2025 ACC Basketball Tournament
The 2025 ACC conference tournament will be played at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is fitting given its proximity to Tobacco Road. However, the conference doesn’t really center around the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina this year, as it’s really all about Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils. This year’s Duke team is an overwhelming odds-on favorite to win this tournament, which is borderline unheard of when it comes to a postseason tournament in a major conference. But that’s how good the Blue Devils are. Of course, there will be some teams looking to spoil the party, including UNC, Louisville and Clemson. And considering it’s March, nothing is a certainty. That said, keep reading for our ACC tournament betting preview, complete with some players to watch, a darkhorse team and a pick to win.
How to Watch the ACC Tournament
When: March 11 – 15
Where: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina
Format: Seeding based on record in conference; 15 teams will participate, top-four seeds receive byes to quarterfinals
Watch: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ACCN; Championship Game on ESPN at 8:30 pm ET on Mar. 15
College Basketball Odds | College Basketball Betting Splits | Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines | Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings
ACC Tournament Bracket
ACC Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds
- Duke Blue Devils (-320)
- Louisville Cardinals (+550)
- Clemson Tigers (+700)
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons (75-1)
- North Carolina Tar Heels (30-1)
- SMU Mustangs (60-1)
- Stanford Cardinal (250-1)
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (250-1)
- Virginia Cavaliers (250-1)
- Virginia Tech Hokies (250-1)
- Florida State Seminoles (250-1)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (300-1)
- Pittsburgh Panthers (250-1)
- Syracuse Orange (300-1)
- California Golden Bears (300-1)
(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)
Favorite To Win ACC Tournament
The Blue Devils aren’t just favored to win this tournament, but they’re -320 to do so. That’s absolutely outrageous in a conference that used to be the class of college basketball. However, in a down year for the rest of the ACC, Duke remains one of the best teams in the country. In fact, the Blue Devils are the best team in all of college basketball, according to our VSiN Power Ratings — along with the efficiency rankings for KenPom, Bart Torvik and EvanMiya. This Duke team is top-15 in the country in both 2PT% (57.7%) and 2PT% defense (42.7%). The Blue Devils are also eighth in the nation in 3-point percentage (38.7%) and they’re a top-30 team when it comes to 3PT% defense (30.8%). On top of that, Duke is 17th in the nation in turnover rate (14.3%), fourth in effective field goal percentage (57.8%) and second in effective field goal percentage defense (44.1%). There’s nothing that the Blue Devils can’t do. They also happen to have the best player in the nation in Cooper Flagg. It’ll take a flawless performance from one of these ACC teams to prevent Duke from winning this tournament — especially considering how close it is to Durham.
ACC Tournament Darkhorse
The ACC really isn’t deep enough to find a legitimate darkhorse this year. Outside of Duke, Louisville, Clemson and North Carolina, it’s difficult to find positives with some of the other teams. With that in mind, if you’re looking for a plus-money payout, I’d suggest rolling with Clemson at +700. The Tigers are a top-25 team when it comes to both adjusted offensive and defensive ratings. Clemson is also the only team in the tournament that can get on the court with Duke and know what it feels like to beat the Blue Devils. Clemson beat Duke 77-71 during the regular season, dealing Duke its only conference loss of the year. In that game, Duke shot 50.0% from 3 and still lost the game. So, it’s not like the Blue Devils simply shot poorly. It was really just a game in which the Tigers won the battle in the frontcourt by a wide margin, with Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lakhin combining for 34 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. It’s unlikely it will happen again, but it’s not impossible. For as special as Flagg is, he and Khaman Maluach are freshmen. Schieffelin and Lakhin are experienced and tenacious.
Players to Watch in ACC Tournament
Duke’s Flagg is the best player in all of college basketball. He leads the nation in both BPM (Bart Torvik) and BPR (EvanMiya), and he’s averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. Flagg is a terror in transition, can get to the basket at will and has even shot the jumper better than expected this year. On top of that, he’s a world-class wing defender and an elite help defender. Flagg is also joined in the frontcourt by Maluach, who is a rim-running center that can really defend. And the rest of the rotation is made up of legitimate snipers, with Kon Knueppel, Tyrese Proctor, Sion James and Isaiah Evans all shooting at least 39.9% from deep. Flagg, Maluach and Knueppel are all viewed as lottery picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, and the other guys are exceptional college players that could also have pro futures. Proctor will be a crucial player for Duke in the postseason, as he’s one of the only players on this team that has some wiggle and can create off the bounce.
For Clemson, Lakhin and Schieffelin make up one of the best frontcourts in the country, but Chase Hunter is also a tremendous lead guard that is extremely reliable in crunchtime. He can shoot the ball and always find ways to create offense against good defenses. Also, Jaeden Zackery is a player that is dangerous when he’s feeling it.
Louisville’s Chucky Hepburn is probably the second-best player in the conference. The Wisconsin transfer was always known as a good 3-point shooter and elite point-of-attack defender, but he went to Louisville hoping to prove he can be more of an offensive engine. Well, in his first year in Pat Kelsey’s offense, Hepburn averaged 16.3 points and 5.9 assists per game. He has already turned in five games with at least 25 points, and he has also dished out at least seven assists on 12 different occasions. If Louisville is going to find a way to win this tournament, a lot of that will come down to Hepburn.
Let’s also quickly highlight North Carolina’s RJ Davis and Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis. It would take something crazy for either team to win, but both programs are in the mix when you look at the oddsboard. Well, if one of them makes a run, it’ll be because of those players. Davis is averaging 17.3 points per game and has lifted the Tar Heels to incredible heights in the past. He’ll be leaning on that experience in the tournament, and he’ll surely be preaching to his teammates that anything can happen at this time of year. Sallis is similarly gifted as a perimeter player, averaging 18.0 points per game on the year. However, his jumper abandoned him this season. Maybe he’ll get hot at the right time, leading the Demon Deacons on a run. But they would face Duke in a potential semi-final, so he better be ready to go there.
Betting Pick to Win The ACC Tournament
I really wouldn’t suggest betting anything in this tournament. I know that’s absolutely ridiculous to say in a “betting pick” section, but it’s highly unlikely Duke will lose. It’s also somewhat irresponsible to bet the Blue Devils at their current number. If you absolutely have to take anything, I’d say to parlay Duke with another likely winner from another conference. And if you’re not doing that, maybe put a small little something down on Clemson. The good thing about the Tigers is that they’re on the other side of the bracket, so they wouldn’t have to worry about the Blue Devils until the finals. Having said that, Louisville is legitimately good. So, there’s no guarantee we’ll see Brad Brownell’s team in the championship game.
Makinen Power Ratings for ACC
Steve Makinen’s Betting Trends for the ACC Conference Tournament
- Big favorites of 5.5 points or more have been nearly automatic in the ACC tournament of late, 53-8 SU and 36-24-1 ATS (60%) since 2015.
- ACC teams off a bye and playing as favorites of 4 points or more against teams that have already played in the tournament are 37-4 SU and 26-14-1 ATS (65%) since 2015.
- ACC opening round favorites have gone 22-2 SU and 15-9 ATS (62.5%) since 2016.
- ACC second-round favorites are on a 21-11 SU and 19-13 ATS (59.4%) surge over the last eight tournaments but did go 1-3 SU and ATS LY.
- ACC semifinal underdogs are 13-20 SU but 23-7-3 ATS (76.7%) since 2007, and 10-2-1 ATS since 2017. Both won ATS a year ago.
More Steve Makinen Conference Tournament Betting Trends.
Check out the other previews in our 2025 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.
