No. 13 Duke chases 2nd straight ACC tourney title against field with No. 12 Louisville, No. 16 UNC

Duke ended the regular season sitting right where the 13th-ranked Blue Devils were expected to be in the Atlantic Coast Conference: atop the standings.

The journey there was hardly direct, down to those final steps heading into this week's ACC Tournament as the reigning champion and No. 1 seed.

Coming off a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight, the Blue Devils started 3-6 against a wicked nonconference schedule as the headliner in the league's bumpy overall start. They regrouped to win 17 straight and take control of the ACC race despite an injury-shortened rotation — only to lose two of their last three and ultimately back into the outright regular-season crown when No. 12 Louisville lost its finale against Notre Dame.

Last year's ACC title marked the first for Duke since 2013. The Blue Devils (21-8, 16-2) chase another against a field that includes the Cardinals and No. 16 North Carolina as play begins Wednesday in Duluth, Georgia.

“I don’t want an extra brownie from you guys for it,” coach Kara Lawson told reporters after Sunday's loss to the rival Tar Heels. ”But what I'm saying is: I'm proud of my team how — on the fly to lose three players to season-ending stuff, with seven players —we were able to navigate the 18-game schedule and win the league.

“We always tell the truth to them," Lawson added. “Hey, 'Here's where we broke down.' But hey, 'Here's what you've done well. And here's what we need you to carry over into the postseason.'”

Duke's loss at UNC gave the second-seeded Cardinals (25-6, 15-3) a chance to claim a share of the regular-season crown. And like Duke, Louisville has lost two of three.

First they rallied from 13 down before losing on a late 3-pointer at home to Virginia on Feb. 22. They squandered a 60-56 lead with 4:59 left and failed to hit another basket in Sunday's home loss to the Fighting Irish.

“You've got to be able to finish it off," coach Jeff Walz said.

The third-seeded Tar Heels (25-6, 14-4) have won 12 of 13 games since mid-January. The lone loss was at Duke.

The starting point was regrouping from a 23-point loss at Notre Dame on Jan. 11, a performance in which coach Courtney Banghart said her team “never even got off the plane."

“This is a team that we'd lose, we would be so obsessed on every statistical category: we've got to outrebound, we’ve got take more shots, we got to turn it over less, we gotta get more steals," Banghart said. "It's like, ‘No, you don’t, actually.' Just win as many statistical categories as you can and we’ll see how it all plays out."

UNC hit a program-record 16 3-pointers at Virginia then eight more against Duke to close the regular season, while point guard Elina Aarnisalo has posted new career highs in each (20 points against Virginia, 22 against Duke).

Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo is the tournament's top star as a two-time Associated Press first-team All-American. On Tuesday, she was named league player of the year for the second straight season and defensive player of the year for the third straight season.

Two years ago, she was the fearless freshman who led Notre Dame to the ACC Tournament title and claimed MVP honors. She enters the week as the nation's No. 3 scorer (25.2) and steals leader (5.59) for the fifth-seeded Irish.

The league has nine teams in Tuesday's ESPN Bracketology projected NCAA Tournament field, headlined by Duke and Louisville as regional 3-seeds. UNC is a 5-seed but has a chance to move into a top-16 overall seed and host opening-week March Madness games.

There are also two notable bubble situations to monitor in Clemson and Virginia, with both currently projected in by ESPN. The Cavaliers are chasing their first bid since 2018, which is their lone bid since 2010. The Tigers are chasing only their second bid since 2002, the other coming in 2019.

Wednesday's first round begins with 12th-seeded Miami facing 13th-seeded Stanford in the first of three games. Thursday's second round is headlined by the Irish, followed by 6-seed Virginia Tech and 7-seed Syracuse.

Duke, Louisville, UNC and fourth-seeded N.C. State open play in Friday's quarterfinals, with the semifinals Saturday and the title game Sunday.

This is the second time the ACC Tournament won't have an AP Top-10 team since 1985. The other came in 2000, when No. 12 Duke was the highest-ranked team. ... Boston College, Pittsburgh and SMU didn't qualify for the 15-team event. ... This is the 49th annual tournament as the nation's oldest Division I women's tournament, the first coming in 1978. ... This is the first year the tournament will be held outside the Carolinas since moving to a neutral-site format for 1983 after beginning at campus sites. Greensboro, North Carolina, has been its longtime home by hosting every year but once dating to 2000.

This story has been corrected to show the ACC is playing its first tournament outside the Carolinas since moving to a neutral-site format, not for all years.

AP freelance writer Steve Bittenbender in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed to this report.

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FILE - North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart gestures towards the court during the first half against West Virginia in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Chapel Hill, N.C., March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown, File)

FILE - Louisville head coach Jeff Walz, left, disagrees with a call during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Notre Dame, March 2, 2025, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/John Mersits, File)

FILE - UConn guard KK Arnold (2) and Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo (3) chase a loose ball in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Jan. 19, 2026, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

FILE - Duke head coach Kara Lawson reacts to a play during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday ordered France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to move from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean to help protect allied assets during the war in the Middle East.

Macron said the Charles de Gaulle carrier will be escorted by frigates and its air wing. In a prerecorded speech on French TV, Macron added that Rafale fighter jets, air-defense systems and airborne radar systems have been deployed over the past few hours in the Middle East.

“And we will continue this effort as much as necessary,” Macron said.

France, the U.K. and Germany have previously said that they weren’t involved in the strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel that began late last week, but were prepared to take defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones.

Macron, however, said that French forces had shot down drones “in legitimate self-defense in the very first hours of the conflict, to defend the airspace of our allies, who know they can rely on us.” He did not elaborate.

In explaining the need to move France's aircraft carrier, Macron cited Monday's strike on a British air force base on Cyprus, adding that Cyprus was a member of the European Union with which France has recently signed a strategic partnership.

“This requires our support," Macron said.

Macron also said that France has defense agreements binding the EU nation to Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as strong commitments to Jordan and Iraq.

Noting that the war had spread to Lebanon, Macron said the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group made “the grave mistake of striking Israel” and putting the Lebanese people in danger but warned against Israel launching a ground operation.

“This, too, would be a dangerous escalation and a strategic error,” he said. “Hezbollah must imperatively cease all strikes, and I call on Israel to respect Lebanese territory and its integrity.”

Reflecting France’s traditional support for rules‑based international order, Macron noted that France “cannot approve” of the strikes by Israel and the U.S. on Iran because they were carried outside of the framework of “international law.”

He said it would it be “desirable” to end the strikes as quickly as possible, and that lasting peace in the region can only be achieved through the resumption of diplomatic negotiations.

“And I also wish here to express the hope that the Iranian people may themselves freely decide their own destiny,” Macron added.

“That said, history never weeps for the executioners of their own people, and none of them will be mourned,” he said in reference to the killings of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iran top officials.

Macron also insisted on Iran's responsibility for the conflict.

“It is Iran that developed a dangerous nuclear program and unprecedented ballistic capabilities; that armed and financed terrorist groups in neighboring countries—Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Shiite militias in Iraq—and that supported Hamas, while always affirming its objective of destroying the State of Israel,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron leaves the podium afer his speech at the Nuclear submarines Navy base of Ile Longue in Crozon, France, Monday March 2, 2026. (Yoan Valat/Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron with members of the army at the end of his speech at the Nuclear submarines Navy base of Ile Longue in Crozon, France, Monday March 2, 2026. (Yoan Valat/Pool Photo via AP)