Sustained Success In The ACC Isn’t Easy

And no one is doing it better than Duke

Three ACC men’s basketball programs are on impressive rolls, with consecutive winning seasons stretching into double digits. Two are easy to guess, and much acclaimed, the third not so much. A fourth might join their ranks given a pass for a breakeven record during 2020, the covid season, and a better-than-predicted 2025 recovery.

The king of consistent excellence is of course Duke, as any DBR reader can tell you. Since Mike Krzyzewski’s return from back woes in 1995, the Blue Devils have run off 29 winning seasons in a row. In only six of those years did Duke win fewer than 26 games: 18 in 1996, 24 in 1997, 22 in 2007 and 25 in 2016 and covid-compromised 2020, and 13 (of 24) in 2021.

Duke’s devilish skein includes three national championships and, almost as impressive, encompasses a coaching change when Jon Scheyer took over in 2023.

Meanwhile Virginia and – surprise – Clemson have been consecutively victorious for more than a decade without changing coaches. That’s to be expected of the Cavaliers, with Duke and UNC a preeminent ACC program.

This is Tony Bennett’s 16^th season at Charlottesville, and other than a 15-16 record in 2010 when he replaced Dave Leitao he’s brought the Cavs in as winners each year. Bennett is the only active ACC coach with an NCAA title to his credit. His teams are perpetually competitive, particularly during the regular season. Even when struggling, as last year, they usually end up among the league’s top four during the regular season.

Under Brad Brownell Clemson is a shade behind the other reliable winners, producing 11 straight winning efforts. The Tigers are almost always good, and almost always not quite good enough. They’ve finished as high as third only once during Brownell’s 15-year tenure (2023).

Modest finishes deflect attention from the masterful manner in which Brad Brownell manages to stay in the league hunt with what is usually overlooked personnel.

Last year the Tigers tied for fifth in the league (among 15 teams) with Syracuse and Wake Forest. Clemson also finished fifth in 2021.

Reflective of talent level, the Tigers managed only three second-round NBA selections during the past decade: Jaron Blossomgame in 2017, Aamir Simms in 2021 and Hunter Tyson in 2023. P.J. Hall made All-ACC first-team in 2024 yet, perhaps due to persistent injuries, went undrafted.

Nor have deserving Clemson squads collected sufficient postseason plaudits under Brownell, making the NCAAs only in 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2024.

Finally, Virginia Tech piled up winning records in eight of the past nine years, the first half under Buzz Williams. Mike Young took over the program in 2020 and broke even in challenging circumstances. Then he had the Hokies winning four years in a row (19-15 in ’24), bringing Virginia Tech its sole ACC Tournament title in 2022. Last season the Hokies were 19-15. In ‘25 they’re considered likely also-rans, hard-pressed to extend their streak.

The ACC mark for consecutive winning seasons belongs to North Carolina with 37, the first 33 behind Dean Smith and the next four led by former Smith assistants Bill Guthridge and Matt Doherty.