The 2026 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket is officially set, and games are about to begin in a couple of hours. The ACC saw much better competition this season than in the past couple of years, with the Duke Blue Devils ranking as the No. 1 overall seed in college basketball and in the ACC.
In-depth analysis of Louisville basketball's potential 2026 ACC Tournament opponents
The ACC Tournament will feature 15 of the 18 teams in the conference, as Notre Dame, Boston College, and Georgia Tech did not qualify. The 2026 ACC Tournament will run from today, March 10, through Saturday, March 14, with the finals tipping off at 8:30 p.m. local time. Selection Sunday will take place the following day, March 15. The Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., will host the 2026 ACC Tournament, as the Duke Blue Devils will look to repeat and win its second straight ACC Tournament Title after they defeated the Louisville Cardinals last year.
Louisville basketball's ACC Tournament path
Pat Kelsey and Louisville basketball secure the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament after they won the last two games of their regular season and finished 22-9 overall and 11-7 in conference play. The Cardinals had a bit of an up-and-down season: they lost three of their first five ACC games, then won five straight, then lost three of four, and then won their last two.
It wasn’t the season many had hoped for, as many thought they would be towards the top, as a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the ACC, but the Cards enter the ACC Tournament after earning their first win on the road over a ranked team since 2020, picking up their first Quad 1A win of the season. So, the path is set, as Louisville will face the winner of SMU vs Syracuse, and then if they win that, they play Miami, and then in the semifinals, they would play Virginia, North Carolina State, Stanford, or Pitt.
Louisville’s path is favorable for the Cardinals, but a lot depends on Mikel Brown Jr., and if he is healthy this postseason. The 5-star freshman has missed 10 total games this season with a back injury, including the last two games of the regular season. As of now, all Louisville fans know is that he is day-to-day, according to Pat Kelsey.
The Duke Blue Devils are dominant favorites to win the ACC at -360 odds, followed by Virginia at +700 and your Cardinals at +1300, according to FanDuel. Louisville’s path is favorable for many reasons, but the biggest is that they won’t have to play Duke until the finals if the two were to make it that far.
That said, Louisville will see the winner of SMU and Syracuse, and with the Mustangs fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals could see a fiery SMU squad that recently beat them. If they win, they could get Miami for the second time in five days, and then possibly a top 15 team in Virginia. So, Louisville’s path isn’t easy by any means, but it gives them some huge opportunities to climb up in the NCAA Tournament seedings if it goes how many expect it to.
Louisville will play on Wednesday, March 11, at 2:30 p.m. local time on ESPN. If Louisville wins, it will move on to the quarterfinals against Miami on Thursday, March 12, on ESPN/ESPN2 at 2:30 p.m local time. The ACC Tournament semifinals will be on ESPN/ESPN 2 on Friday, March 13, at 7 p.m., while the finals will be on Saturday, March 14, at 8:30 p.m.
The complete ACC tournament breakdown is below, including the ACC standings and the full ACC Tournament schedule.
ACC Men's Basketball Standings
1. Duke Blue Devils: 29-2, 17-1
2. Virginia Cavaliers: 27-4, 15-3
3. Miami Hurricanes: 23-7, 12-5
4. UNC Tar Heels:24-7, 12-6
5. Clemson Tigers:22-9, 12-6
6. Louisville Cardinals:22-9, 11-7
7. North Carolina State:19-12, 10-8
8. Florida State Seminoles:17-14, 10-8
9. Cal Golden Bears:21-10, 9-9
10. Stanford Cardinal: 20-11, 9-9
11. SMU Mustangs:19-12, 8-10
12. Virginia Tech Hokies:19-12, 8-10
13. Wake Forest Demon Deacons:16-15, 7-11
14. Syracuse Orange:15-16 6-12
15. Pitt Panthers:12-19, 5-13
2026 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule
Tuesday March 10, 2026
- Game 1: No. 12 Virginia Tech vs No. 13 Wake Forest, 2:00 p.m
- Game 2: No. 10 Stanford vs No. 15 Pitt, 4:30 p.m
- Game 3: No. 11 SMU vs No. 14 Syracuse, 7:00 p.m
Projected ACC Tournament second-round
Wednesday March 11, 2026
- Game 4: No. 8 Florida State vs No. 9 Cal, 12:00 p.m
- Game 5: No. 5 Clemson vs Game 1 winner, 2:30 p.m
- Game 6: No. 7 NC State vs Game 2 winner, 7:00 p.m
- Game 7: No. 6 Louisville vs Game 3 winner, 9:30 p.m
Projected ACC Tournament quarterfinals
Thursday March 12, 2026
- Game 8: No. 1 Duke vs Game 4 winner, 12:00 p.m
- Game 9: No. 4 North Carolina vs Game 5 winner, 2:30 p.m
- Game 10: No. 2 Virginia vs Game 6 winner, 7:00 p.m
- Game 11: No. 3 Miami vs Game 7 winner, 9:30 p.m
Projected ACC Tournament semifinals
Friday March 13, 2026
- Game 12: Game 8 winner vs Game 9 winner, 7:00 p.m
- Game 13: Game 10 winner vs Game 11 winner, 9:30 p.m
Projected ACC Tournament Championship
Saturday March 14, 2026
- Game 14: Game 12 winner vs Game 13 winner, 8:30 p.m