The 1961 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball tournament was held in Raleigh, North Carolina, at Reynolds Coliseum from March 2–4, 1961. Wake Forest defeated Duke, 96–81, to win the championship. Len Chappell of Wake Forest was named tournament MVP.
North Carolina did not participate because the program was on NCAA probation. As a result, top seed Wake Forest received a first-round bye. The only other times an ACC team opted out of the tournament were Maryland in 1991, Syracuse in 2015, and Louisville in 2016 for similar reasons.
Bracket
| Quarterfinals March 2 | Semifinals March 3 | Championship Game March 4 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Wake Forest | 98 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Maryland | 76 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Maryland | 91 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Clemson | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Wake Forest | 96 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | #9 Duke | 81 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | #9 Duke | 89 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Virginia | 54 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | #9 Duke | 92 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | South Carolina | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | NC State | 78 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | South Carolina | 80 | ||||||||||||
