The 2018–19 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in late December 2018 and concluded in March with the 2019 ACC men's basketball tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The season marks 65th season of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball.

Head coaches

Coaching changes David Padgett was not retained as head coach of Louisville and was replaced by Chris Mack. Kevin Stallings was fired as head coach of Pittsburgh and was replaced by Jeff Capel.

Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Record at school ACC record ACC titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsBoston College Jim Christian Ohio 5 48–83 13–59 0 2 0 0Clemson Brad Brownell Wright State 9 149–113 67–73 0 6 0 0Duke Mike Krzyzewski Army 39 1,027–279 412–171 15 34 12 5Florida State Leonard Hamilton Washington Wizards 17 327–208 135–133 1 9 0 0Georgia Tech Josh Pastner Memphis 3 34–35 14–22 0 0 0 0Louisville Chris Mack Xavier 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Miami Jim Larrañaga George Mason 8 161–79 75–49 1 4 1 0NC State Kevin Keatts UNC Wilmington 2 21–12 11–7 0 1 0 0North Carolina Roy Williams Kansas 16 424–126 180–72 3 14 8 3Notre Dame Mike Brey Delaware 19 403–201 187–122 1 12 0 0Pittsburgh Jeff Capel Duke (Assistant) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Syracuse Jim Boeheim Syracuse (Assistant) 42 926–368 50–37 0 30 4 1Virginia Tony Bennett Washington State 10 219–86 105–51 2 6 0 0Virginia Tech Buzz Williams Marquette 5 74–60 32–40 0 2 0 0Wake Forest Danny Manning Tulsa 5 54–72 20–52 0 1 0 0 Notes: Year at school includes 2018–19 season. Overall and ACC records are from time at current school and are through the end the 2017–18 season. NCAA tournament appearances are from time at current school only. NCAA Final Fours and Championship include time at other schools

Preseason

Preseason watchlists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists.

WoodenNaismithCousyWestErvingMaloneAbdul-JabbarOlson RJ Barrett – Duke Tyus Battle – Syracuse Ky Bowman – Boston College Kyle Guy – Virginia De'Andre Hunter – Virginia Nassir Little – North Carolina Luke Maye – North Carolina Cam Reddish – Duke Justin Robinson – Virginia Tech Zion Williamson – Duke RJ Barrett – Duke Tyus Battle – Syracuse Ky Bowman – Boston College Kyle Guy – Virginia De'Andre Hunter – Virginia Nassir Little – North Carolina Luke Maye – North Carolina Cam Reddish – Duke Justin Robinson – Virginia Tech Zion Williamson – Duke Ky Bowman – Boston College Tre Jones – Duke Ty Jerome – Virginia Justin Robinson – Virginia Tech RJ Barrett – Duke T. J. Gibbs – Notre Dame Tyus Battle – Syracuse Kyle Guy – Virginia Cam Reddish – Duke Nassir Little – North Carolina Oshae Brissett – Syracuse De'Andre Hunter – Virginia Jaylen Hoard – Wake Forest Zion Williamson – Duke Luke Maye – North Carolina Dewan Hernandez – Miami Tyus Battle – Syracuse Ky Bowman – Boston College Kyle Guy – Virginia De'Andre Hunter – Virginia Luke Maye – North Carolina Justin Robinson – Virginia Tech

Preseason polls

AP AthlonSports BleacherReport Blue RibbonYearbook CBS Sports Coaches ESPN KenPom NBC Sports SBNation SportsIllustratedBoston College 83 66 61Clemson 22 22 17 30 23 14 22 20 24Duke 4 3 3 4 6 3 5 2 4 4 3Florida State 17 16 13 15 19 15 19 15 14 19 14Georgia Tech 121 92 127Louisville RV 65 RV 63 50Miami RV 41 RV 21 47North Carolina 8 7 5 12 8 7 6 3 9 7 8NC State RV 23 47 RV 23 36 24 31 35Notre Dame RV 33 RV 59 34Pittsburgh 150 139 206Syracuse 16 14 20 22 14 14 13 8 19 22 22Virginia 5 8 7 7 5 5 12 4 8 2 7Virginia Tech 15 12 24 13 17 14 22 12 13 15Wake Forest 128 91 85

ACC preseason media poll

Coaches, players, and the media met at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina for a media day on October 24, 2018. Players and coaches met the media, and coaches voted on the preseason conference poll and preseason All-ACC teams. Results of the polls are shown below.

Preseason poll First place votes shown in parentheses. Duke (52) – 1709 Virginia (47) – 1699 North Carolina (20) – 1641 Syracuse (1) – 1268 Virginia Tech – 1187 Clemson – 1148 Florida State – 1127 NC State – 885 Notre Dame – 859 Miami – 816 Louisville – 735 Boston College– 568 Georgia Tech – 324 Wake Forest – 313 Pittsburgh – 241

Preseason All-ACC teams

2018 ACC Men's Basketball PreSeason All-ACC Teams First Team Second Team Luke Maye – North Carolina Tyus Battle – Syracuse RJ Barrett – Duke Kyle Guy – Virginia Ky Bowman – Boston College Zion Williamson – Duke De'Andre Hunter – Virginia Justin Robinson – Virginia Tech Ty Jerome – Virginia Marcquise Reed – Clemson

ACC preseason player of the year Luke Maye – North Carolina (50) RJ Barrett – Duke (22) Zion Williamson – Duke (15) Tyus Battle – Syracuse (11) Ky Bowman – Boston College (7) Kyle Guy – Virginia (5) De'Andre Hunter – Virginia (4) Ty Jerome – Virginia (2) Justin Robinson – Virginia Tech (2) Cam Reddish – Duke (1) T. J. Gibbs – Notre Dame (1) Jaylen Hoard – Wake Forest (1)

ACC preseason rookie of the year RJ Barrett – Duke (66) Zion Williamson – Duke (43) Cam Reddish – Duke (4) Jaylen Hoard – Wake Forest (3) Coby White – North Carolina (2) Jalen Carey – Syracuse (1) Nate Laszewski – Notre Dame (1) Jairus Hamilton – Boston College (1)

Regular season

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week     First Place votes shown in ()

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 FinalBoston College AP RV C Clemson AP 22 19 16 RV RV RV RV C 23 16 24 RV Duke AP 4 (4) 1 (48) 1 (53) 3 (1) 3 (1) 2 (4) 2 (5) 1 (35) 1 (35) 1 (37) 1 (36) 2 (11) 2 (12) 2 (12) 2 (24) 1 (58) 3 4 (1) 5 1 (58)C 3 (4) 1 (32) 3 3 2 (1) 2 (1) 2 (9) 1 (10) 2 (8) 2 (6) 2 (2) 2 (1) 2 2 (2) 1 (28) 2 T 4 5 1 (25) 4Florida State AP 17 14 14 15 11 10 11 9 9 13 11 RV 25 23 17 16 18 14 12 10C 15 13 14 11 10 12 9 9 13 11 23 RV 24 19 17 17 13 13 11 13Georgia Tech AP C Louisville AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 23 15 16 16 18 RV RV RV RVC RV RV RV RV RV 24 16 17 20 22 24 RV RV RV RVMiami AP RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV North Carolina AP 8 7 7 11 14 12 9 14 15 12 13 11 9 8 8 8 5 3 3 3C 7 6 13 12 12 10 14 15 12 15 12 10 8 8 9 5 3 3 4 9NC State AP RV RV RV 20 18 15 17 21 23 C RV RV RV 24 19 16 16 19 22 RV RV Notre Dame AP RV RV RV RV RV C RV Pittsburgh AP C Syracuse AP 16 15 RV RV RV 25 T RV RV RV C 14 RV RV RV RV RV Virginia AP 5 (2) 4 (2) 4 (2) 4 (1) 4 (1) 6 (1) 5 (1) 4 (4) 4 (4) 4 (5) 4 (6) 3 (3) 3 (4) 3 (4) 4 3 2 (15) 2 (21) 2 (23) 2 (5)C 5 (1) 4 4 4 3 (1) 3 1 (10) 2 (11) 1 (11) 1 (13) 3 3 3 4 3 2 (2) T 2 (5) 2 (4) 2 (1) 1 (32)Virginia Tech AP 15 16 13 13 15 13 13 10 10 9 9 10 12 11 22 20 20 15 16 16C 17 14 12 14 13 13 10 10 7 7 8 11 10 16 18 19 16 15 15 14Wake Forest AP C

Notes: The week 2 Coaches Poll was released on the same date as the week 3 AP poll. No Coaches poll was released on the date when the week 2 AP Poll was released. The AP poll does not release a final poll after the NCAA tournament, whereas the Coaches Poll does.

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games, and at least 1 against each opponent.   Boston CollegeClemsonDukeFlorida StateGeorgia TechLouisvilleMiamiNorth CarolinaNC StateNotre DamePittsburghSyracuseVirginiaVirginia TechWake Forestvs. Boston College – 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–1vs. Clemson 0–1 – 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1vs. Duke 0–1 0–1 – 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–2vs. Florida State 1–0 0–2 1–0 – 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–2vs. Georgia Tech 0–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 – 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–1vs. Louisville 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 – 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–1vs. Miami 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 – 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1vs. North Carolina 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 – 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–1vs. NC State 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 – 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–1vs. Notre Dame 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 – 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0vs. Pittsburgh 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 – 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0vs. Syracuse 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–2 – 1–0 1–0 0–1vs. Virginia 0–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 – 0–2 0–1vs. Virginia Tech 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–2 1–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 – 0–1vs. Wake Forest 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 –Total 5–13 9–9 14–4 13–5 6–12 10–8 5–13 16–2 9–9 3–15 3–15 10–8 16–2 12–6 4–14

Player of the week Throughout the conference regular season, the Atlantic Coast Conference offices named one or two Players of the week and one or two Rookies of the week.

Week Player of the week Rookie of the week Reference 1 – Nov. 12 Zion Williamson – Duke Zion Williamson – Duke 2 – Nov. 19 Nickeil Alexander-Walker – Virginia Tech Jalen Carey – Syracuse 3 – Nov. 26 De'Andre Hunter – Virginia Coby White – North Carolina 4 – Dec. 3 Tyus Battle – Syracuse RJ Barrett – Duke 5 – Dec. 10 RJ Barrett – Duke RJ Barrett (2) – Duke 6 – Dec. 17 Cameron Johnson – North Carolina Wynston Tabbs – Boston College 7 – Dec. 23 Markell Johnson – NC State Tre Jones – Duke 8 – Dec. 31 Tyus Battle (2) – Syracuse Trey McGowens – Pittsburgh 9 – Jan. 7 Kyle Guy – Virginia Zion Williamson (2) – Duke 10 – Jan. 14 Dwayne Sutton – Louisville Trey McGowens (2) – Pittsburgh 11 – Jan. 21 Tyus Battle (3) – Syracuse Zion Williamson (3) – Duke 12 – Jan. 28 Justin Robinson – Virginia Tech Coby White (2) – North Carolina RJ Barrett (3) – Duke 13 – Feb. 4 Nickeil Alexander-Walker (2) – Virginia Tech Zion Williamson (4) – Duke 14 – Feb. 11 Luke Maye – North Carolina Coby White (3) – North Carolina 15 – Feb. 18 Zion Williamson (2) – Duke Zion Williamson (5) – Duke 16 – Feb. 25 Luke Maye (2) – North Carolina RJ Barrett (4) – Duke 17 – Mar. 4 Coby White – North Carolina Coby White (4) – North Carolina 18 – Mar. 11 Ty Jerome – Virginia Coby White (5) – North Carolina

Records against other conferences 2018–19 records against non-conference foes through games played on February 2, 2019. Records shown for regular season only.

Power 7 ConferencesRecordAmerican3–1Big East5–6Big Ten10–8Big 122–2Pac-123–2SEC10–7Power 7 Total32–26Other NCAA Division I ConferencesRecordAmerica East4–1A-1010–2ASUN7–0Big Sky1–0Big South8–4Big West1–0CAA7–0C-USA5–1Horizon League3–1Ivy League6–2MAAC4–1MAC4–1MEAC11–0MVC2–0Mountain West3–0NEC7–0OVC3–0Patriot League5–0Pacific West0–0SoCon6–0Southland8–1SWAC2–0The Summit0–0Sun Belt3–0WAC2–0WCC1–1Other Division I Total114–15NCAA Division I Total146–41

Postseason

ACC tournament

2019 Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament, Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC.

NCAA tournament

The ACC had seven teams selected to the NCAA tournament. This was tied for second overall with the SEC. The ACC's three number one seeded teams ties an all-time record. The previous time one conference had three number one seeds was in 2009, when the Big East accomplished the feat.