The 2024-25 men's college basketball season in the ACC is shaping up as a supremely disappointing one.
The conference hasn't been anywhere near as dominant as its reputation suggests: It is tracking to get only five NCAA tourney entries yet again in the latest bracket forecast from ESPN's Joe Lunardi, and it sits seventh in aggregate winning percentage -- behind not just the likes of the powerhouse SEC, Big Ten and Big 12, but also Conference USA, the Big East and even the Atlantic 10.
Still, there has been at least one bright spot for the ACC in its 72nd season of operation.
Duke, the conference's lone ranked team in the latest AP men's basketball poll, has lived up to preseason expectations that were high, but guarded, given the team's personnel losses and reliance on inexperienced talent. Led by highlight-reel freshman and 2025 NBA draft projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils are 12-2, with their sole losses coming at neutral sites against ranked teams Kentucky and Kansas, a pair of highly rated fellow blue bloods.
The No. 4 Blue Devils, who host Notre Dame on Saturday at noon on ESPN, also have the potential to be better by March than they are right now, the rare ACC factor that should strike fear into the hearts of contenders.
As the ACC-leading Blue Devils dive into the full swing of conference play, let's look at five themes that have shown up in the early numbers.
Flagg is the real deal
It's not exactly like Flagg, who turned 18 on Dec. 21, had tons of doubters coming out of high school -- the versatile 6-foot-9 forward from Maine was the projected No. 1 pick in this summer's NBA draft before he set foot on the court in Durham, North Carolina.