ACC Tournament Bracket 2026 : No. 1 Duke Gets Double Bye Into Quarterfinals — Pitt Wins First-Round Thriller, Wednesday's Full Second-Round Schedule Set
The 73rd T. Rowe Price ACC Men's Basketball Tournament is underway at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina — and the nation's No. 1 team, Duke, is waiting. Tuesday's first-round games produced a stunner. Wednesday's second-round card is loaded. Championship Saturday tips off March 14 at 8:30 PM ET on ESPN.
First-Round Results: Pitt Survives Stanford, SMU Rolls, VT-Wake Forest Tonight
Game 1 Final: No. 15 Pittsburgh 64, No. 10 Stanford 63. Game 2 Final: No. 11 SMU 86, No. 14 Syracuse 69. Game 3 — No. 12 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 Wake Forest — tips at 7:00 PM ET tonight on ACC Network. The winner faces No. 5 Clemson on Wednesday night.
2026 ACC Tournament Full Bracket: Seeds, Schedule, and TV
Duke (28-2, 17-1 ACC) claimed the No. 1 seed and a double bye into the quarterfinals after winning the ACC regular-season title outright for the second consecutive year. Virginia (27-4, 16-2) earned the No. 2 seed under first-year coach Ryan Odom, Miami (24-7, 13-5) grabbed No. 3 in its first season under Jai Lucas, and North Carolina (24-7, 12-6) took No. 4 — all four receiving double byes directly into Thursday's quarterfinals.
Notre Dame, Boston College, and Georgia Tech failed to qualify for the 15-team field.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 — SECOND ROUND
Game 4: No. 15 Pitt vs. No. 7 NC State | Noon ET on ESPN/ESPN2 Game 5: No. 11 SMU vs. No. 6 Louisville | 2:30 PM ET on ESPN/ESPNU Game 6: No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 9 California | 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2/ESPNU Game 7: VT-Wake Forest winner vs. No. 5 Clemson | 9:30 PM ET on ESPN2/ESPNU
THURSDAY, MARCH 12 — QUARTERFINALS
Game 8: G4 winner vs. No. 2 Virginia | Noon ET on ESPN/ESPN2 Game 9: G5 winner vs. No. 3 Miami | 2:30 PM ET on ESPN/ESPN2 Game 10: G6 winner vs. No. 1 Duke | 7:00 PM ET on ESPN/ESPN2 Game 11: G7 winner vs. No. 4 North Carolina | 9:30 PM ET on ESPN/ESPN2
FRIDAY, MARCH 13 — SEMIFINALS
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner | 7:00 PM ET on ESPN Game 13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner | 9:30 PM ET on ESPN
SATURDAY, MARCH 14 — CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 14: Semifinal winners | 8:30 PM ET on ESPN
Duke: Nation's No. 1 Team, Cameron Boozer, and the Path to Charlotte's Trophy
Duke enters as the No. 1 team in the nation — a lock for one of four No. 1 seeds on NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday. Cutting down the nets in Charlotte would virtually guarantee the Blue Devils receive the overall top seed in the Big Dance.
Freshman Cameron Boozer has averaged 22.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season — Naismith Award frontrunner numbers that have followed in Cooper Flagg's footsteps as a program-defining freshman. Duke ended the regular season on an eight-game win streak, capped with a 15-point win over North Carolina on Saturday.
The roster around Boozer includes Isaiah Evans, rim-protecting Patrick Ngongba, and senior glue guy Maliq Brown. The nation's top-ranked defense anchors everything. Their only conference loss came at Chapel Hill earlier this season — avenged decisively before the tournament.
The Bubble Teams Worth Watching: NC State, SMU, Cal, Stanford
NC State, SMU, Cal, and Stanford are among the teams living on the NCAA Tournament bubble — all needing to extend their Charlotte stay to secure at-large bids. NC State's 2024 run from double-digit seed to national contender remains the cautionary tale for anyone dismissing a lower-seeded team too quickly.
Florida State — No. 8 seed — enters winners of 10 of its last 13 games and faces Cal at 7:00 PM ET Wednesday in a matchup with genuine bubble implications for the loser.
Duke are the reigning ACC Tournament champions, having beaten Louisville in last year's final. A second straight title and a probable No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament are both within reach — if the bracket holds. It rarely does in Charlotte.
