ACC men’s basketball schedule highlights Duke, UNC, Cal, Stanford and SMU

The ACC released its 2024-25 men’s basketball schedule on Tuesday, with an emphasis on the league’s projected frontrunners, as well as its three new members.

Each of the conference’s now-18 members — following this summer’s official additions of Cal, Stanford and SMU — will play 20 league games, but following a new scheduling model the ACC first announced in February. Each school will play seven teams exclusively at home, seven exclusively on the road and three both home and away, two of which come against a school’s “partner” programs.

As for those new members, Stanford will play on Dec. 7 at Cal in both programs’ first-ever ACC game; that also will be the first league game for new Stanford coach Kyle Smith. SMU, meanwhile, will host Virginia earlier on Dec. 7. Each of the California schools makes four cross-country trips throughout the season, and both play at SMU. Cal’s first East Coast trip at Pitt and Clemson comes on Jan. 1 and 4, respectively. Stanford’s is in the reverse order but on the same dates. SMU hosts and plays at both California programs in its first year in the league.

The ACC’s expected favorites — namely Duke, with No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, and North Carolina, which returns the only first-team All-American in the country in graduate guard RJ Davis — feature prominently. Duke’s ACC opener this season comes on the road, against Louisville, which will be new UL coach Pat Kelsey’s first league game. Flagg and the Blue Devils don’t host an ACC game until Virginia Tech travels to Durham on Dec. 31. UNC, on the other hand, hosts Georgia Tech in its conference opener on Dec. 7.

𝙂𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙏 things come to those who wait 👇

The 2024-2025 ACC Men’s Basketball Conference schedule is here!

🔗 https://t.co/rj0eyuf2mH pic.twitter.com/T5E5Eg03YK

— ACC Men’s Basketball (@accmbb) September 25, 2024

The first Duke-UNC game this season, which will be held at Cameron Indoor Stadium, is on Feb. 1, with the return trip to Chapel Hill on the final day of the conference schedule, March 8. If the Tar Heels and Hubert Davis hope to defend their regular-season conference title, those two contests will be of critical importance.

Another highlight is NC State — fresh off its first Final Four appearance since 1983 and its first ACC tournament title in almost four decades — opening conference play at home against Florida State.

Previewing the schedule

Duke and North Carolina are the only ACC teams ranked in The Athletic’s most recent preseason Top 25, but the Blue Devils especially have a tough start to Jon Scheyer’s third season. Opening at Louisville — the most experienced team in the conference, with (typically) one of the ACC’s best home crowds — isn’t an easy first game, not to mention the Blue Devils then go to Georgia Tech, where they lost last season. And as if a rare February nonconference tilt with Illinois isn’t difficult enough, sandwiching it with trips to Virginia and Miami makes for a brutal three-game stretch.

Back to Louisville, the ACC did Kelsey no favors early on, with the Cards slated to play Duke, Virginia and UNC — programs that have combined to win at least a share of the ACC in 18 of the past 20 seasons — in their first four conference games. And while the schedule does seemingly open up thereafter, including a manageable three-game home tilt against Pitt, Cal and Stanford to end the season, Kelsey’s team will be tested early.

None of the three new additions are widely expected to be NCAA Tournament contenders in their first ACC season, but if there is one? My money’s on SMU, which unexpectedly kicked off this offseason’s coaching carousel when it opted to fire Rob Lanier. That opened the door for Andy Enfield to leave USC, Eric Musselman to replace him and John Calipari to finally leave Kentucky for Arkansas. The Mustangs only return three of their top eight players from last season but added several intriguing players in the transfer portal, including former five-star recruit Yohan Traore and former Wake Forest guard Kevin “Boopie” Miller. Enfield has NCAA Tournament experience, and four games against the California programs may turn out to be a blessing for SMU’s resume.