Miami, FL- It feels like yesterday Miami’s miraculous rebuild in year one of the Jai Lucas era came to a close in the Round of 32.
In year one of the Jai Lucas era, the Hurricanes would go 26-9 (13-5 ACC), earning the #3 seed in the ACC Tournament, winning one game in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.
This off-season, the ‘Canes retained freshman phenoms Shelton Henderson and Dante Allen, while once again overhauling their roster through the Transfer Portal and on the high school scene. Miami secured multiple highly coveted Portal additions, including Georgia’s Somto Cyril, Villanova’s Acaden Lewis, and Robert Morris’ Desean Goode, while keeping 4-Star McDonald’s All American Caleb Gaskins home in the 305.
Earlier this morning, the ACC announced Miami’s entire gallery of Conference opponents, with the ‘Canes boasting a plethora of marquee matchups.
Of these 18 games, the most notable has to be Miami traveling to face the perennial powerhouse Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium. This matchup marks Coach Lucas’ first dual with the Blue Devils, and his return to Durham. Jai spent three years on Jon Scheyer’s staff, working his way from being an assistant to becoming the Associate Head Coach in 2023.
Lucas was crucial to Duke’s blue chip recruitment, helping the Devils secure multiple highly coveted recruits such as Cooper Flagg, alongside Cameron and Cayden Boozer.
Miami’s full slate of Conference games fall as such:
Home: Florida State, Pitt, Clemson, NC State, Notre Dame, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest
Away: Florida State, Pitt, California Berkeley, Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, UNC, Stanford, Virginia Tech.
*Dates and tip-off times TBD
During the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the ACC was represented with 8 bids. Miami will face the other 7 reigning Tournament teams during their 2027 Conference campaign.
In their non-conference slate, the Hurricanes will open the 2026 season with a neutral site (Tampa,FL.) matchup vs in state foe Florida on November 2. Miami has also accepted a bid to the 2026 Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas, NV. The ‘Canes will face Texas Christian in the first round on November 24, and then the winner of Michigan/Creighton on November 26.
