Duke named No.1 in ACC basketball 2026-27 preseason poll: Virginia, Clemson overrated; Miami underrated

The ACC became the latest power conference to release its preseason media poll on Tuesday when Duke was tabbed to finish atop the league ahead of Louisville, Virginia, Miami and North Carolina. Duke received 45 of the 49 possible first-place votes from the media.

The Blue Devils enter the season as the heavy favorite to win the ACC title after bringing back a nucleus of their returning production from last season, led by Cayden Boozer, Caleb Foster, Dame Sarr and Patrick Ngongba II. Duke also welcomes former Wisconsin star John Blackwell into the program and a talented freshman class led by Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, who could be the favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2028 NBA Draft.

After the ACC sent eight teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2026, there's optimism that the number could grow with expansion of the field starting this season. Louisville spent big in the transfer portal this offseason, headlined by the addition of former Kansas big man Flory Bidunga. Miami also hauled in an impressive transfer portal class after landing former Villanova guard Acaden Lewis and Georgia big man Somto Cyril.

SEC basketball 2026-27 preseason poll and predictions: Alabama, Georgia overrated; LSU, Missouri underrated

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Another team to keep an eye on this season is North Carolina. The Tar Heels are entering a new era with Michael Malone set to take over the program. Malone, who has extensive NBA ties, has never been a college head coach. His lone experience at the college level came as an assistant at Oakland, Providence and Manhattan in the 1990s.

Here is the full ACC media poll, followed by the breakdown of overrated and underrated teams and players.

ACC Preseason Media Poll

Overrated: Virginia

Predicted finish: 2

Let me start out by saying this: Virginia is still a really good basketball team. However, this is how I voted at the top of our CBS Sports ACC poll earlier this month.

• 1. Duke
• 2. Miami
• 3. Louisville 
• 4. Virginia
• 5. North Carolina

Even with Thijs De Ridder coming back, I think Virginia is the fourth-best team in the ACC heading into the season, behind Duke, Miami and Louisville. Getting voted second isn't a drastic difference whatsoever because two of my CBS Sports colleagues also picked UVa to finish second in the ACC. Virginia has a tough ACC schedule, with road games against North Carolina, Duke and Miami. The Cavaliers also face Louisville and Duke (again) at home. After winning 30 games in Year 1, I think Virginia takes a slight step back and finishes somewhere in the 3-5 range in the ACC.

Underrated: Miami

Predicted finish: 4

I'm extremely bullish on Miami heading into the season. Miami coach Jai Lucas did a fantastic job of acquiring talent via the transfer portal that fits the roster. Acaden Lewis and Somto Cyril are good fits next to Shelton Henderson, who is set to have one of the biggest year 2 jumps in college basketball and should be a first-round pick next summer.

Picking Miami to finish second in the ACC is contingent on Malik Reneau, who was voted second-team All-ACC by the voters, being eligible. Adding him to this starting lineup changes the floor and ceiling of the roster. If Reneau is cleared, Miami is a top 10 team in college basketball. Miami will be tested on opening night against preseason title favorite Florida in Tampa next month.

Overrated: Clemson

Predicted finish: 6

Similar to my reasoning on why I had Virginia as "overrated," is why Clemson is slotted here. In our preseason ACC picks, I had Clemson finishing eighth, with Florida State and Syracuse ahead. The Tigers got bad news on Tuesday when the program announced Zac Foster, who was coming off an ACL tear suffered this past December, tore his ACL in the same knee and is out indefinitely. Foster was expected to be a key part of Clemson's rotation this season.

Clemson will be relying heavily on four transfers (Cole Certa, Liutauras Lelevicius, David Fuchs, and Dylan Faulkner) to return to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. Another key development to follow is Dillon Hunter's eligibility status; he started 35 games for the Tigers last season. I'm projecting Clemson to finish somewhere in the 7-9 range in the ACC.

Underrated: Syracuse

Predicted finish: 11

Syracuse is going to be the surprise team in the ACC during the 2026-27 season. After missing the NCAA Tournament for five consecutive years, the 2026-27 season is when Syracuse takes a step back in the right direction with new coach Gerry McNamara at the helm of his alma mater. 

The Orange were busy in the transfer portal this offseason and brought over several new faces, including star guard Gavin Doty, who played for McNamara last season at Siena. Another name to keep an eye on who could have a breakout season: Kiyan Anthony, who just so happens to be the son of the greatest player in program history, Carmelo Anthony. I had Syracuse finishing seventh in the ACC, which might be rich, but I believe in what McNamara is building.

Preseason All-ACC Team 

The ACC released its preseason all-conference teams on Monday. Virginia star Thijs De Ridder was tabbed the ACC Preseason Player of the Year. Here is the full team.

First-Team

Second-Team

Underrated: Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, Duke

If you aren't familiar with Boumtje Boumtje yet, go watch Duke's scrimmage against Belmont or read our takeaways from the first wave of scrimmages here. In short, Boumtje Boumtje has a chance to be Duke's best player by the time the calendar flips to 2027. The 7-foot-2 freshman is an inside-out playmaker who can stretch the floor and defend at a high level. 

According to the voting, Boumtje Boumtje was the last player to make the All-ACC team and the only freshman to earn the honor. It might be bold, but Boumtje Boumtje should land on the first-team All-ACC by the time spring rolls around. He's that good. Even with how deep Duke's roster and rotation are, Boumtje Boumtje has stood out in a big way. Buy into the hype while you can.

Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje looks like Duke's next star frosh, LSU debuts new-look roster in first CBB scrimmages

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Overrated: Jackson Shelstad, Louisville

It's hard to single out any player on this list, but if I had to pick one, it would be Shelstad just because there are plenty of unknowns for him after he appeared in just 12 games during the 2025-26 campaign due to severe right-hand tendon and ligament damage. 

Shelstad was one of the most coveted players available in the transfer portal, and he should have a big bounce-back season at Louisville. However, the player I would've had over Shelstad on the team is Lewis, who is coming off a season in which he averaged 12.2 points. 5.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game at Villanova.