Some men’s basketball programs come out swinging. Other hope to slip a few punches while growing accustomed to what’s ordinarily the heavy hitting encountered in the ACC. And some fall on their face.
Two
of last year’s new arrivals actually acquitted themselves well, although you’d never know from the scant attention paid to their achievements.
In fact, many newcomers have done surprisingly in their debut ACC seasons. Not counting Virginia, which joined the new league for a grand total of five games in the 1954 season, the majority (7 of 12) won at least 20 times right off the bat and won more than they lost within the conference upon arrival.
In 2025 Southern Methodist finished 24-11, its 13 wins in ACC play (admittedly benefiting from a 20-game league schedule) second-best historically among first-year members. Andy Enfield’s Mustangs finished sixth in the ACC standings and had a 46 NET ranking in 2025.
The only more arresting debut season in ACC history was turned in by Syracuse in 2013-14, when Jim Boeheim’s squad won its first 25 games of the season, a dozen against league opponents, and appeared ready to overmatch everyone in its path after exiting the old Big East. Instead, starting with an overtime home loss to Boston College, a team with a losing overall record, the Orange unraveled, dropping six of their final nine outings to finish 14-4 in the ACC.
BC actually announced its 2005-06 arrival from the Big East more impressively than anyone, following up an 11-5 league mark during the regular season with an advance to the ACC Tournament final. The Eagles were barely edged for the title by Duke, 78-76, after guard Greg Paulus, now head coach of Niagara’s Purple Eagles, made the first of two free throws with three seconds left to seal the victory.
Stanford did well enough in its 2025 transition year in league membership and, like SMU, did so with a new head coach. Kyle Smith’s club finished 21-14, 11-9 in the ACC, one of only seven schools with more wins than losses in the league in 2025.
Cal, a losing program for most of the past decade, didn’t improve much on its showing in the disintegrating Pac-12, winning 14 times versus 13 in its old league. Cal broke even at home, as did Syracuse and NC State.
The only team that ever joined the ACC and did worse than the Golden Bears over the course of a full season was Georgia Tech in 1979-80. Brought into the league to bolster ACC football cred, Dwane Morrison’s club finished 1-13 in 1980, 8-18 overall.
Maybe it was the color the schools shared that initially hurt Cal and Tech. The Yellow Jackets did make a quick rise under Bobby Cremins, winning the ACC Tournament and earning an NCAA bid in 1985, their sixth season in the league. Besides the Jackets, of the other 11 modern newcomers (excluding UVa), only FSU in 2012, Miami (2014), and Notre Dame (2015) won an ACC Tournament.
Syracuse and Louisville, programs with greater national profiles, have yet to reach the tournament finals.
| WELCOME, PILGRIMS Debut Expansion ACC Seasons |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | ACC | School | All W/L |
| 2014 | 14-4 | Syracuse | 28-6 |
| 2025 | 13-7 | So. Methodist | 24-11 |
| 2015 | 12-6 | Louisville | 27-9 |
| 1992 | 11-5 | Florida State | 22-10 |
| 2006 | 11-5 | Boston College | 28-8 |
| 2014 | 11-7 | Pittsburgh | 26-10 |
| 2025 | 11-9 | Stanford | 21-14 |
| 2005 | 8-8 | Virginia Tech | 16-14 |
| 2005 | 7-9 | Miami | 16-13 |
| 2014 | 6-12 | Notre Dame | 15-17 |
| 2025 | 6-14 | California | 14-19 |
| 1954 | 1-4 | Virginia | 16-11 |
| 1980 | 1-13 | Georgia Tech | 8-18 |
