25 Things to Love About ACC Basketball This Season

1. Five months from now, we’ll meet up at the Greensboro Coliseum just like the good ol’ days to crown a champion and enjoy some Stamey’s Barbecue — the first ACC Tournament back home since 2015.

2. A week later, there’s a pretty good chance an ACC team or two will begin their roads to the Final Four in the very same building.

3. Coaches certainly don’t love it, but fans get more ACC basketball than ever — and earlier — with the move from 18-game schedule to 20, tipping off tonight.

4. By the end of the season, the ACC could have the three winningest coaches of all-time. Mike Krzyzewski starts the season at 1,132 wins, followed by Jim Boeheim at 1,047. Currently seventh, Roy Williams (871) will have a chance to reach third by passing Bob Knight at 902.

5. As Williams approaches Dean Smith (877) on the all-time wins list, he’ll have plenty of emotions and thoughts to share about his mentor. The chance to hear more stories about one of the great men and coaches in college basketball history is a win for everyone.

6. Garrison Brooks is a guy that Smith — or anyone, really — would love to coach. The big man has been happy to do the dirty work for the Tar Heels over his first two seasons and cemented himself as the team’s best defender last year. He’s also an intelligent, thoughtful guy with interests beyond basketball who will have a chance to flourish in a bigger role this season.

7. Kudos to veterans like Brandon Robinson and Andrew Platek who waited for the opportunities ahead of them this season. There certainly would have been landing spots had they chosen to look elsewhere, as so many players do these days.

8. Chris Mack has Louisville back in the mix for a title faster than anyone could have imagined thanks to Jordan Nwora, Dwayne Sutton and Stephen Enoch. The league is more fun when the name-brand programs are all rolling.

9. Also back for the Cardinals is the greatest logo in the history of college basketball, as Louisville goes to an old-school court design. Perfection was achieved.

10. ACC basketball makes all of us completely insane. An example? A Virginia fan now has Kihei Clark’s signature on his chest after the Hoos’ national title.

11. We’ve seen Tony Bennett work his wizardry time and again in Charlottesville, but how will he replace Kyle Guy, DeAndre Hunter and Ty Jerome? Smart money is on him finding a way to get Virginia into the league’s top four yet again behind Mamadi Diakite and Jay Huff. Fans will have a chance to watch this team grow exponentially between their first ACC game and March.

12. Just down the road from Bennett in Blacksburg, how about Mike Young getting a chance to come home and lead Virginia Tech? One of the good guys in the business, Young built Wofford into a perennial power in the SoCon before getting a call to the ACC.

13. Speaking of smaller conferences, good on a few ACC programs for playing true road games for games they absolutely don’t have to: Carolina (at UNC Wilmington), Pitt (at Robert Morris) and N.C. State (at UNC Greensboro).

14. Thanks to the return of Markell Johnson and a solid core of C.J. Bryce, Devon Daniels and D.J. Funderburk, N.C State should make some noise. The Triangle is more fun when the Wolfpack is a top-25 team.

15. Another team poised to make a run back to the top of the league is Notre Dame, which endured all sorts of misfortune with injuries and inexperience last season. Mike Brey is one of the game’s most likable guys and an incredibly bright coach. His team learned some tough lessons last season that will likely pay off in a major leap.

16. Everyone will be pulling for Irish guard Rex Pflueger. Shortly after a torn ACL ended his season last year, his mother was diagnosed with brain cancer. She passed away in September, and he’s determined to honor her memory in his fifth season at Notre Dame.

17. Another guy tough to root against is Miami’s Chris Lykes. Generously listed at 5-7, Lykes is virtually unguardable, averaging 16.2 points with 10 games of 20 or more points, including 27 in a thriller at the Smith Center.

18. Duke’s Tre Jones was one of few people able to stop Lykes last season, forcing him to shoot 1-15 and holding him to 4 points. Jones surprised some by choosing to return for his sophomore season, and he’ll be the favorite for ACC defensive player of the year honors. His presence changes the trajectory for the Blue Devils and improves the league.

19. The new 20-game schedule means the first Carolina-Duke game moves from a Wednesday to a Saturday. There’s always a little more juice for the February game; add a day of pregame hype and College Gameday to the mix, and it could somehow be even more fun than usual.

20. Scheduling changes also mean Wake Forest appears on Carolina’s schedule twice for the first time since 2014. Each of the Big Four schools will play home-and-home this season.

21. Death, taxes and Leonard Hamilton. Florida State has averaged 26 wins over the past three seasons with a changing cast of characters, and there’s no reason to believe they’ll dip out of the top seven with M.J. Walker and Trent Forrest back. Five-star freshman guard Patrick Williams out of Charlotte will put a few dudes on posters.

22. For everything negative about Twitter, there’s never been a better time to be a hoops fan. There’s so much insightful conversation and work leading up to and during games. Specific for Carolina, @FreeportKid and @dadgumboxscores are must-follows.

23. Clemson visits Chapel Hill this season and the Tar Heels will look to push their home winning streak to 60 games, a stretch that includes four venues: Indoor Athletic Court, Woollen Gymnasium, Carmichael Auditorium and the Smith Center, where Carolina is 28-0 vs. the Tigers.

24. The ACC-Big Ten Challenge delivers again as Carolina meets Ohio State, Duke travels to Michigan State, Virginia goes to Purdue and Michigan travels to Louisville. The ACC leads the all-time series 12-5-3,

25. We’ll get to watch more of it and have endless discussion thanks to ACC Network programming like Packer and Durham, All-ACC and All-Access: A Season with Carolina Basketball. The network has already produced a few great documentaries on Duke and Virginia.

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