ACC Predictions

[The Gordog]

Do we have an ACC predictions poll up yet?

I have to admit, reading Al F's article today has me more worried about UNC than I was previously. That is, I was hoping they would have another objectively bad year. Duke will be way better than they are. Again. But I'm a liitle sad that we probably won't be able to revisit the sweet schadenfreunde of last year.

My picks:
1. Duke
2. UNC
3. VA Tech
4. NC State (Tough schedule includes Duke, UNC, Fla St. twice)
5. Florida State
6. Clemson
7. MD
8. Miami
9. UVA
10. BC
11. GA Tech
12. Wake Forest

[whereinthehellami]

Duke
UNC
VT
FSU
NCSU
Miami
Clemson
MD
BC
GT
UVA
WFU

There are some bad teams in the ACC this year. Lots of transition and painful basketball. Clearly Duke, UNC, and VT are above the rest.

[4decadedukie]

Absolute speculation:
1. Duke
2. UNC-CH
3. Virginia Tech
4. NCSU
5. FSU
6. Miami
7. Clemson
8. Maryland
9. Georgia Tech
10. UVa
11. Wake
12. BC

I offer one certainty, the foregoing list will be incorrect.
:D

[MChambers]

totally random, except for the team at the top (I'm assuming we're doing this to predict regular season standings):
1. Duke
2. VT
3. NC State
4. FSU
5. UNC
6. Miami
7. Maryland
8. Clemson
9. Wake
10. UVa
11. BC
12. GT

[TigerDevil]

1. Duke
2. VT
3. UNC
4. NCSU
5. Miami
6. FSU
7. Maryland
8. Clemson
9. UVA
10. GT
11. BC
12. Wake

[PumpkinFunk]

1. Duke
2. Virginia Tech
3. Tarholes
4. Florida State - Even without Alabi, a superb defensive team with a lot of experience.
5. Maryland - Call it a hunch, but I think that Gary will take the Terps further than they should go, per usual
6. NC State - Tough schedule + high expectations + Sid Lowe = underperformance and maybe even missing the NCAA tourney
7. Miami
8. Clemson
9. Georgia Tech
10. Boston College
11. UVA
12. Wake

I'm pretty confident in 1, 2, 3. Beyond there, I think it's anyone's guess

[davekay1971]

1. Duke





big gap here both intentional and symbolic






2. Roy Williams' enormous ego - Only Roy Williams can hold back Roy Williams. Roy Williams will motivate Roy Williams, if necessary by making Roy Williams do windsprints until Roy Williams pukes, because Roy Williams knows that Roy Williams used this kind of motivational conditioning on Michael Jordan and Roy Williams made Jordan what he is today.
3. NC State - Harrow to Leslie is going to be fun to watch, hopefully for more than one year. Tracy Smith, enjoy life without the triple-team.
4. Virginia Tech - they finally get into the dance...just to get spanked and sent home by the 11 seed they're paired up against
5. Maryland (the ACC is currently considering a proposition to simply give the number 5 ranking to Maryland, along with a tournament bubble spot, as long as Gary Williams is the head coach there)
6. Florida State - Still U G L Y, and they ain't got no Alabi, they ugly, what what, they ugly.
7. Miami and a bunch of empty seats
8. Clemson - 2 steps forward, 1 step back, 2 steps forward, 3 steps back...
9. UVa - movin' on up...to the NIT
10. Drew II, Strickland, Henson's muscle mass, practice 54, and other catastrophes.
11. Boston College...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
12. Dino Gaudio's job security
13. Paul Hewitt's resume

I'm pretty confident in 1, 2, 3. Beyond there, I think it's anyone's guess[/QUOTE]

[Wander]

I predict either Clemson or Florida State ends up 2nd place - not UNC and definitely not Virginia Tech.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

1. Duke

everyone else

[jipops]

1. Duke (possibly via some sort of tie-breaker)
2. UNC (has a somewhat easier ACC schedule than Duke)

Slight gap

3. VT

gap

4. FSU
5. Maryland
6. Clemson
7. NCSU

gap

8. Miami
9. UVA
10. GT
11. BC
12. Wake

[ACCBBallFan]

I see it as 5 tiers:

1 Duke (and maybe UNC)

2-4 UNC, VA T and FSU in some order with Hokies and Heels both having severe front court depth issues, or I would have them ahead of FSU. VA Tech has easiest schedule and UNC has most talent of the 3, FSU the most depth.

5-7 GA Tech, NC St, MD, with GA Tech that high only because of second most favorable unbalanced schedule after VA Tech, MD because of Gary and favorable schedule with NC St on paper the best of the 3 but a tough ACC unbalanced schedule

8-9 Miami, Clemson with Clemson having the toughest unbalanced schedule. If forced into 4 tiers I would move Clemson down and Miami up

10-12 BC, Wake and UVA - I go back and forth on whether BC with so many seniors or Clemson can separate themselves positively from UVA and Wake.

These 4 teams also having the most recent coaching changes does not help them in short term but will over time

[davekay1971]

12. Dino Gaudio's job security
13. Paul Hewitt's resume

I'm pretty confident in 1, 2, 3. Beyond there, I think it's anyone's guess[/QUOTE]

LMAO at myself...how did I forget that Dino Gaudio was canned already. Doh!!! :eek:

[Cary]

[QUOTE=The Gordog;442651]Do we have an ACC predictions poll up yet?

I have to admit, reading Al F's article today has me more worried about UNC than I was previously.


Where did you see Al's article? I have missed it.

[jipops]

[QUOTE=The Gordog;442651]Do we have an ACC predictions poll up yet?

I have to admit, reading Al F's article today has me more worried about UNC than I was previously.


Where did you see Al's article? I have missed it.

See "Great Expectations" on the home page. It is so good I read it twice.

[COYS]

1. Duke


2. UNC
3. VaTech
4. FSU
5. State

6. Maryland
7. Miami
8. Clemson

9. BC
10. GaTech
11. UVA
12. Wake

I want to root for UVA to move up, but I just don't think the talent is there even if the coaching is in place. Hewitt never ceases to amaze me with how poorly he can coach, but he'll get enough hot streaks out of his guards to win a few games to avoid the cellar. Wake will be young, inexperienced, and breaking in a new coach, so they get my vote for the cellar this year. BC will win a few games, but that's about it.

Gary always gets Maryland to be respectable and this year will be no exception. Miami has some talent, I just think that they are at a perpetual disadvantage with travel, etc, not to mention that there are other more talented teams in the league. Clemson is tough for me to predict as I think they could actually end up a few spots lower or a few spots higher depending on how their transition works out.

2-5 is also pretty jumbled. VaTech has experience and an easy schedule, but I really do not feel that they have the talent to carry them all the way to number 2. UNC and State obviously have a lot of talent, but UNC's got the more proven coach. The team will be far more balanced on offense than last season and the law of averages almost necessitates that the team have fewer injuries than last year. I see them making it to number 2. FSU has great defensive talent, but they just can't score enough to win enough to go all the way to number 2, in my opinion.

[quota]

I enjoyed Al's article, but I have to say that I'm not on board with his assumption that, when it comes to UNC and VaTech, "it’s a matter of talent vs. experience."

Sure, talent matters, but to me at least, cohesiveness is an even bigger factor. Last year's UNC team clearly wasn't cohesive. Heck, even the gol' durned coach wasn't in tune with his own team. The Wear twins got the h-e-double-hockey-sticks outta dodge, Will Graves got kicked off the team....the list goes on an on.

What makes anyone think that UNC has all of a sudden "gelled" as a team and they're going to come back and be some ACC powerhouse? I'm just not seeing it. On the other hand, VaTech returns all five starters on a team that's hungry to prove a point after being left out of the NCAA Tournament last year.

Team cohesiveness and unity and players knowing and accepting their roles and fulfilling them happily, in my opinion, can always trump certain shortcomings in talent. See: Duke 2010.

My money's on VaTech finishing second in the ACC, and I really wouldn't put it past UNC to have another meltdown. Maybe not as bad as last year, but a 4th or 5th place finish in the ACC certainly isn't out of the picture, IMO.

[jv001]

Team cohesiveness and unity and players knowing and accepting their roles and fulfilling them happily, in my opinion, can always trump certain shortcomings in talent. See: Duke 2010.

My money's on VaTech finishing second in the ACC, and I really wouldn't put it past UNC to have another meltdown. Maybe not as bad as last year, but a 4th or 5th place finish in the ACC certainly isn't out of the picture, IMO.

This is what I hope for from the tarholes, 5th place finish or worse. barnes can only carry them so far. Go Duke!

[jipops]

I enjoyed Al's article, but I have to say that I'm not on board with his assumption that, when it comes to UNC and VaTech, "it’s a matter of talent vs. experience."

Sure, talent matters, but to me at least, cohesiveness is an even bigger factor. Last year's UNC team clearly wasn't cohesive. Heck, even the gol' durned coach wasn't in tune with his own team. The Wear twins got the h-e-double-hockey-sticks outta dodge, Will Graves got kicked off the team....the list goes on an on.

What makes anyone think that UNC has all of a sudden "gelled" as a team and they're going to come back and be some ACC powerhouse? I'm just not seeing it. On the other hand, VaTech returns all five starters on a team that's hungry to prove a point after being left out of the NCAA Tournament last year.

Team cohesiveness and unity and players knowing and accepting their roles and fulfilling them happily, in my opinion, can always trump certain shortcomings in talent. See: Duke 2010.

My money's on VaTech finishing second in the ACC, and I really wouldn't put it past UNC to have another meltdown. Maybe not as bad as last year, but a 4th or 5th place finish in the ACC certainly isn't out of the picture, IMO.

It may be a mistake to let last season's series of mishaps and shortcomings shape the opinion and outlook for this season's UNC team. If you are going to go by that logic then what about the previous seasons before where UNC won championships and 30+ games? Yes, Roy probably made some mistakes last year but I think he is a much a better coach than most Duke fans want to believe and at the same time not as great of a coach as UNC fans want to believe.

The Heels have at least 4 guys that will be on an NBA roster some day. That doesn't always entail a great college team to start out but it almost always means they will win a lot of games. And Roy is at least the type of coach that knows what to do with that kind of talent. He has proven that.

I just don't see cohesiveness being an issue with this team. My money is on UNC finishing no worse than second in a diluted league, and believe me I would love to be wrong.

[dball]

1. Duke
2. VT
3. NCSU
4. FSU
5. UNCCH
6. Maryland
7. UVA
8. Miami
9. Clemson
10. BC
11. GT
12. Wake

[Slackerb]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14231970/acc-preview-duke-unc-on-top-the-way-its-meant-to-be

Is it just me or is this guy a raging UNC homer/huge elitist. He has to admit that Duke "should" be picked #1 and that UNC and Duke belong at the top because watching other "second-tier" programs succeed just isn't as fun.

And look at his preseason picks for players of the year, breakthrough player of the year, etc. All UNC. Then note his anti-State bias: the absence of Tracy Smith on the first or second teams. Lowe on the hotseat, and despite picking State a trendy 4th, the description of why is more a condemnation of the State program and Lowe than praise for its freshmen and returning players.

Stupid media love for Duke and especially UNC (when it's not warranted) gets so old sometimes...

[gw67]

After reviewing the rosters of each of the ACC teams and searching my memory, I’ll make my yearly prediction on the ACC for 2010-2011. I see the league breaking down into four groups:

Elite Teams: Duke, UNC, Virginia Tech (12-15 wins)
Good Teams: Florida State, NC State (9-10 wins)
On the Edge: Maryland, Clemson, BC (6-8 wins)
Bringing up the Rear: Georgia Tech, Miami, Wake, Virginia (3-5 wins)

While I lump UNC and VT with Duke as elite teams, I see the Devils as the clear favorite. They have the top coach, the best home court advantage and the most talent. It appears that they have ten quality players. This would normally cause a problem because of playing time issues but I expect there to be several blowouts so even the 9th and 10th youngster on the bench gets some playing time. I’m looking forward to seeing Irving and Curry play and the maturation of the younger Plumlee.

UNC – I like Henson and Zeller but the freshmen will have to produce and they lack depth in the frontcourt.

VT – They have a solid starting lineup and a favorable schedule. They need to develop a bench.

FS – The key, IMO, is Snaer. He is a potential 1st team All ACC. The other perimeter players are solid and Singleton is a good frontcourt player. They need to develop an inside player.

NCS - Smith is one of best players in ACC; Howell and Wood had good freshmen years and there are three highly rated freshmen who have to produce for Pack to play well.

Clemson - Stitt, Smith and Grant have experience and there are three sophs who were highly rated in high school who need to step up. Where is scoring coming from?

Md – The Terps can start five players with considerable experience but bench is made up of six freshmen and one soph. Williams and Mosley are solid players and Tucker will have the opportunity to shine. They should be improved defensively but three-point shooting, foul shooting and play in the half court offense are big question marks.

BC – This is a senior/junior team and Trapani and Jackson are potential All ACC type players.

GT, Miami, Wake and UVA – Each of these teams has one or two nice players but each has a big weakness.

I figure that five maybe six teams get NCAA bids.

gw67