ACC Basketball News and Notes: Unprecedented Start Fuels League’s National Resurgence

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Three weeks into the college basketball season, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is performing with the kind of collective excellence expected from a league with its historical resume. With nine teams entering the weekend undefeated, and preseason favorites like Duke and North Carolina leading the charge, the ACC has been nothing short of dominant in the early non-conference schedule.

The league’s overall non-conference record stands at a staggering 73-12. This success is underpinned by commanding statistics: ACC teams have outscored their opponents by an average margin of 19.8 points per game, the largest scoring margin of any conference in the country. The scoring output is equally impressive, with teams averaging 86.4 points per game, ranking second nationally—a sharp increase from last season’s 77.7 points per game average. On the defensive end, the ACC has been the toughest league to score against, limiting opponents to just 66.6 points per game, the lowest mark in the nation.

The high-octane offense has led to frequent triple-digit totals; the ACC already has 17 games in which a team has scored 100 points out of 85 total games played. This figure is the most since the 1994-95 season, which saw 18 century-mark games, and far surpasses last year’s total of 11. The league also set a record with fifteen teams starting their seasons at 3-0, the most in the country and the most in ACC history.

Freshmen Driving the Explosion

A key driver of the league’s success is its infusion of young talent. ACC freshmen have combined for 15 twenty-point games and 11 double-doubles, both figures leading the nation to date. The league’s standout rookies were recognized early, with Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. sharing the ACC Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week awards for the week of November 10-16. Brown Jr. was also named CBS Sports/USBWA National Freshman of the Week, while Boozer earned USBWA National Player of the Week honors, a clear indication of their national impact.

The scoring list confirms the dominance of this class: six of the nation’s top-10 freshmen scoring outputs have come from ACC players. This includes Boozer’s 35 points against Indiana State, Brown Jr.’s 29 points against No. 9 Kentucky, and Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie, who has already posted three 26-plus point games, ranking second in the nation in freshman scoring at 25.5 points per game.

Rankings and New Leadership

The league’s strength is reflected in the polls, with four teams currently ranked: Duke is No. 5 in the AP and No. 4 in USA Today, Louisville is No. 6 in both polls, North Carolina is No. 18 in the AP and No. 19 in USA Today, and NC State is No. 25 in the AP poll.

The ACC also welcomed four new head coaches to the sidelines this year: Luke Loucke at Florida State, Jai Lucas at Miami, Will Wade at NC State, and Ryan Odom at Virginia. Their arrival coincides with the league’s strong recruiting success, with seven schools ranked in ESPN’s top recruiting class rankings, led by Duke at No. 1 and North Carolina at No. 8. The conference remains globally diverse, featuring 28 international players this season, while two long-tenured coaches, Clemson’s Brad Brownell (463 wins) and Virginia Tech’s Mike Young (409 wins), continue to rank among the active leaders in career victories.

As the college hoops season enters Thanksgiving week, ACC teams are scattering across the globe for holiday tournaments, carrying the momentum of their dominant start into the most competitive phase of non-conference play.