The road to a title runs through Duke in this year’s ACC tournament in Charlotte.
It’s March. It is the ACC tournament. And Duke is exactly where you would expect them to be.
The Blue Devils enter Charlotte as the number 1 team in the country, the undisputed favorite to reduce the nets, and a team that has won 24 of the last 25 games with an almost machine-like dominance.
Their only blemish in conference game? A loss of 8 February at Clemson, 77-71. If that was a wake-up call, Duke answered the certainly-eight successive victories to end the regular season, with an average of 29.5 points per match.
Their last explanation? A ruthless 33-13 Slotrun in North Carolina on Saturday, buried their biggest rival and perhaps also their NCAA tournament.
Now the ACC tournament is waiting. And history is in favor of the Blue Devils.
Duke won this tournament 22 times, more than any other program, and their last title came only two years ago. They have the shortest opportunities to win the National Championship at +340, and there is little doubt about who is going through the ACC.
But everything can happen in March.
The challengers: Louisville and Clemson
If there is a team that can challenge Duke, it is probably Louisville (18-2 in Acc Play) or Clemson (18-2, with one of those two losses that come to the cardinals).
Both teams have been consistent all season and both could meet Duke in the championship match on Sunday. But to make an upset, they must find an answer for Cooper Flagg and a Duke team that seems to peak at the right time.
A third battle with North Carolina?
Perhaps the real drama unfolds in the semi -final, where another confrontation with North Carolina looms up.
The Tar Heels will enter the tournament to fight for their lives after the season, desperately looking for a deep run to lock up a NCAA tour. And if the path to redemption leads by Duke, Carolina will not withdraw from the fight.
But Duke has proven something in the past two months – they don’t blink.
ACC Tournament Futures Odds
- Duke Blue Devils (-320)
- Louisville Cardinals (+550)
- Clemson Tigers (+700)
- Wake Forest Demon Deacon (75-1)
- North Carolina Tar Heels (30-1)
- Smu Mustangs (60-1)
- Stanford Cardinal (250-1)
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (250-1)
- Virginia Cavaliers (250-1)
- Virginia Tech Hokies (250-1)
- Florida State Seminoles (250-1)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (300-1)
- Pittsburgh Panthers (250-1)
- Syracuse Orange (300-1)
- California Golden Bears (300-1)
2025 ACC Tournament -scheme
The Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament runs from 11-15 March in Charlotte, NC
First round
- No. 13 Pittsburgh vs. No. 12 Notre Dame, 2 pm et Tuesday (ACC Network)
- No. 15 California vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech, 4:30 pm et Tuesday (ACC Network)
- No. 14 Syracuse versus no. 11 Florida State, 7 pm et Tuesday (ACC Network)
Second round
- No. 9 Virginia vs. No. 8 Georgia Tech, afternoon et Wednesday (ESPN)
- Pittsburgh/Notre Dame vs. No. 5 North Carolina, 2.30 pm et Wednesday (ESPN)
- California/Virginia Tech vs. No. 7 Stanford, 7 pm et Wednesday (ESPN2)
- Syracuse/Florida State vs. No. 6 SMU, 9:30 PM ET Wednesday (ESPN2)
Quarter -finals
- Virginia/Georgia Tech vs. No. 1 Duke, Noon et Thursday (ESPN)
- TBA versus no. 4 Wake Forest, 2.30 pm et Thursday (ESPN)
- TBA versus no. 2 Louisville, 7 pm et Thursday (ESPN)
- TBA versus no. 3 Clemson, 21:30 ET Thursday (ESPN)
Semi -final
- TBA vs. TBA, 7 pm et Friday (ESPN)
- TBA vs. TBA, 9.30 pm et Friday (ESPN)
Championship
- TBA vs. TBA, 20:30 ET Saturday (ESPN)
Expertkick: Duke – 320
The ACC tournament has previously seen its chaos share. Last season, NC State deducted an unlikely title run – a reminder that the impossible in March sometimes becomes reality.
But don’t expect that this year. The best seeds are too strong and the opening is too wide.
The safe gamble? The ACC -Trophy is staying in Durham. Duke is the only option in this tournament. They are a Downhill train and no one in the ACC is ready to stand in front of this locomotive from Durham.
And if Duke does what it will do this week in Charlotte, they might be the favorites to do it again on an even larger stage in April in the NCAA tournament.
