Virginia has been picked fifth and Virginia Tech 12th in the preseason ACC men’s basketball poll, which the conference released Tuesday.
No. 6 Duke is the preseason favorite for the 10th time in the past 13 seasons despite losing star Cooper Flagg and four other players to the NBA draft. The Blue Devils received 34 of 49 first-place votes from the panel of media voters.
No. 11 Louisville, which lost to the Blue Devils in the 2025 ACC championship game, received the other 15 first-place votes and was second in the poll.
North Carolina and North Carolina State rounded out the top four.
UVA and Virginia Tech didn’t have any players on the preseason All-ACC first or second teams. Hokies guard/forward Neoklis Avdalas received a vote for Rookie of the Year.
NC State forward Darrion Williams is the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 15.1 points and 5.5 rebounds last season.
Duke’s Cameron Boozer is the Rookie of the Year.
Williams made the All-ACC first team along with with Boozer, Notre Dame’s Markus Burton and Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell.
SMU’s Boopie Miller, Syracuse’s J.J. Starling, Duke’s Isaiah Evans, Georgia Tech’s Baye Ndongo and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson made the second team.
ACC preseason poll
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. Duke (34);866
2. Louisville (15);842
3. North Carolina;741
4. NC State;710
5. Virginia;623
6. SMU;616
7. Clemson;510
8. Miami;500
9. Syracuse;489
10. Notre Dame;477
11. Wake Forest;412
12. Virginia Tech;355
13. Georgia Tech;315
14. Pitt;301
15. Florida State;221
16. California;156
17. Stanford;138
18. Boston College;107
