MBB: This Week in the ACC (February 2-8, 2026)

[brevity]

Numbers in [brackets] are KenPom ratings as of Monday morning.

Monday, February 2

[29] UNC hosts [70] Syracuse, 7pm ET, ESPN

Tuesday, February 3

[3] Duke hosts [143] Boston College, 7pm ET, ACC Network
[36] SMU hosts [23] NC State, 9pm ET, ESPN2
[17] Virginia hosts [101] Pittsburgh, 9pm ET, ACC Network

Wednesday, February 4

[16] Louisville hosts [84] Notre Dame, 7pm ET, ESPN2
[54] California hosts [133] Georgia Tech, 8pm ET, ACC Network
[82] Stanford hosts [32] Clemson, 10pm ET, ACC Network

Thursday, February 5 is dark

Friday, February 6 is dark

Saturday, February 7

[17] Virginia hosts [70] Syracuse, 12pm ET, Channel TBD ESPN
[79] Wake Forest hosts [16] Louisville, 12pm ET, ACC Network
[23] NC State hosts [61] Virginia Tech, 1:30pm 12pm ET, The CW
[143] Boston College hosts [37] Miami, 2pm ET, ACC Network
[101] Pittsburgh hosts [36] SMU, 3:45pm 2pm ET, The CW
[84] Notre Dame hosts [96] Florida State, 4pm ET, ACC Network The CW
[29] UNC hosts [3] Duke, 6:30pm ET, ESPN
[54] California hosts [32] Clemson, 8pm ET, ACC Network
[82] Stanford hosts [133] Georgia Tech, 8pm ET, ESPNU

Sunday, February 8 is dark

---

ESPN's College GameDay has an unsurprising destination on Saturday.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2017643686926905660

 

[dlmzzz]

State of the Conference Race and Bubble:
Here's a current breakdown of the resumes of all the ACC teams that have at least some chance of making the tourney. Wake, Stanford, and Syracuse desperately need some signature wins (and wins in general) to stay alive. Tonight especially, Orange. This info was accurate as of Sunday; MANY of the rankings are on the cusp and will have gone up or down by the time you look at them. These are sorted by NET ranking.

Team	Conf Record	KP Conf Proj	Torvik Conf Proj	NET	WAB	KenPom	Q1A	Q1	Q2	Q3 & Q4	Notable Wins	Notable Losses
Duke	9-0	17-1	16-2	2​	3​	3​	5-1	9-1	4-0	7-0	Florida (H6), Kansas (N11), Mich St (A12), Louisville (A16), Arkansas (N28)	None
Louisville	5-4	11-7	11-7	17​	33​	16​	0-4	3-5	4-1	8-0	None	None
UVA	7-2	14-4	14-4	18​	16​	17​	4-0	4-2	4-1	10-0	Louisville (A16), NC State (A25), SMU (A34), Texas (A38)	None
UNC	5-3	11-7	11-7	25​	24​	29​	3-2	4-3	1-1	12-0	Kansas (H11), Virginia (A18), Kentucky (A43)	None
NC State	7-2	12-6	12-6	26​	39​	23​	1-2	2-5	8-0	6-1	Clemson (A24)	Georgia Tech (H134)
Clemson	8-1	13-5	14-4	31​	19​	32​	0-2	2-3	6-1	10-0	None	None
SMU	4-4	10-8	10-8	34​	36​	36​	0-4	3-5	3-1	9-0	None	None
Miami	6-3	11-7	11-7	39​	45​	37​	0-3	2-3	3-1	12-1	None	Florida State (H93)
Cal	4-5	9-9	9-9	51​	48​	54​	1-2	3-4	1-2	11-0	Miami (A44)	None
Va Tech	5-5	8-10	8-10	56​	55​	61​	0-3	2-5	4-1	10-1	None	Stanford (H77)
Wake	2-7	6-12	6-12	70​	90​	79​	0-6	0-7	3-3	8-1	None	Oklahoma (H71)
Syracuse	4-5	7-11	7-11	73​	78​	70​	0-4	1-4	1-3	11-2	None	Hofstra (H118), Boston College (A133)
Stanford	3-6	7-11	7-11	78​	66​	82​	1-3	4-3	2-2	8-3	Saint Louis (N21)	Notre Dame (H90), Seattle (H115), UNLV (H127)

NC State is slightly favored by both KenPom and Torvik to get the last double bye at this point, but UNC, Miami, and Louisville are all close behind. The projection is that 8 ACC teams will make the field comfortably, with Miami projected by Torvik with a 68% chance of being in. Cal and Virginia Tech are contending, with a 31% and 23% chance to make it, respectively.

Definitions:
Q1-A Win (these are listed as the "Notable Wins", using NET rankings):
Home 1-15
Neutral 1-25
Away 1-40

Q1 Win:
Home 1-30
Neutral 1-50
Away 1-75

 

[AGDukesky]

Would love to see Clemson struggle on the Atlantic Ocean West edition

 

[brevity]

Would love to see Clemson struggle on the Atlantic Ocean West edition

That could certainly happen. Clemson lost both of their non-conference road games (Georgetown and Alabama). While they are 4-0 in ACC road games, their opponents were Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech. They have yet to play the tougher road games in Durham and Chapel Hill.

 

[arnie]

State of the Conference Race and Bubble:
Here's a current breakdown of the resumes of all the ACC teams that have at least some chance of making the tourney. Wake, Stanford, and Syracuse desperately need some signature wins (and wins in general) to stay alive. Tonight especially, Orange. This info was accurate as of Sunday; MANY of the rankings are on the cusp and will have gone up or down by the time you look at them. These are sorted by NET ranking.

Team	Conf Record	KP Conf Proj	Torvik Conf Proj	NET	WAB	KenPom	Q1A	Q1	Q2	Q3 & Q4	Notable Wins	Notable Losses
Duke	9-0	17-1	16-2	2​	3​	3​	5-1	9-1	4-0	7-0	Florida (H6), Kansas (N11), Mich St (A12), Louisville (A16), Arkansas (N28)	None
Louisville	5-4	11-7	11-7	17​	33​	16​	0-4	3-5	4-1	8-0	None	None
UVA	7-2	14-4	14-4	18​	16​	17​	4-0	4-2	4-1	10-0	Louisville (A16), NC State (A25), SMU (A34), Texas (A38)	None
UNC	5-3	11-7	11-7	25​	24​	29​	3-2	4-3	1-1	12-0	Kansas (H11), Virginia (A18), Kentucky (A43)	None
NC State	7-2	12-6	12-6	26​	39​	23​	1-2	2-5	8-0	6-1	Clemson (A24)	Georgia Tech (H134)
Clemson	8-1	13-5	14-4	31​	19​	32​	0-2	2-3	6-1	10-0	None	None
SMU	4-4	10-8	10-8	34​	36​	36​	0-4	3-5	3-1	9-0	None	None
Miami	6-3	11-7	11-7	39​	45​	37​	0-3	2-3	3-1	12-1	None	Florida State (H93)
Cal	4-5	9-9	9-9	51​	48​	54​	1-2	3-4	1-2	11-0	Miami (A44)	None
Va Tech	5-5	8-10	8-10	56​	55​	61​	0-3	2-5	4-1	10-1	None	Stanford (H77)
Wake	2-7	6-12	6-12	70​	90​	79​	0-6	0-7	3-3	8-1	None	Oklahoma (H71)
Syracuse	4-5	7-11	7-11	73​	78​	70​	0-4	1-4	1-3	11-2	None	Hofstra (H118), Boston College (A133)
Stanford	3-6	7-11	7-11	78​	66​	82​	1-3	4-3	2-2	8-3	Saint Louis (N21)	Notre Dame (H90), Seattle (H115), UNLV (H127)

NC State is slightly favored by both KenPom and Torvik to get the last double bye at this point, but UNC, Miami, and Louisville are all close behind. The projection is that 8 ACC teams will make the field comfortably, with Miami projected by Torvik with a 68% chance of being in. Cal and Virginia Tech are contending, with a 31% and 23% chance to make it, respectively.

Definitions:
Q1-A Win (these are listed as the "Notable Wins", using NET rankings):
Home 1-15
Neutral 1-25
Away 1-40

Q1 Win:
Home 1-30
Neutral 1-50
Away 1-75

Wow, Lewville has 0 notable wins but 17 in NET ratings. Beyond my feeble understanding.

 

[JasonEvans]

Wow, Lewville has 0 notable wins but 17 in NET ratings. Beyond my feeble understanding.

Their best wins are Kentucky and Indiana... good victories but not top 25 teams in KenPom.

 

[dlmzzz]

Wow, Lewville has 0 notable wins but 17 in NET ratings. Beyond my feeble understanding.

NET is more like KenPom, where margin of victory over a lesser opponent can give you a good boost (winning convincingly matters). Louisville's WAB (wins above bubble) ranking is only 33, and who you beat (or lost to) is the weighting for that metric.

 

[CameronBlue]

In honor of Boeheim's propensity for proboscis prospecting, I'm "picking" Cuse tonight to pick off the heels in the nose dome.

 

[Bob Green]

Carolina vs Syracuse is off to a boring start. Heels up 4-2 at 15:50 mark.

 

[brevity]

Monday, February 2

[29] UNC hosts [70] Syracuse, 7pm ET, ESPN

Syracuse MBB interviews former Blue Devil and Orange player Michael Gbinije, who's attending tonight's game in Chapel Hill and has two reasons to root for a UNC loss. (Maybe he can vicariously work some of that Jaylen Blakes magic.)

https://twitter.com/x/status/2018474892300075087

 

[SlapTheFloor]

In honor of Boeheim's propensity for proboscis prospecting, I'm "picking" Cuse tonight to pick off the heels in the nose dome.

Your prediction's not looking too good so far.

 

[Bob Green]

Carolina up 46-32 at the half. I don’t have any confidence Syracuse can execute a comeback.

 

[FosterCoachK82]

Carolina up 46-32 at the half. I don’t have any confidence Syracuse can execute a comeback.

Me either. Donnie Freeman has been great for Syracuse but nobody else is doing anything.

 

[robed deity]

Me either. Donnie Freeman has been great for Syracuse but nobody else is doing anything.

The holes have been playing a bit better of late. Will have to bring it this weekend.

 

[Kjeffrey]

Refreshing to see the SMU big man get called for a flagrant. He gets away with sooo much every game.

 

[goFurman]

The holes have been playing a bit better of late. Will have to bring it this weekend.

UNC scares me

 

[DukeGuru]

UNC is going throw the kitchen sink at us on Saturday, we have to come ready to play, god forbid we have a slow start.

 

[UrinalCake]

UNC had a 32 point lead with 10 minutes to go. Syracuse managed to cut it to 6 with under a minute to go before falling by a final margin of 10. Can you imagine if you had bet on UNC to cover the 10.5 point spread?

 

[Stray Gator]

UNC scares me

They let Syracuse trim a 32-point lead midway through the second half down to 6 in the final minute. I'm not sure that's going to give them a lot of confidence going into their next game.

 

[duke2x]

They let Syracuse trim a 32-point lead midway through the second half down to 6 in the final minute. I'm not sure that's going to give them a lot of confidence going into their next game.

They did something similar with Wake with a 3 point win. Duke has come back all the way a few times (2012, 2016, etc.). As Duke often starts slow, I have faith that this team can do it again. It is an even year.