Miami Hurricanes Men's Basketball Ranked Too Low on ACC Preseason Poll?

MIAMI, Fla. – As the 2026-27 college basketball season approaches, the Miami Hurricanes finished fourth on the Atlantic Coast Conference’s preseason poll; rounding out with 753 points and one first-place vote.

It should come as no surprise that Duke topped the list – 861 points and 45 first-place votes. The Blue Devils are the standard of ACC basketball, having won 15 league titles since 1999. Despite losing Cam Boozer to the Memphis Grizzlies as the No. 3 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, the back-to-back ACC reigning champions are hardly ever short of talent. They have a couple of incoming five-star freshmen, high school recruits, in forward/center Cameron Williams and guard Deron Rippey Jr.

Plus, head coach Jon Scheyer retained other key players from last season, such as sophomore Dame Sarr, junior center Patrick Ngongba, and sophomore Cayden Boozer.

Virginia finished second with 778 votes and one first-place vote. The Cavaliers are coming off a 30-6 (ACC 15-3) season and lost to Duke 74-70 in the tournament for the title. Head coach Ryan Odom retained three of last year’s top scorers – sophomore Thijs De Ridder, senior Sa Lewis, and sophomore Chance Mallory. The Cavaliers brought in four transfers and one high-school-recruited freshman.

Right ahead of the Hurricanes is Louisville at third with 758 votes and one first-place vote. Head coach Pat Kelsey was successful in the transfer portal by landing seven players, including former Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras. He made the game-winning corner three-pointer for the Hawkeyes to upset the Florida Gators in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Despite a historic 26-9 turnaround season, the Hurricanes finished fourth, but there’s a case for them and Louisville to bump up while moving Virginia to fourth. College basketball arguably goes through the most changes compared to football and baseball. Prospects can declare for the NBA as early as their freshman season; then there’s the transfer portal aspect.

Head coach Jai Lucas is amongst the best recruiters in college basketball. He’s been around NBA-caliber talent as an assistant at Kentucky and Duke. Lucas lured Shelton Henderson, a five-star recruit and former Blue Devils commit, to Coral Gables. The sophomore forward is projected to have a breakout season.

The Hurricanes added eight transfers, including playmaking guard Acaden Lewis, SEC shot-blocking leader and center Somto Cyril, and Men’s Horizon League Player of the Year and forward DeSean Goode.

Lucas managed to bring in another five-star recruit to Coral Gables, this time, approximately 5.2 miles from the campus. Former Christopher Columbus High School forward Caleb Gaskins has the potential of being a one-and-done prospect.

The Hurricanes were respected in the polling, but slightly overlooked.

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