Six years after the ACC bulked up to 15 teams, a shuffle completed by replacing recalcitrant Maryland with flawed Louisville, some trends and norms are apparent.
There are few surprises — the league sorted itself into discrete groupings, with little upward mobility.
Most of us can readily identify the top five teams, reasonably labeled the ACC elite. Of those programs, only Virginia and Duke have maintained their status at the front rank every year since 2015. This season the pair tied Louisville for second place.
Duke and Louisville are the only teams among the elite that nonetheless failed to finish atop the standings since 2015.