Before North Carolina’s first season under Michael MaloneThe Tar Heels were picked to finish fifth in the ACC preseason media poll, following a vote by 48 media members during the ACC Basketball Tipoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, earlier this month.
For the 11th time in the last 14 seasons, Duke was selected as the preseason favorite to win the conference in the annual preseason poll. The Blue Devils were followed by Virginia, Louisville and Miami, with the Tar Heels rounding out the top five.
Virginia’s Thijs De Ridder was voted ACC preseason player of the year, while Duke’s Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje earned ACC preseason rookie of the year honors. No North Carolina player was selected to one of the conference’s two preseason All-ACC teams.
After parting ways with Hubert Davis following the 2025-26 season, North Carolina announced the hiring of Malone, the former Denver Nuggets head coach who led the franchise to its first NBA championship in 2023, on April 7.
North Carolina defeated USC 88-70 in the first of three exhibition games on October 9. The Tar Heels will face Indiana in Indianapolis on October 18 before hosting Charlotte in Chapel Hill on October 27, before their regular season opener against Western Carolina on November 2. UNC opens ACC play against Cal on Dec. 30 in Chapel Hill.
2026 ACC Basketball Predicted Order of Finish (Media Vote)
School, Votes
1. Duke (45), 861
2. Virginie (1), 778
3. Louisville (1), 758
4.Miami (1), 753
5. North Carolina, 658
6. Clemson, 623
7. State of Florida, 519
8. NC State, 502
9. Virginia Tech, 489
10. SMU, 443
11. Syracuse, 353
12. Pitt, 323
13.Stanford, 267.
14. Wake Forest, 234
15. California, 225.
16. Notre-Dame, 153
17. Boston College, 150
18. Georgia Tech, 119
First place votes in parentheses (48 media voters)
2026-27 Preseason All-ACC Team
First team
Name, school, votes
Thijs De Ridder, Virginia, 48 years old
Flory Bidunga, Louisville, 47
John Blackwell, Duke, 44
Shelton Henderson, Miami, 44
Patrick Ngongba II, Duke, 42 years old
Second team
Malik Reneau, Miami, 30 years old
Jackson Shelstad, Louisville, 24
Chance Mallory, Virginia, 23
Amani Hansberry, Virginia Tech, 21
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, duke, 21 years old
ACC Preseason Player of the Year
Thijs De Ridder, Virginie, 30 votes
John Blackwell, Duke, aged 12
Flory Bidunga, Louisville, 3
Malik Reneau, Miami, 2
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, duke, 1
ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, duke, 34 votes
Caleb Gaskins, Miami, 5
Cameron Williams, Duke, 4 years old
Maximo Adams, North Carolina, 3 years old
Harris Reynolds, Clemson, 1
Deron Rippey, Duke, 1
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