ACC Play Starts Today, Storylines and Predictions for the Conference
There’s absolutely no debate that the ACC is the best conference in college basketball this season. They have legit title contenders in Duke, Carolina and Louisville. Then teams like Notre Dame and Virginia, who wouldn’t surprise anyone by making a Final Four. Hell, the 13th best team in the league (Wake Forest) is sitting at 9-3 with losses only coming to Villanova (neutral court) at Northwestern and at Xavier.
Conference play is going to be must-watch in this league. Hell, they kick us off tonight with Virginia at Louisville – granted it’s going to be a rock fight, those are two of the 20 best teams in the country. There’s plenty of stars in this league too. Whether it’s the plethora of dudes at Duke, Joel Berry, Jaron Blossomgame, Jonathan Isaac, Dennis Smith, etc, there’s something for everyone. It’s the league that the casual fan can follow and enjoy.
NCAA Tournament Teams (As of 12/28)
Locks: Duke, UNC, Virginia, Louisville, Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Pittsburgh, NC State
Bubble: Wake Forest, Syracuse
Storylines to Watch:
- Can Anyone Beat Duke?
North Carolina has the best chance to beat Duke for the ACC regular season title, but it’s hard to see these guys not winning it. Hell, Grayson Allen is their 5th best player probably and they won’t miss a beat without him. The Blue Devils biggest question marks coming into the season were point guard play (too good to worry about that now), health (everyone starting to come back) and how they would fit together. There’s been no chemistry issues that we’ve seen on the court (though those comments by Kennard last week are a little concerning) and the rise of Luke Kennard has made this team even more dangerous.
- The Growth of Dennis Smith and Omar Yurtseven
Get to know these two names. Smith had a lot of hype coming into the season as he was projected to be a top-5 pick and possibly even go No. 1. He’s taken somewhat of a backseat to Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz and De’Aaron Fox in the freshmen point guard talk, but that’s solely because he’s playing for NC State. That’s all about to change and that’s thanks to the inclusion of Omar Yurtseven after serving a 9-game suspension for eligibility reasons. The two of them are dynamic in the screen-and-roll and it wouldn’t shock me to see them get a top-5 finish in the league.
- Can Syracuse Save its Season?
Yeah, I was obviously down on Syracuse to start the season, but there’s no way anyone could have projected this happening. The stuff everyone was concerned about – lack of point guard, terrible rebounding team – have all shown up this season along with the biggest problem – the 2-3 zone being a non-factor. If Cuse struggles in the zone they can’t go play man-to-man to bail themselves out. They need to run the table early when they play Boston College, Miami, Pitt, Virginia Tech and Boston College again. Because after that it’s a stretch of UNC, ND, Wake, Florida State, NC State, Virginia, Clemson, Pitt, Louisville. The Orange need to get 12-13 wins in the ACC otherwise they are NIT bound.
- Can the ACC Break the Old Big East NCAA Tournament Record?
While the conference is deep and many see that beneficial, you wonder if they beat each other up too much to send as many teams to the NCAA Tournament as they can. Like I just said about Syracuse having to get 12-13 wins in conference play, that could cost a Clemson or Pittsburgh a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Heading into the season a lot of people thought the ACC would send 12 to the NCAA’s. Right now I would bet the under, but it’s going to be something to watch as these teams start to play each other.
- North Carolina vs the NCAA
This is more just UNC in general because they are one of the best teams in the country but also have been going back and forth with the NCAA for a couple years now. Hell, the NCAA just sent another NOA, which many expect to have basketball included yet again. This team is made for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament because of the balance and mostly because Justin Jackson is finally looking the part many expected him to be. They are only going to get better too because Theo Pinson hasn’t played in a game yet. However, while the NOA and whatever happens with that won’t play a role this year, it’s something that will be talked about in almost any game UNC plays in.
All-Conference Team Predictions: Luke Kennard (Duke), Joel Berry (UNC), Michael Young (Pitt), Bonzie Colson (Notre Dame), Dennis Smith (NC State)
ACC Player of the Year: Luke Kennard (Duke)
ACC Coach of the Year: Mike Brey (Notre Dame)
ACC Regular Season Champs: Duke