ACC play is back and it’s getting good fast. Aside from Georgia Tech pushing Duke, we saw NC State and Wake Forest put on a good show before State won 70-57, Clemson taking out Syracuse on the road 64-61 and Virginia Tech welcome Ryan Odom back to the ACC with a triple overtime thriller, 95-85.

The Duke Blue Devils are looking to go back-to-back in the ACC. Who is going to be that player to step up for Duke?

Here are the final ACC basketball power rankings before New Year's Day 2026 and why the Tar Heels remain on top as ACC play gets underway.

RALEIGH — NC State opened up the ACC schedule with an impressive 70-57 win over Wake Forest, moving to 10-4 on the season. In front of a home crowd, it was a nice way for the Wolfpack to wrap up the 2025 calendar year and carry on with league play.

Pitt fell to Miami 76-69, Louisville popped Cal 90-70 and Notre Dame got by Stanford 47-40. We were really surprised that FSU hung around as long as they did. We didn’t think an upset was going to happen here,

Here's a running list of ACC player movement, players who have either announced intention to transfer or it's been reported they will enter portal.

Three Final Four hopefuls. Eight more tournament potentials. Could the ACC's era of mediocrity end this season?