College basketball insider Terrence Oglesby released his way-too-early ACC standings predictions, and although he didn't completely disrespect the Blue Devils, he doesn't seem to be buying the hype that Duke is the best team out of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Oglesby crowned Louisville with the top spot, followed by Duke.
NC State, North Carolina, and Wake Forest round out the top five in that order.
WAY TOO EARLY @theACC 🏀 prediction
— Terrence Oglesby (@T_Oglesby22) August 13, 2025
Tough at the top between Duke/Louisville
LET'S ALL BE RATIONAL ABOUT THIS
1 Louisville
2 Duke
3 NC State
4 North Carolina
5 WF
6 Miami
7 Clemson
8 Pitt
9 SMU
10 Virginia
11 VT
12 ND
13 Syracuse
14 Cal
15 GT
16 Stanford
17 FSU
18 BC
Now, although Jon Scheyer's club likely boasts more pure talent on the roster than Pat Kelsey's Cardinals, expecting Louisville to outdo the Blue Devils in today's era of college basketball makes a ton of sense. Louisville is returning two of its top five scorers from the 2024-25 season in J'Vonne Hadley and Kasean Pryor, and is mixing that with one of the top transfer classes in the nation.
Kelsey is bringing in Adrian Wooley (18.8 ppg at Kennesaw State), Ryan Conwell (16.5 ppg at Xavier), and Isaac McKneely (42.1% shooting from three at Virginia). Louisville is finishing this recruiting class off with five-star incoming freshman Mikel Brown Jr., who's expected to be one of the most prolific freshman guards in college hoops this season.
The Cards will also get center Aly Khalifa back this season, who sat out in 2024-25 after transferring from BYU with a knee injury.
What makes Louisville such an appealing team heading into this season, and simultaneously what makes Duke so hard to rank, is continuity. While the Cardinals are bringing back a perfect blend of key returners mixed with veteran transfers and a star freshman, Scheyer is trying to gel a completely new squad after losing his entire starting five from a season ago.
Headlined by the No. 1 overall 2025 recruiting class, this season's Duke rotation is littered with freshman talent. However, experience and continuity aren't at a premium.
Scheyer was able to bring back key pieces in Isaiah Evans, Caleb Foster, Patrick Ngongba II, Darren Harris, and Maliq Brown. But when it comes down to it, this Duke team is based off potential, not proven production, which makes it an extremely difficult team to rank effectively in the preseason.
Foster is looking for a major bounce-back season after a rough sophomore campaign, Ngongba will be thrust into the starting five role after not playing much as a freshman due to injury, Evans established himself as one of the best three-point shooters in the country last season but will be put into a much more elevated role as a sophomore, and Harris hardly played as a rookie.
Now, there's no doubt that this Duke team has the potential to be a top-five-to-ten team in the land, but with lots of uncertainty, it can be difficult to assuredly rank the program as a perennial national title contender.
With an absolute gauntlet of a non-conference slate, this young Duke squad will have plenty of opportunities to grow and mold into a true contender, but the current question marks fog some of the potential for the 2025-26 season.