The ACC is in a unique position heading into the 2023-24 season. The conference will play one final year with 15 league members before adding Cal and Stanford to the mix for the 2024-25 academic year.
For the second consecutive season, the ACC sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament and finished No. 7 in the KenPom.com conference rankings behind every other Power-Six school and the Mountain West. The two previous seasons before last, the ACC finished No. 5 in the conference power rankings.
During the last two decades, the ACC has had more overall success in basketball top to bottom as any major conference. Five different league members (Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia and Louisville) have all won national championships in the last 21 years.
Even though the conference is trending toward a slow decline, there’s reason for optimism that this season will be different. Miami is fresh off a surprise run to the Final Four and returns three starters. Duke heads into the season as a consensus top-5 team under second-year head coach Jon Scheyer and returns four starters from an ACC Tournament championship roster. North Carolina is seeking a huge bounce back season after failing to make the NCAA Tournament after starting as the top team in the preseason polls.
CBS Sports ACC Preseason Player of the Year
Kyle Filipowski | F | Duke
One of the biggest surprises of the offseason was Filipowski turning down NBA money to come back to Durham for another season. Filipowski was the ACC Rookie of the Year and averaged 15.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists as the Blue Devils won nine consecutive games toward the end of the season to capture the ACC Tournament title. Filipowski should be one of the favorites to dethrone Purdue’s Zach Edey for National Player of the Year and another quality season with the Blue Devils could see his draft stock soar come the 2024 NBA Draft.
Four more players to watch in…
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