ACC Media Preseason Poll 2020-21

[orientalnc]

ACC Preseason Poll, per release:

1. Virginia
2. Duke
3. Florida State
4. North Carolina
5. Louisville
6. Syracuse
7. Miami
8. NC State
9. Georgia Tech
10. Clemson
11. Virginia Tech
12. Notre Dame
13. Pitt
14. Boston College
15. Wake Forest

 

[YlJacket]

Nice to see Jose on 2nd Team pre season All ACC

I don't understand all the love for Syracuse (could just be missing something) but the grouping from Syracuse at 6 to Clemson at 10 is pretty tight. Big drop off to VT. Guess the take away is we are in the group that has questions but could move up to challenge the top tier if things go well. While I can make a case for a higher pre season ranking, looking at it that way does make some sense.

 

[RyanS12]

9th?!? Hell no. I figured 6th but no way NCST and Miami are better than us.

 

[GTHomer]

Just wanted to give a shout out to the Lady Basketball Jackets. They are predicted to finish 9th in the Blue Ribbon Panel poll and 5th in the Coaches poll.

 

[CuseJacket]

Nice to see Jose on 2nd Team pre season All ACC

I don't understand all the love for Syracuse (could just be missing something) but the grouping from Syracuse at 6 to Clemson at 10 is pretty tight. Big drop off to VT. Guess the take away is we are in the group that has questions but could move up to challenge the top tier if things go well. While I can make a case for a higher pre season ranking, looking at it that way does make some sense.

With Syracuse, I don't necessarily agree with this thought process, but I think it goes something like this...

1. The backcourt should be improved. Girard and Boeheim should be better this year than last.
2. Kadary Richmond is allegedly the shiny frosh of the preseason, giving them guard depth they didn't have last year
3. Alan Griffin is also exceeding expectations (should not be confused with replacing Hughes, though)
4. Guerrier won't be playing injured
5. Dolezaj hasn't missed the entire offseason due to injury, like he did last year
6. The centers should logically be better. Same cast, more experience.

So basically it comes down to, can improvement in all other areas offset the loss of Hughes?

Ultimately we (GT) finished 1 game ahead of Cuse last year, and in that season they beat us twice. No material separation between 5-8 last year (and of course, that somehow projects us as 9th this year, stupid). Should be total wait and see mode re: Cuse. Unless Griffin really shines, they lack someone who can create their own shot after the departure of Hughes. Same limitation that has held us back on offense.

 

[slugboy]

I'd love to see some of the reasoning from a couple of the voters. I'm not being sarcastic in that--it would explain some of the ordering.

Looking at the rankings, I break it into thirds:

Tier 1: teams contending for the ACC title and high NCAAT seeds
UVA, Duke, FSU, UNC, Louisville.

Of those, I've seen the most question marks on UNC so far. I wouldn't be shocked to see any of them win the ACC this year.

Tier 2: NCAAT contenders/bubble teams
Syracuse, GT, Miami, NCST

Tier 3: Rebuilding teams
Clemson, VT, Notre Dame (wow, they fell from a few years ago), Pitt, BC, WF

The individual ordering/ranking probably doesn't mean that much as of now, other than people really like UVA.

You might be able to break it into quarters pretty well

 

[YlJacket]

Losing Hughes - the leading scorer in the ACC - is a big nut to overcome without a clear replacement. Especially as you say when someone has to create their own shot.

On our side not sure we have anyone who can really create a shot anywhere near Hughes either. But still not sure the logic for Syracuse is any better than us. Why they play the games I guess

 

[CuseJacket]

Losing Hughes - the leading scorer in the ACC - is a big nut to overcome without a clear replacement. Especially as you say when someone has to create their own shot.

On our side not sure we have anyone who can really create a shot anywhere near Hughes either. But still not sure the logic for Syracuse is any better than us. Why they play the games I guess

Well, we did play two games against them last year...

As far as this year goes, while they should fall off offensively, I think they have an opportunity to offset that with defensive improvement. We will see.

 

[Silk3]

I'd love to see some of the reasoning from a couple of the voters. I'm not being sarcastic in that--it would explain some of the ordering.

Looking at the rankings, I break it into thirds:

Tier 1: teams contending for the ACC title and high NCAAT seeds
UVA, Duke, FSU, UNC, Louisville.

Of those, I've seen the most question marks on UNC so far. I wouldn't be shocked to see any of them win the ACC this year.

Tier 2: NCAAT contenders/bubble teams
Syracuse, GT, Miami, NCST

Tier 3: Rebuilding teams
Clemson, VT, Notre Dame (wow, they fell from a few years ago), Pitt, BC, WF

The individual ordering/ranking probably doesn't mean that much as of now, other than people really like UVA.

You might be able to break it into quarters pretty well

Its hard to see Florida State being as good after losing 2 lottery picks.

 

[slugboy]

Its hard to see Florida State being as good after losing 2 lottery picks.

One ranking yesterday had UVA and Duke in the top 10, and FSU, UNC, and Louisville in the 20-30 range.

I may have sold Clemson and VT short in my grouping.

 

[orientalnc]

I hope my fellow mods will allow this to stay for at least one day. It feels so good. Maybe this is why we will not be playing uga.

SEC Preseason Poll, per release:

1. Tennessee
2. Kentucky
3. LSU
4. Florida
5. Alabama
6. Arkansas
7. Auburn
8. South Carolina
9. Ole Miss
10. Missouri
11. Texas A&M
12. Mississippi State
13. Georgia
14. Vanderbilt

 

[gameface]

Do you think they will kiss (on the lips no less) Tom Crean goodbye?

 

[RamblinRed]

FWIW, here is Pat Forde's write-up for the ACC this season at SI.

ACC Preview: A Deeper Conference Awaits in 2020-21

The familiar heavyweights are still at the top, but expect a more balanced ACC this winter.

www.si.com

He has Devoe as 1st Team all Acc and GT 5th overall.

5. Georgia Tech

To the surprise of many, the Yellow Jackets rose up to finish fifth in the ACC last year at 11–9, and 17–14 overall. Part of that was a fortuitous league schedule, but that also was a sign of a program on the rise. Tech returns what might be the best backcourt in the conference in Michael Devoe and Jose Alvarado (a combined 30.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 3.4 steals per game last year). Among programs that don’t recruit at the Duke–North Carolina level, the goal is to get old and stay old. Georgia Tech is accomplishing that.