2026 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament Bracket Set: Duke Earns No. 1 Seed at Gas South Arena
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 1, 2026) – The bracket is officially set for the 2026 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, and Duke Blue Devils women's basketball enters postseason play as the No. 1 seed after capturing its first outright ACC regular-season title since 2013.
The tournament will take place March 4–8 at Gas South Arena in Greater Atlanta, featuring 15 of the conference’s 18 teams across 14 games. Championship Sunday tips off at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Duke Secures the Top Spot
After clinching a share of the conference title late last week, Duke sealed the outright championship on Sunday, finishing the regular season 16-2 in league play — its highest ACC win total since 2012-13. The reigning ACC Tournament champions have won 18 of their last 20 games and enter postseason action ranked No. 12 in the AP Top 25.
Louisville, North Carolina, NC State Round Out the Top Four
Louisville Cardinals women's basketball earned the No. 2 seed with a 15-3 conference record, marking its strongest ACC finish since 2021-22. Louisville was dominant on the road this season, going 9-0 in ACC road games and 8-0 against winning teams away from home.
North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball secured third place at 14-4 in conference play and enters the tournament riding a four-game win streak, highlighted by a regular-season finale win over Duke.
NC State Wolfpack women's basketball claimed the final double bye as the No. 4 seed for the third consecutive season after finishing 13-5 in league action.
Middle of the Pack Battles
Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball, Virginia Tech Hokies women's basketball, and Syracuse Orange women's basketball all finished 12-6 in conference play. Notre Dame earned the No. 5 seed after sweeping both Virginia Tech and Syracuse in the regular season, including a statement win at No. 10 Louisville to close out the year.
Virginia Tech secured the No. 6 seed after defeating Syracuse during the season, leaving the Orange as the No. 7 seed.
Thursday’s second-round action features No. 8 seed Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball and No. 9 seed Clemson Tigers women's basketball, both finishing 11-7 in ACC play. Virginia won their previous matchup, 73-63, on New Year’s Day.
Opening Round Matchups
No. 10 seed California Golden Bears women's basketball (9-9 ACC) will take on No. 15 seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's basketball on Wednesday afternoon.
Three teams — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's basketball, Miami Hurricanes women's basketball, and Stanford Cardinal women's basketball — finished tied at 8-10 in league play. Georgia Tech won the tiebreaker and will face No. 14 seed Florida State Seminoles women's basketball. Miami and Stanford will open tournament play in the first game on Wednesday morning.
Broadcast & Ticket Information
All first- and second-round games will air live on ACC Network. Quarterfinal coverage will be split between ACC Network and ESPN2, while ESPN2 will air the semifinals. The championship game will broadcast nationally on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET.
Tickets are available through theACC.com and Ticketmaster.
Now in its 49th year, the Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament makes history in 2026 as the first edition held at a neutral site outside the Carolinas.
March 4-8, 2026
Gas South Arena • Duluth, Ga.
(All Times ET)
Wednesday, March 4 (First Round)
Game 1: No. 13 Stanford vs. No. 12 Miami, ACCN, 11 a.m.
Game 2: No. 15 Wake Forest vs. No. 10 California, ACCN, 1:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 14 Florida State vs. No. 11 Georgia Tech, ACCN, 4 p.m.
Thursday, March 5 (Second Round)
Game 4: No. 9 Clemson vs. No. 8 Virginia, ACCN, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. No. 5 Notre Dame, ACCN, 1:30 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. No. 7 Syracuse, ACCN, 5 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. No. 6 Virginia Tech, ACCN, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 6 (Quarterfinals)
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. No. 1 Duke, ESPN2, 11 a.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. No. 4 NC State, ACCN, 1:30 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. No. 2 Louisville, ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. No. 3 North Carolina, ACCN, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 7 (Semifinals)
Game 12: Winners Games 9 vs. 8, ESPN2, Noon
Game 13: Winners Games 11 vs. 10, ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 8 (Championship)
Game 14: Winners Games 12 vs. 13, ESPN, 1 p.m.
