150 |
| 18 | Georgia Tech | 119 |
First-place votes in parentheses. Source: ACC media poll, Oct. 13.
