Staff Writer
The
ACC has had an extreme makeover the past couple of years. One of its founding
members, Maryland, left for the Big 10. Then Syracuse and Pittsburgh, both
known for their basketball programs, joined the conference. Now Louisville and
Notre Dame are joining as well. The ACC was arguably the best basketball
conference in the nation before these teams joined. Now it’s no contest, especially
since the ACC has four teams in the preseason top ten. Here is how the
powerhouse conference will shake out this season.
Top Tier- #4 Duke, #6
UNC, #8 Louisville, #9 Virginia
These
teams are not only going to battle it out for the ACC title, but will also be
in contention at the end of the year for the National Championship. These teams
will be the face of the ACC as they will be highly ranked throughout the year.
Duke has an unbelievable recruiting class coming in and will probably have
three freshmen in the starting lineup. UNC has the preseason ACC Player of the
Year in Marcus Paige, one of the best point guards in the entire country. The
Duke-Carolina rivalry will be in full swing with perhaps a conference
championship on the line. Virginia will try to defend their title with key
players coming back while Louisville will try to make a big splash in their
first year in the ACC.
Middle of the Pack- #23 Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Florida State,
NC State, Miami
Syracuse
is a team that is going to try and play its way into the top tier. With a coach
like Jim Boeheim, they very well could, but they lost talented players like CJ
Fair and Tyler Ennis to the NBA which is why they start the year in the middle
of the pack. The common thread for the other five teams is good coaching. Jamie
Dixon, Mike Brey, Leonard Hamilton, Mark Gottfried, and Jim Larranaga are all
great coaches, but they still can’t control what happens on the court. These
teams have the potential to be in the top tier but will make mistakes in
crucial moments that will cost them some games. With that being said, look for
all of these teams to be in NCAA Tournament talk at the end of the season.
Cellar Dwellers- Clemson, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Boston College,
and Virginia Tech
Rebuilding
would not be the right term to give these schools, because that would mean
Boston College has been rebuilding for the past 10 seasons. These schools have
about the same talent as the middle of the pack schools yet the coaching is
sub-par (with the exception of Buzz Williams at Virginia Tech but it is his
first season). Each coach is under the age of 52, so they are relatively young.
It will be a season of ups and downs for these schools and they will have their
moment in the sun with an upset or two, but when it is all said and done, they
will be at the bottom of the barrel.
Player of the Year- Marcus Paige, North
Carolina
Freshman of the Year- Jahlil Okafor,
Duke
Champion- Duke
