WITL’s Picks for the 2026 ACM Awards

The 61st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will air live from Las Vegas on Sunday night, and many of our favorite country artists could be going home with trophies.

Megan Moroney is up for nine ACMs — more than any other artist. Miranda Lambert has eight. Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson follow with seven nominations apiece.

Lots of history could be made at this year's show.

Records Could Be Set or Broken at the 2026 ACM Awards

Lainey won Entertainer of the Year in 2024 and 2025, and is up for the award again in 2026. Should she win again, she'd become the first woman to ever win Entertainer of the Year three years in a row.

No one in history has won more ACM Awards than Miranda. She's got (count 'em) 38 of them, and could pad that record with up to six more trophies Sunday night.

READ MORE: 11 Female Artists Headlining Michigan Concerts This Summer

Old Dominion has taken home the ACM Award for Group of the Year for the past eight consecutive years. That's a record in and of itself. The band could extend their record to nine wins in a row with a victory this weekend.

So who does the crew at 100.7 WITL think will walk home with the major awards at this year's ACMs? Let's take a look.

Entertainer of the Year

Seven country acts are up for the night's biggest award, Entertainer of the Year.

JR and Kristen from the WITL Wake-Up Show don't agree on who they believe will win this one.

JR's going with Chris Stapleton, while Kristen thinks Lainey gets her three-peat.

Scott Clow from the WITL afternoon show is going with Luke Combs, who — believe it or not — has never won Entertainer of the Year at the ACMs.

Female Artist of the Year

Unlike the race for Entertainer of the Year, there is a solid consensus among the gang when it comes to Female Artist of the Year.

JR, Kristen and Scott all have the same pick: Ella Langley.

READ MORE: Country Star Ella Langley Has a Surprising Mid-Michigan Connection

Ella is definitely having her moment — the big question is, was her star shining brightly enough when the voting deadline arrived? Could one of these other ladies snag the trophy instead?

Male Artist of the Year

Speaking of big questions, here's one: how is Morgan Wallen not up for Male Artist of the Year?

None of us has an answer for that, but we do have our opinions as to whom we think will win the award from among this year's nominees.

JR and Kristen think Chris Stapleton snags Male Artist of the Year for a sixth time, while Scott believes Riley Green surprises everyone with a win here.

Group of the Year

Only one country music group had a #1 hit since last year's awards, and that was Parmalee with "Cowgirl".

They're not even nominated.

JR picks Flatland Cavalry for a surprise win here. Kristen thinks it'll be Red Clay Strays (who won the CMA Award for Group of the Year last fall), while Scott's going with the venerable Old Dominion.

Duo of the Year

Could Brooks & Dunn win the ACM Award for Duo of the Year for a record 18th time? JR thinks so.

Kristen is picking Muscadine Bloodline, while Scott's going with Dan + Shay.

Get our free mobile app

What about the other awards? Check out the full list of nominees here.