Miami will play Boston College and Florida State twice but does not play Duke in a huge miss by the ACC. The ACC schedule was reduced from 20 to 18 games earlier this month to allow teams to potentially pursue marquee out-of-conference games.
The expectation should have been that ACC teams would play a natural rival twice and the other 16 ACC teams once in an 18-game schedule. Duke and Miami not playing during the 2025-26 season is a loss of an opportunity in a game that would have generated multiple story lines.
Miami hired former Duke assistant Jai Lucas as their new head coach on March 10. Lucas stayed with Duke through the ACC Tournament before starting as the head coach with Miami before the Blue Devils' run to the Final Four. A major element in recruiting and a new Miami assistant coach also connects them with Duke.
Lucas was the primary recruiter for Miami Columbus stars Carlos and Cayden Boozer to sign with Duke. Andrew Moran, who was the head coach for Columbus for the last six years, was hired by Lucas as an assistant coach on his first Miami staff. Miami also signed Shelton Henderson who was originally a Duke signee.
In addition to Boston College and Florida State, Miami will host California, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Stanford and Virginia Tech. Miami will play at Clemson, NC State, Notre Dame, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia and Wake Forest in addition to Boston College and Florida State.
The ACC only released the 2025-26 home and away opponents, not game dates or times. Miami is hosting California and Stanford after playing in the Bay Area in 2025 and playing at SMU after hosting the Mustangs in 2025-26. Duke and Miami played twice in 2025, but the potential storylines of 2026 mostly did not exist.
Rumors about Miami hiring Lucas as their next head coach began to leak shortly before the Hurricanes hosted Duke on February 25. In a league that has struggled to remain as one of the most relevant in college basketball and create depth throughout the conference, Duke and Miami not playing in 2026 is a huge miss.