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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- North Carolina
- Duke
- Virginia
- Miami FL
- Florida State
- Notre Dame
- Virginia Tech
- Syracuse
- Wake Forest
- NC State
- Clemson
- Louisville
- Boston College
- Pittsburgh
- Georgia Tech
PREASEASON ALL-ACC 1ST TEAM:
-Armando Bacot – North Carolina (Preseason Player of the Year)
-Isaiah Wong – Miami FL
-Caleb Love – North Carolina
-Terquavion Smith – NC State
-Jeremy Roach – Duke
PRESEASON ALL-ACC 2ND TEAM:
-Jayden Gardner – Virginia
-Dereck Lively – Duke (Preseason Rookie of the Year)
-Justyn Mutts – Virginia Tech
-PJ Hall – Clemson
-RJ Davis – North Carolina
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-DUKE VS NORTH CAROLINA. It is one of the greatest rivalries in college sports! For years people loved to point out how the two schools were eight miles apart yet had never met in the NCAA Tournament. I personally see no reason to stop doing this! So what if it is not TECHNICALLY true!!??
-Up until about March 5th of last season North Carolina pretty much looked, at best, like a bubble team. Then they won at Duke and gave their Tournament Resume a huge boost, and after getting an 8-seed in the NCAA Tournament advanced all the way to the Championship Game and nearly won it. Four starters are back from that team. They are the preseason favorites to win the ACC, and the preseason #1-ranked team in the AP Poll. I think they are deserving of all that given how well they were playing down the stretch last year.
-It is going to seem strange not seeing Mike Krzyzewski coaching at Duke, but other than that they look pretty much the same. They have a ridiculously-talented recruiting class that appears to be stacked with NBA-caliber players, and new Coach Jon Scheyer has been with the staff for a long time so the transition may end up being kind of smooth…at least at first.
-Virginia failed to make the NCAA Tournament last season but I think they will be back in the top-25 this year. All five starters are back and they play a system that improves with experience. I could see them actually finishing as high as first in the ACC this year. I know they did not look like world-beaters last year, and considering it is pretty much the same team this year it is kind of crazy to think they will be world-beaters this year, but I do think they are going to be really damn good!
-I like this Miami FL team and think they should be in the top-25. Now, few things are more meaningless in all of sports than the preseason AP Poll, but the fact that the Canes are not in it after a run to the Elite Eight, the return of some really good players, and the addition of still more good players, just goes to show you that their basketball brand (despite all that) just does not seem to be valued. I think this team is so good that it would not shock me to see them end up as a protected seed come March.
-Florida State, like they seem to every year, has a lot of size, a lot of length, and a really strong front court. This is a formula that usually works for them, and more often than not we have seen them in the top-25 throughout the year. Last year was not one of those years, though. They missed the NCAA Tournament and NIT altogether. Still, expectations are once again high and many expect them to be dancing again this March.
-I am a big fan of this Notre Dame team. They (barely) made the NCAA Tournament a year ago, but managed to get to the Round of 32 and they have some really good pieces coming back. They also have a lot of graduate players, and that maturity could help them in the locker room. They seem to have a lot in their toolbox, and we could see them play a lot of different styles this year, which can be tough on opponents who are trying to prepare for them.
-Virginia Tech went through a stretch early-on in conference play where they lost six out of eight and appeared to drop off of everyone’s radar, but they thundered down the stretch and entered the NCAA Tournament with quite a bit of momentum. They did lose three starters from last year, but they also return a lot of pieces and appear to have quite a bit of depth. It would not shock me at all to see them back in the NCAA Tournament this year.
After that it’s a bit of a drop off
-Syracuse failed to even make the NIT last year and they appear to be on a downward slide. Coach Jim Boeheim has had one of the best careers in the history of the sport, and should win his 1000th game this year, but as far as being a legit NCAA Tournament-caliber team this year: I am not seeing it.
-Wake Forest has just one starter back and is in a bit of rebuilding mode. I do think Steve Forbes is a good coach and will get this program going soon…just not this year.
-NC State was near the bottom of the conference last year and should be a little better this year, but they still have a ways to go before they will contend for a spot at the top. I do think Kevin Keatts is a good coach, but after winning just 11 total games last year and looking like they’ll struggle again this year, you have to wonder what the temperature of his seat is going to be.
-I do not think Clemson is an NCAA Tournament-caliber team, but with three starters back from a team that did get a little hot down the stretch, they could be better than all of the rest of the non-NCAA Tourney teams in this conference. They have always been a tough defensive team and likely will be again this year. I am a little surprised they are picked behind some of the schools that are ahead of them.
-Louisville = Train Wreck. It has been a mess for the last several years, they made a coaching change in the middle of last season, and have a new head coach in Kenny Payne this year who has never been a head coach at any level of basketball. Now, he could turn out to be amazing: who knows? But the idea that a program like Louisville would resort to hiring someone with no head coaching experience AT ALL is a little alarming. He also has his work cut out for him. Louisville won just 13 total games last year, lost a lot of key players, and appear to be in complete rebuilding mode.
-Boston College had a very suck-tacular year last year, but they were playing a lot better in the final couple of weeks of the season. Four starters are back, and I think they may surprise some people. I do not think they will be in the top of the league, but it would not shock me at all to see them much closer to the middle than the bottom.
-As for Pitt and Georgia Tech?? Yeah…they’re at the bottom.
FUN FACT! Duke and North Carolina are just eight miles apart!! And they have NEVER met in the NCAA Tournament (in an odd numbered year)!!!