These days it seems there’s a stat for everything, and not just in baseball. Yet here’s one measure that doesn’t get cited and is certainly worth mentioning. That’s the combined league records of men’s
and women’s teams at a particular school in a single season.
By that measure, as others, Duke led the way with a cumulative 33-5 record in conference competition in 2025.
Cameron Indoor Stadium was a veritable pit for visitors as the men were undefeated at home and the women lost only to Louisville, 70-62.
The Cards and Blue Devils were among eight ACC women’s teams in the ’25 NCAAs, marking the seventh consecutive season the league placed so many squads in the NCAAs. That run of NCAA participants from a single conference is the longest ever, and frankly set an example of widespread excellence recently lacking on the men’s side.
Solidifying the Blue Devils’ standing atop the ACC heap, both of its basketball squads, under Kara Lawson and Jon Scheyer, finished league play with a flourish, winning their respective versions of the ACC Tournament. Duke hadn’t won the women’s tournament since 2013. The men were victorious for the second time in Scheyer’s three seasons at the helm.
Only Notre Dame and NC State had better records than Lawson’s crew during the ACC season. No men’s unit topped the 19-1 mark set by Scheyer’s club, which matched Maryland in 2002 (15-1) and Virginia in 2018 (17-1) for fewest losses by an ACC men’s team in this century.
Lawson not only played on a gold-medal winning US Olympic basketball team, but coached the American 3×3 women’s squad to a gold medal in 2024. In 2025 she directed the US club to an undefeated run in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, and in 2028 will coach the U.S. Olympic women’s squad.
Given Mike Krzyzewski’s success leading American squads to gold medals at the Beijing (2008), London (2012), and Rio de Janeiro (2016) Olympics, there should be minimal doubts about Lawson’s ability to handle her Duke job and the challenge of securing a gold at the 2028 Summer Games at Los Angeles.
When and if the 44-year-old successfully leads the American squad to its ninth consecutive gold medal, perhaps Duke should consider adding the Olympic emblem at a Cameron Indoor Stadium entrance, if nothing else as a kind of visitor beware symbol.
| EXCELLENCE UNDER ONE ROOF Top Combined League Records, Men And Women, By ACC School In 2025 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| School | All | Men | Women |
| Duke | 33-5 | 19-1 | 14-4 |
| Louisville | 31-7 | 18-2 | 13-5 |
| UNC | 26-12 | 13-7 | 13-5 |
| Notre Dame | 24-14 | 8-12 | 16-2 |
| Clemson | 24-14 | 18-2 | 6-12 |
| FSU | 21-17 | 8-12 | 13-5 |
| NC State | 21-17 | 5-15 | 16-2 |
