2019–20 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season

The 2019–20 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2019, followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in late December 2019 and concluded in March with the 2020 ACC men's basketball tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The season marks 66th season of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball.

The post season was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak. On March 12, the NCAA announced the tournament would be cancelled, along with all remaining winter and spring championships. The ACC tournament was cancelled after the second round and the NCAA tournament and NIT were both cancelled before they began.

Head coaches

Coaching change

In April, 2019, Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams accepted the head coaching job with Texas A&M. On April 7, 2019, the school hired Wofford head coach Mike Young as the new Virginia Tech head coach.

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 6 62–100 18–72 0 0 0 0Clemson Brad Brownell Wright State 10 169–127 76–82 0 6 0 0Duke Mike Krzyzewski Army 40 1,059–285 426–175 16 35 12 5Florida State Leonard Hamilton Washington Wizards 18 354–216 148–138 1 10 0 0Georgia Tech Josh Pastner Memphis 4 48–53 20–34 0 0 0 0Louisville Chris Mack Xavier 2 20–14 10–8 0 1 0 0Miami Jim Larrañaga George Mason 9 175–97 80–62 1 4 1 0NC State Kevin Keatts UNC Wilmington 3 45–24 20–16 0 1 0 0North Carolina Roy Williams Kansas 17 453–133 196–74 3 15 8 3Notre Dame Mike Brey Delaware 20 412–205 187–122 1 12 0 0Pittsburgh Jeff Capel Duke (Assistant) 2 14–19 3–15 0 0 0 0Syracuse Jim Boeheim Syracuse (Assistant) 43 946–385 394–237 0 31 4 1Virginia Tony Bennett Washington State 11 254–89 121–53 2 7 1 1Virginia Tech Mike Young Wofford 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Wake Forest Danny Manning Tulsa 6 65–93 24–66 0 1 0 0 Notes: Year at school includes 2019–20 season. Overall and ACC records are from time at current school and are through the end the 2018–19 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 Cole Anthony – North CarolinaVernon Carey Jr. – DukeMamadi Diakite – VirginiaTre Jones – DukeJordan Nwora – Louisville Jordan Nwora – LouisvilleCole Anthony – North CarolinaVernon Carey Jr. – DukeMamadi Diakite – VirginiaMarkell Johnson – NC StateTre Jones – DukeJohn Mooney – Notre Dame Tre Jones – DukeTrent Forrest – Florida StateCole Anthony – North CarolinaKihei Clark – Virginia T. J. Gibbs – Notre Dame Matthew Hurt – DukeJordan Nwora – LouisvilleElijah Hughes – Syracuse Garrison Brooks – North CarolinaJohn Mooney – Notre DameMamadi Diakite – Virginia Vernon Carey Jr. – DukeSteven Enoch – LouisvilleArmando Bacot – North Carolina Cole Anthony – North CarolinaVernon Carey Jr. – DukeTre Jones – DukeJohn Mooney – Notre DameJordan Nwora – Louisville

Preseason polls

AP AthlonSports BleacherReport Blue RibbonYearbook CBS Sports Coaches ESPN KenPom NBC Sports SBNation SportsIllustratedBoston College 95 119 93Clemson 77 79 92Duke 4 4 5 4 10 4 6 4 6 2 4Florida State RV 18 42 RV 14 38Georgia Tech 89 66 77Louisville 5 6 8 6 9 5 5 3 4 6 3Miami 51 65 72North Carolina 9 7 14 12 4 11 8 6 14 11 6NC State RV 16 30 RV 28 19Notre Dame RV 26 42 40Pittsburgh 53 67 78Syracuse RV 58 RV 51 66Virginia 11 15 2 9 7 9 16 5 10 8 11Virginia Tech 104 54 126Wake Forest 60 80 96

ACC Preseason Media Poll

The ACC Men's Basketball media preseason poll was released at Operation Basketball, hosted at the Charlotte Marriott City Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on October 8, 2019. Two members of each team, in addition to the team's head coaches were in attendance. The preseason poll and preseason All-ACC Teams were voted on at Operation Basketball. The results of the voting is shown below.

Preseason poll First place votes shown in parentheses. Duke (51)– 1,564 North Carolina (19) – 1,493 Louisville (29) – 1,448 Virginia (12) – 1,405 Florida State – 1,157 NC State – 1,038 Notre Dame – 915 Syracuse – 910 Miami – 768 Pittsburgh – 577 Clemson – 564 Georgia Tech – 437 Boston College – 382 Virginia Tech – 334 Wake Forest – 328

Preseason All-ACC teams

2019 ACC Men's Basketball Preseason All-ACC Teams First Team Second Team Jordan Nwora – Louisville Tre Jones – Duke Cole Anthony – North Carolina John Mooney – Notre Dame Mamadi Diakite – Virginia Markell Johnson – NC State Vernon Carey Jr. – Duke Chris Lykes – Miami Garrison Brooks – North Carolina Trent Forrest – Florida State

ACC preseason player of the year Jordan Nwora – Louisville (55) Cole Anthony – North Carolina (31) Tre Jones – Duke (19) John Mooney – Notre Dame (3) Mamadi Diakite – Virginia (2) Markell Johnson – NC State (1)

ACC preseason rookie of the year Cole Anthony – North Carolina (89) Vernon Carey Jr. – Duke (8) Wendell Moore Jr. – Duke (5) Casey Morsell – Virginia (3) Cassius Stanley – Duke (3) Matthew Hurt – Duke (3)

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 C N/AClemson AP C N/ADuke AP 4 2 1 (52) 1 (53) 9 7 4 (2) 4 (1) 2 (1) 2 (9) 3 (4) 8 9 7 7 6 7 12 10 11C 4 1 (25) 1 (27) 8 5 3 (2) 3 2 (1) 2 (4) 3 (6) 8 8 7 7 6 7 11 10 8 N/AFlorida State AP RV RV RV RV 17 21 19 17 18 10 9 5 5 8 8 8 6 7 4 4C RV RV RV 19 21 19 17 20 10 9 6 6 8 8 8 6 8 4 5 N/AGeorgia Tech AP C N/ALouisville AP 5 4 (1) 2 (8) 2 (7) 1 (48) 1 (55) 3 (1) 3 (1) 7 13 11 6 6 5 5 11 11 10 15 14C 5 2 (5) 2 (1) 1 (25) 1 (28) 5 4 (2) 8 11 10 5 5 5 5 11 10 10 14 13 N/AMiami AP C N/ANorth Carolina AP 9 6 5 6 7 17 RV C 11 4 4 7 16 23 RV RV N/ANC State AP RV C RV RV N/A Notre Dame AP RV RV C N/A Pittsburgh AP C N/A Syracuse AP RV C RV RV N/AVirginia AP 11 9 7 7 5 (5) 9 9 16 19 18 RV RV RV RV RV RV 22 17 16C 9 6 6 2 (2) 8 7 13 19 18 RV RV RV RV RV 22т 18 17 N/AVirginia Tech AP RV RV RV RV RV C N/AWake Forest AP C N/A

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, where as the Coaches Poll does.Due to the cancellation of the NCAA and NIT Tournaments, the Coaches Poll did not release a final poll.

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 20 conference games, and at least 1 against each opponent. The 2019–2020 season marked the first year that the ACC played a 20-game conference slate.   Boston CollegeClemsonDukeFlorida StateGeorgia TechLouisvilleMiamiNorth CarolinaNC StateNotre DamePittsburghSyracuseVirginiaVirginia TechWake Forestvs. Boston College – 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1vs. Clemson 0–1 – 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–1vs. Duke 0–2 1–0 – 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–2 1–1vs. Florida State 0–1 1–1 1–0 – 0–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1vs. Georgia Tech 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 – 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–1vs. Louisville 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 – 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1vs. Miami 0–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 – 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–1vs. North Carolina 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 – 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–1vs. NC State 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 – 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–2vs. Notre Dame 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 – 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–1vs. Pittsburgh 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 – 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0vs. Syracuse 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 – 1–1 1–1 0–1vs. Virginia 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 – 0–2 0–1vs. Virginia Tech 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–0 – 0–1vs. Wake Forest 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 –Total 7–13 9–11 15–5 16–4 11–9 15–5 7–13 6–14 10–10 10–10 6–14 10–10 15–5 7–13 6–14

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 Week 1 – Nov 11 Cole Anthony – North Carolina Cole Anthony – North Carolina Week 2 - Nov 18 John Mooney – Notre Dame Landers Nolley II – Virginia Tech Week 3 - Nov 25 Michael Devoe – Georgia Tech Vernon Carey Jr. – Duke Vernon Carey Jr. – Duke Week 4 - Dec 2 Olivier Sarr – Wake Forest Landers Nolley II (2) – Virginia Tech Week 5 – Dec 9 Jordan Nwora – Louisville Vernon Carey Jr. (2) – Duke Tre Jones – Duke Week 5 - Dec 16 Chaundee Brown – Wake Forest Landers Nolley II (3) – Virginia Tech Week 6 - Dec 23 Markell Johnson – NC State Vernon Carey Jr. (3) – Duke Kameron McGusty – Miami Week 7 - Dec 30 Moses Wright – Georgia Tech Landers Nolley II (4) – Virginia Tech Week 8 - Jan 6 John Mooney (2) – Notre Dame Matthew Hurt – Duke Week 9 – Jan 13 Tre Jones (2) – Duke Landers Nolley II (5) – Virginia Tech Aamir Simms – Clemson Week 10 – Jan 20 Devin Vassell – Florida State David Johnson – Louisville Buddy Boeheim – Syracuse Week 11 – Jan 27 Jose Alvarado – Georgia Tech Justin Champagnie – Pittsburgh Week 12 – Feb 3 Vernon Carey Jr. (2) – Duke Vernon Carey Jr. (4) – Duke Week 13 – Feb 10 Tre Jones (3) – Duke Justin Champagnie (2) – Pittsburgh Week 14 – Feb 17 Mamadi Diakite – Virginia Isaiah Wong – Miami Week 15 – Feb 24 Devon Daniels – NC State Isaiah Wong (2) – Miami Week 16 – Mar 2 Olivier Sarr (2) – Wake Forest Cole Anthony (2) – North Carolina Week 17 – Mar 9 Mamadi Diakite (2) – Virginia Vernon Carey Jr. (5) – Duke

Records against other conferences 2019–20 records against non-conference foes through games played on December 30, 2019. Records shown for regular season only.

Power 7 ConferencesRecordAmerican4–2Big East2–2Big Ten9–11Big 123–3Pac-126–2SEC3–8Power 7 Total27–28Other NCAA Division I ConferencesRecordAmerican East5–0A-102–3ASUN4–0Big Sky1–0Big South9–0Big West2–0CAA4–0C-USA3–1Horizon League5–0Ivy League5–1MAAC4–0MAC4–1MEAC8–0MVC2–0Mountain West2–0NEC6–0OVC1–1Patriot League5–0Pacific West0–0SoCon7–1Southland2–1SWAC5–0The Summit0–0Sun Belt3–0WAC2–0WCC0–2Other Division I Total92–11NCAA Division I Total120–38

Postseason

ACC tournament

Due to ongoing concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic, officials announced that, initially, the tournament would only be played in front of essential tournament personnel, limited school administrators and student-athlete guests, broadcast television, and credentialed media members present, starting with the quarterfinals; however, shortly before the tipoff of the quarterfinal matchup between Florida State and Clemson, the ACC announced the tournament was canceled and Florida State, the regular season champions, would receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

NCAA tournament

National Invitation tournament

Honors and awards

All-Americans

Consensus All-AmericansFirst TeamSecond Team None Vernon Carey Jr. – Duke To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors based on a point system computed from the four different all-America teams. The point system consists of three points for first team, two points for second team and one point for third team. No honorable mention or fourth team or lower are used in the computation. The top five totals plus ties are first team and the next five plus ties are second team.