ESPN Bracketology: ACC surging as conference rebuilds from mediocrity

CBS Thanksgiving Classic: Arkansas v Duke | Michael Reaves/GettyImagesThe Atlantic Coast Conference has been the laughingstock of power leagues in college basketball over the last few seasons, but that's all changing in 2025-26. Joe Lunardi recently updated his 2026 NCAA Tournament Bracketology, and an astounding eight squads out of the ACC were featured. Several programs are beginning to establish themselves as true contenders within the ACC this year, with a few surprise teams that are making some noise that wasn't originally anticipated. Duke remains as the cream of the crop in the ACC, but after the Blue Devils completely obliterated the lackluster conference in 2024, going 19-1 in conference play en route to an ACC regular season title and ACC Tournament Championship, they might have some legitimate competition now.

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