Sean Barnard dives into the outlook in the ACC and which team will take home the regular season title.
The sports calendar is in full swing with NFL season at about its midway point, the NBA getting started, College Football in its home stretch, and the MLB season just reaching its conclusion. However, we are right around the corner from college basketball season to add another layer to the madness.
There is plenty of buzz surrounding this college basketball season. Near the top of the list for conferences with intrigue sits the ACC. Cooper Flagg-mania steals the spotlight, but there are notable storylines surrounding several schools.
While the ACC may not have the depth or competitiveness as some other conferences, there is more talent than has been recognized. The conference also expanded to 18 teams ahead of this season following the addition of Cal, Stanford, and SMU.
This article will look at the teams with the best odds to win the ACC and what to keep an eye on with the top teams in the conference.
Odds to win the ACC on DraftKings Sportsbook:
Duke (+125)
Jon Scheyer has yet to win a regular-season ACC title but has his best chance thus far as he enters his third season at the helm. Cooper Flagg will headline the roster as the consensus number-one prospect in this year’s recruiting class and the projected top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Flagg has already made quite a name for himself and this is especially the case after shining in Team USA practices against the NBA’s most elite.
There is far more to this Duke team than just Cooper Flagg. Five-star 7-foot-2 center Khaman Maluachwill play a key role and they also attacked the transfer portal bringing in Purdue standout Mason Gillis and All-Defense Team member and former Syracuse standout Maliq Brown. The Blue Devils also return Tyrese Proctor after he averaged 10.5 points, 3.7 assists, and 2.0 rebounds last year. Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel are two other five-star freshmen to keep an eye on. Knueppel has been especially impressive in the preseason.
North Carolina (+360)
There was a great deal of roster turnover in Chapel Hill. North Carolina lost Armando Bacot, Cormac Ryan, and Harrison Ingram from last year which leaves them without three of their four top scorers. However, reigning ACC Player of the Year R.J. Davis will be returning after leading the conference with 21.2 points per game last year. Sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau will be a huge X-factor for the team as his 18.9% three-point percentage was disruptive to the offense last year due to the lack of respect he commanded from the perimeter. There is still plenty of good that Cadeau produced on the floor last year, but his outlook will drastically change if he can knock down three-pointers at an average or better rate.
Looking at the new additions, five-star freshman Ian Jackson will be hoping to step in and make an impact. Drake Powell, Belmont transfer Cade Tyson, and Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin will each also be looking to step into a key role for the team. There are high hopes as Hubert Davis heads into his fourth year at the helm and has already led the team to a Final Four appearance once.
Wake Forest (+1000)
Wake Forest has made an effort to shape their roster through the transfer portal. The program has not seriously contended for an ACC title in roughly 20 years but is trending in the right direction. Head coach Steve Forbes has not punched an appearance to the NCAA tournament just yet but has made the NIT tournament twice in his four seasons in charge. There is a strong case to be made that this is his most talented roster and expectations are rightfully high.
Hunter Sallis will headline the team in his second year with the program after transferring from Gonzaga. Sallis averaged 18.0 points per game last year and shot 40.5% on three-point attempts while leading the conference in minutes per game. Two of the other top five scorers returned to the team in Cam Hildreth and Efton Reid. Omaha Biliew joined the trend of five-star prospects who struggle to settle in and transfer to Vanderbilt after spending last season with Iowa State. While there still may be a gap between Wake Forest and the two teams listed above, keep an eye on them throughout the season and keep the NCAA Tournament door open.
Miami (+1500)
Coming off a surprising Final Four run in the 2023 season, Miami took a large step back last season. They went just 15-17 and closed the season on a 10-game losing streak, failing to meet expectations. There is reason for hope for a bounceback for Jim Larranaga’s squad as they returned a pair of double-digit scorers in Matthew Cleveland and Nijel Pack. In addition, they brought in Virginia Tech transfer Lynn Kidd and five-star freshman Jalil Bethea who is a projected lottery pick.
Injuries made last season seem worse than the talent level should have allowed but Miami will start from scratch this year. There was a great deal of roster turnover which included Norchad Omier, Bensley Joseph, and Wooga Poplar each leaving in the transfer portal. Jalil Bethea will be a huge X-factor for how high the ceiling is for the Hurricanes this season.
The Pick: Duke (+125)
It is a chalk pick, but you likely will not see Duke’s odds of winning the ACC at plus money for much longer. The Blue Devils went 27-9 in each of Jon Scheyer’s first two seasons and are coming off an Elite 8 run last year.
This will be the most impressive roster that Scheyer has coached thus far. Cooper Flagg will be one of the best players in college basketball from start to finish this season and there is a ton of talented depth surrounding him.
They are starting the season ranked at No. 7 and picked up 42 of the 54 first-place votes in the preseason poll. Expect Duke to put it all together this year and stay on the inside track of winning the ACC from start to finish. Get ahead of this and have a +125 future for them to take home the conference title in your pocket.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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