2020–21 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season

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2020–21 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationDecember 12, 2020 – March 6, 2021
Number of teams15
TV partner(s)ACC Network, ESPN, Regional Sports Networks
NBA Draft
Top draft pickScottie Barnes, Florida State
Picked byToronto Raptors, 4th overall
2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
First placeVirginia
  Runners-upFlorida State
Season MVPMoses Wright – Georgia Tech
ACC tournament
ChampionsGeorgia Tech
Finals MVPMichael Devoe – Georgia Tech
Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball seasons
2020–21 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 15 Virginia 13 4   .765 18 7   .720
No. 14 Florida State 11 4   .733 18 7   .720
No. 25 Virginia Tech 9 4   .692 15 7   .682
Georgia Tech 11 6   .647 17 9   .654
Clemson 10 6   .625 16 8   .667
North Carolina 10 6   .625 18 11   .621
Louisville 8 5   .615 13 7   .650
Syracuse 9 7   .563 18 10   .643
NC State 9 8   .529 14 11   .560
Duke 9 9   .500 13 11   .542
Notre Dame 7 11   .389 11 15   .423
Pittsburgh 6 10   .375 10 12   .455
Miami (FL) 4 15   .211 10 17   .370
Wake Forest 3 15   .167 6 16   .273
Boston College 2 11   .154 4 16   .200
2021 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in December 2020 and concluded in March with the 2021 ACC men's basketball tournament at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The season marked the 67th season of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball.

The Virginia Cavaliers won the regular season title with a conference record of 13–4. Georgia Tech won the ACC tournament over Florida State.

Head coaches[edit]

Coaching changes[edit]

  • Wake Forest fired Danny Manning after six seasons, where he posted a 78–111 record.[1][2] On April 30, 2020, the Demon Deacons hired Steve Forbes as his replacement.[3]
  • Boston College fired Jim Christian in the middle of the season, after leading the team to a 3–13 record. Christian's overall record with Boston College was 78–132 and 26–94 in ACC play. Scott Spinelli served as interim coach until the end of the season.[4] After the season Earl Grant was hired as the new head coach.[5]

Coaches[edit]

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Record at school ACC record ACC titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Boston College Jim Christian Ohio 7 75–119 25–85 0 0 0 0
Clemson Brad Brownell Wright State 11 185–142 85–93 0 6 0 0
Duke Mike Krzyzewski Army 41 1,084–291 441–180 16 35 12 5
Florida State Leonard Hamilton Washington Wizards 19 382–221 164-142 1 10 0 0
Georgia Tech Josh Pastner Memphis 5 65–67 31–43 0 0 0 0
Louisville Chris Mack Xavier 3 44–21 25–13 0 1 0 0
Miami Jim Larrañaga George Mason 10 190–113 87–75 1 4 1 0
NC State Kevin Keatts UNC Wilmington 4 65–36 30–26 0 1 0 0
North Carolina Roy Williams Kansas 18 467–152 202–88 3 15 8 3
Notre Dame Mike Brey Delaware 21 437–233 200–148 1 12 0 0
Pittsburgh Jeff Capel Duke (Assistant) 3 30–36 9–29 0 0 0 0
Syracuse Jim Boeheim Syracuse (Assistant) 44 964–399 404–247 0 31 4 1
Virginia Tony Bennett Washington State 12 277–96 136–58 2 7 1 1
Virginia Tech Mike Young Wofford 2 16–16 7–13 0 0 0 0
Wake Forest Steve Forbes East Tennessee State 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0

Notes:

  • Year at school includes 2020–21 season.
  • Overall and ACC records are from the time at current school and are through the end of the 2019–20 season.
  • NCAA tournament appearances are from the time at current school only.
  • NCAA Final Fours and championship include time at other schools

Preseason[edit]

Preseason watchlists[edit]

Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists.

Wooden[6] Naismith[7] Cousy[8] West[9] Erving[10] Malone[11] Abdul-Jabbar[12]
Scottie Barnes – Florida State
Garrison Brooks – North Carolina
Kihei Clark – Virginia
Sam Hauser – Virginia
Matthew Hurt – Duke
David Johnson – Louisville
Jalen Johnson – Duke
Matthew Hurt – Duke
Jalen Johnson – Duke
Wendell Moore Jr. – Duke
Scottie Barnes – Florida State
David Johnson – Louisville
Garrison Brooks – North Carolina
Caleb Love – North Carolina
Sam Hauser – Virginia
Scottie Barnes – Florida State
Kihei Clark – Virginia
D. J. Steward – Duke Jalen Johnson – Duke
Wendell Moore Jr. – Duke
Sam Hauser – Virginia
Aamir Simms – Clemson
Matthew Hurt – Duke
Garrison Brooks – North Carolina
Armando Bacot – North Carolina
Walker Kessler – North Carolina
Jay Huff – Virginia
Mark Williams – Duke

Preseason polls[edit]

AP[13] Athlon
Sports
[14]
Blue Ribbon
Yearbook
[15]
CBS Sports[16][17] Coaches[18] ESPN[19] KenPom[20] Sports
Illustrated
[21]
Boston College 103 106
Clemson 58 40
Duke 9 12 9 12 8 10 3 15
Florida State 21 21 18 30 18 23 19 13
Georgia Tech 60 RV 73
Louisville RV 26 RV RV 14
Miami 48 41
North Carolina 16 15 17 28 16 15 23 10
NC State 59 55
Notre Dame 90 100
Pittsburgh 82 83
Syracuse 53 RV 29
Virginia 4 4 4 5 4 4 16 5
Virginia Tech 65 30
Wake Forest 121 130

ACC preseason media poll[edit]

The preseason media poll and preseason All-ACC teams were announced at a virtual tipoff event that was held on November 11 and November 12.[22] 155 media members voted on the preseason poll and preseason All-ACC teams.[23]

Preseason poll[edit]

First-place votes shown in parentheses.

  1. Virginia (97) – 2214
  2. Duke (34) – 2146
  3. Florida State (15) – 1973
  4. North Carolina (7) – 1933
  5. Louisville (2) – 1693
  6. Syracuse – 1234
  7. Miami – 1223
  8. NC State – 1149
  9. Georgia Tech – 1147
  10. Clemson – 1057
  11. Virginia Tech – 794
  12. Notre Dame – 769
  13. Pitt – 635
  14. Boston College – 404
  15. Wake Forest – 229

Preseason All-ACC teams[edit]

2020 ACC Men's Basketball Preseason All-ACC Teams
First Team Second Team

ACC preseason player of the year[edit]

ACC preseason rookie of the year[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Rankings[edit]

Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
    First Place votes shown in ()
  Pre Wk
2
Wk
3
Wk
4
Wk
5
Wk
6
Wk
7
Wk
8
Wk
9
Wk
10
Wk
11
Wk
12
Wk
13
Wk
14
Wk
15
Wk
16
Final
Boston College AP
C
Clemson AP RV RV 24 RV RV 19т 12 20 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
C RV RV RV RV 18 12 22 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
Duke AP 9 6 10 21 20 20 21 19 RV
C 8 11 23 25 RV 24 23 RV
Florida State AP 21 22 20 15 21 18 25 RV RV 16 20 17 16 11 11 15 14
C 18 21 15 21 19 22 RV 25 16 19 19 16 9 11 13 14 10
Georgia Tech AP RV RV
C RV RV RV RV
Louisville AP RV RV 25 23 RV RV RV 16 RV 25 RV RV RV RV
C RV 24 22 RV RV 25 18 RV 23 RV RV RV RV
Miami AP
C
North Carolina AP 16 14 16 22 17 RV RV RV RV RV RV
C 16 14 21 17 RV RV RV RV
NC State AP RV RV RV
C RV RV RV
Notre Dame AP
C
Pittsburgh AP
C
Syracuse AP RV RV
C RV 25
Virginia AP 4 15 18 17 16 23 22 18 13 8 14 9 7 15 21 16 15
C 4 18 16 15 24т 21 22 12 8 15 9 8 14 20 15 15 24
Virginia Tech AP 16 15 RV 24 24 19т 20 16 20 16 18 18 16 22 22 25
C 15 RV RV RV 20 20 14 19 16 17т 17 15 19 21 24 RV
Wake Forest AP
C

Conference matrix[edit]

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 full conference schedule was announced on November 10, 2020.[24]

  Boston College Clemson Duke Florida State Georgia Tech Louisville Miami North Carolina NC State Notre Dame Pittsburgh Syracuse Virginia Virginia Tech Wake Forest
vs. Boston College 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–0
vs. Clemson 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1
vs. Duke 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–2
vs. Florida State 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–1
vs. Georgia Tech 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 0–2
vs. Louisville 0–1 1–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–1
vs. Miami 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–0
vs. North Carolina 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–1
vs. NC State 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–2
vs. Notre Dame 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–0 0–1
vs. Pittsburgh 0–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–1
vs. Syracuse 0–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–0
vs. Virginia 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1
vs. Virginia Tech 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–2
vs. Wake Forest 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–0
Total 2–11 10–6 9–9 11–4 11–6 8–5 4–15 10–6 9–8 7–11 6–10 9–7 13–4 9–4 3–15

Player of the week[edit]

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

Week Player of the week Freshman of the week Reference
Week 1 – Nov. 30 Keve AlumaVirginia Tech Jalen JohnsonDuke [25]
Week 2 – Dec. 7 Moses WrightGeorgia Tech Dre Davis – Louisville [26]
Week 3 – Dec. 14 Justin ChampagniePittsburgh Scottie BarnesFlorida State [27]
Week 4 – Dec. 21 Quincy GuerrierSyracuse D. J. StewardDuke [28]
Week 5 – Dec. 28 David JohnsonLouisville Shakeel Moore – NC State [29]
Week 6 – Jan. 4 Jose AlvaradoGeorgia Tech Day'Ron SharpeNorth Carolina [30]
Week 7 – Jan. 11 Matthew HurtDuke D. J. Steward (2) – Duke [31]
Week 8 – Jan. 18 Justin Champagnie (2) – Pittsburgh R. J. Davis – North Carolina [32]
Tyrece Radford – Virginia Tech
Week 9 – Jan. 25 Justin Champagnie (3) – Pittsburgh Caleb LoveNorth Carolina [33]
Week 10 – Feb. 1 Keve Aluma (2) – Virginia Tech Jalen Johnson (2) – Duke [34]
Week 11 – Feb. 8 Sam HauserVirginia Caleb Love (2) – North Carolina [35]
Week 12 – Feb. 15 RaiQuan GrayFlorida State Scottie Barnes (2) – Florida State [36]
Week 13 – Feb. 22 Matthew Hurt (2) – Duke Kerwin Walton – North Carolina [37]
Week 14 – Mar. 1 Moses Wright (2) – Georgia Tech Walker KesslerNorth Carolina [38]
Jae'Lyn WithersLouisville
Week 15 – Mar. 8 Moses Wright (3) – Georgia Tech Dereon Seabron – NC State [39]

Records against other conferences[edit]

2020–21 records against non-conference foes as of (Feb. 24, 2021). Records shown for regular season only.