ACC Women's Basketball Tipoff Day 1: Sisterhood, Hunger and "We Can Do Hard Things"
Photo: THE ACC
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The ACC women's basketball season started the way it ended last year, with big expectations. Twelve teams took the stage Monday for Day 1 of ACC Tipoff, and the conference has plenty to build on after a record-setting 2025-26 season.
Four of those teams gave a glimpse of what their year might look like. Their words differed, but the message was the same: they are close, they are tough and they are ready to play.
A Record Year to Build On
According to the ACC, nine league teams reached the NCAA Tournament, a conference record that broke the previous mark of eight, which had been set nine times since 2014. Five teams reached the Sweet 16, tying the league record set in 2015 and the second-most of any conference this year.
The ACC won 15 NCAA Tournament games, its highest total since it won 16 in 2018. Eleven teams won at least 21 games, the most of any Division I conference and the most of any conference this century. The league also entered the tournament with 12 teams in the top 60 of the NCAA NET rankings, tied for the most of any conference.
The ACC played 31 nonconference games against AP Top 25 opponents and 32 against teams ranked in the USA Today coaches poll, the most among its peer power conferences.
A Conference With Pedigree
ACC institutions have won three NCAA championships and made 24 Final Four trips. Nine schools have reached the women's Final Four, and 10 current members have earned a national semifinal spot.
At least one ACC team has reached the Elite Eight in each of the past 24 NCAA Tournaments, the longest active streak of any conference. The next-longest is 17. The ACC has sent at least three teams to the Sweet 16 every year since 2014, and since 2018 it has sent 65 teams to the NCAA Tournament, more than any other conference.
What's Ahead
ESPN's way-too-early Top 25 included four ACC teams, three of them in the top 10. Several of the league's biggest names are back, including Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, last season's ACC Player of the Year and Nancy Lieberman Award winner, and Virginia's Kymora Johnson, an All-ACC first-team pick. Duke's Toby Fournier, an AP and USBWA All-American, returns, as does Syracuse's Uche Izoje, the ACC Rookie of the Year.
ACC teams will play 54 games against peer power conference opponents, including 30 against the SEC. Two games will be played overseas: Notre Dame against Villanova in Rome, and North Carolina against Oklahoma in Paris.
Four Teams, One Common Thread
The ACC's coaches and players spoke at the main stage for much of the day, and the interviews with Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Louisville had a pattern. Teams at different points in their journeys talked about togetherness, toughness and belief in each other.
Clemson: A Family Looking to Raise the Ceiling
The Tigers went 21-12 and 11-7 in the ACC last season. When asked for a word to describe this team, Clemson used three: sisterhood, family and connected.
Coach Shawn Poppie, a father himself, comes across as a dad figure. Players praised how he lets them "be kids" while encouraging them and showing he cares. That has built trust and respect, and a desire to play for each other, for Poppie and for the Clemson family.
On the court, the goal is to remove the ceiling and do better than last year. Off it, the Tigers want to grow the fan base and get the community behind them. Poppie said that will happen by "doing it together."
Georgia Tech: Shooting With Confidence
Georgia Tech went 14-19 last year, and second-year coach Karen Blair has focused on adding to a core of seven returning players. That meant more depth at guard and more three-point shooting.
Asked what the Yellow Jackets worked on, Blair said they were "really intentional on three-point shooting" and building confidence in it.
Players said her main saying is "We can do hard things." The line drew a laugh, but it also reflects how they got through last season and what they plan to lean on this year.
Florida State: Culture and Hunger
Florida State has five returners, including a European player who brings experience to the group. The Seminoles went 10-21 last season, and coach Brooke Wyckoff made it clear that players must know the culture and understand "what FSU is."
When asked to describe the team in one word, the coach and players said "determined and hungry."
Louisville: Locked In
Louisville is coming off a 29-8 season, a run to the ACC Tournament championship game and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. Its 15-3 league record marked a 12th straight season with at least 12 ACC wins, the only team in the conference to do so.
The Cardinals sounded ready to get going. "I cannot wait to play. I'm so ready to play," said senior forward Elif Istanbulluoglu. Junior guard Imari Berry, last season's ACC Sixth Player of the Year, said she is ready to see "all of them" in games.
Players spoke highly of coach Jeff Walz. They said he coaches hard, but out of love, and that he has taught them life lessons, because there is more to life than basketball. Louisville has seven newcomers, four transfers and three freshmen. The team's one-word description was "energy, strong, passionate."
The Bottom Line
The four teams were in different places last year, from Georgia Tech's and Florida State's tough seasons to Louisville's deep run. They sounded alike in what they said they wanted this year: to be connected and to believe in each other.
