With the College Basketball 2020-2021 season possibly going conference-only, we thought it was right to give out some pre-season ACC standings predictions. The ACC will be much more competitive this year than last. I will provide details for each team and why I think they will be in that position.
15. Wake Forest
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are my prediction for last place in the ACC. Olivier Sarr, Chaundee Brown, Brandon Childress, and Andrien White have all either graduated or transferred. Those were the top 4 scorers for the team last year. They added some transfers to their team but it should not cover for the massive loss of talent.
14. Boston College
Boston College is my prediction for 14th in the ACC. They lose key players Derryck Thornton, Nik Popovic, Julian Rishwain, and Jairus Hamilton. The key players they will have back this year are Jay Heath, Steffon Mitchell, and grad-transfer Rich Kelly. They will need one of their three grad-transfers(Rich Kelly, Fredrick Scott, James Karnik) to break out in order to have a better season. Boston College has not been a team finishing in the middle of the ACC in awhile, and it doesn’t seem to be happening this year.
13. Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech started off the season well last year, and then fell apart. Landers Nolley gave them a boost of talent, but fell off towards the end of the season. He then transferred. They do have a rising star transferring in: Cartier Diarra. They have two top-100 guards coming in: Joe Bamisile and Darius Maddox. That is an impressive recruiting class, but as we saw with Notre Dame’s 2018 class, most recruits need time to get acclimated to the team in order to succeed. The guards for Virginia Tech are impressive, but the big men are the problem. If they can get an inside presence, they could move up.
12. Pittsburgh
Their star player Trey McGowens transferred. They struggled last year but bring in the 6th best ACC recruiting class. Big man John Hugley and previous Notre Dame target William Jeffress are the big names in the class. There young recruits along with Justin Champagnie should help them win a few games but still not good enough to be in the middle of the ACC rankings.
11. Clemson
Clemson has a legitimate first/second team ACC player in Aamir Simms. The incoming big man P.J. Hall should help Simms in the games this year. Last season they had wins against Duke, FSU, and Louisville. Notre Dame did beat them but this year if they could be more consistent, they could finish higher.
10. Miami
Miami is a different team this year. I have them in the bottom half of the ACC right now because they have a lot of young talent. Even though they still have guard Chris Lykes, the team will be focused on highly rated recruits Earl Timberlake and Matt Cross. They also get the addition of Nysier Brooks to their team. If the recruits can have a standout season they can make it back to the NCAA tournament.
9. Syracuse
Syracuse loses star forward Elijah Hughes, but still has plenty of scorers that can pick up the slack. Buddy Boeheim and Joseph Gerard III will have to lead the team in scoring, putting up big numbers each and every night. Illinois transfer Alan Griffin could also be critical to Syracuses’s success if he gets a waiver.
8. Notre Dame
Even though we lost many of our experienced players and scorers, I think this team will be better than last year. Prentiss Hubb and Cormac Ryan will lead this team to a good enough finish in the ACC to get them into the tournament as a bubble team. If Juwan Durham and Nate Laszweski can be solid down low, I feel like the Irish will perform well. Since we want to focus on the Irish, I will give a record prediction for the conference. I believe we will go 11-9 with big wins over Virginia and Louisville.
7. NC State
NC State has a strong incoming recruiting class along with a couple good returning players. The class is led by 4-star Cam Hayes and comes with 4 3-stars. DJ Funderburk opting out of the NBA draft is huge for the team. Funderburk and Hayes could lead this team to a very high finish in the ACC.
6. Georgia Tech
This team is my sleeper for the ACC. They went 11-9 in the ACC last year. They add 3 3-stars and 2 transfers to their team. They are led by Michael Devoe, Jose Alvarado, and Moses Wright. Michael Devoe and Jose Alvarado were both named to All-ACC third team last year and are primed for a big jump this year.
5. Louisville
Louisville has many significant departures but will have plenty of young talent. JUCO transfer Jay Scrubb will be a major boost if he doesn’t go to the draft. They have 2 other 4 star recruit signees along with a three star. This team will be dominated by young talent, including sophomore David Johnson. He should be critical to this team going forward.
4. Florida State
FSU brings in one of the nation’s top recruits: Scottie Barnes. They also bring in JUCO prospect Sardaar Calhoun. This team will have a lot of raw talent, and Leonard Hamilton’s teams are always very good in the ACC.
3. North Carolina
This North Carolina team won’t be the same one as it was last year. They have the number 2 recruiting class in the nation. Garrison brooks and former 5-star Armando Bacot will both return for the team. They bring in 3 5-stars and 3 4-stars. They will be absolutely stacked this year, and have a chance at the ACC regular season title.
2. Virginia
Virginia is in good shape this year with the addition of Sam Hauser and a couple great recruits. Jabri Abdur-Rahim is the 37th best player in the nation and Reece Beekman is the 66th best player in the nation. These two along with Sam Hauser, Jay Huff, Kihei Clark, and Tomas Woldetensae should lead them to a high finish in the ACC.
1: Duke
Duke brings in four five-star recruits. Not only do they have those incoming freshmen, but they have two returning highly rated recruits: Wendell Moore(29th) and Matthew Hurt(12th). This team will be led by the young guys, but most Duke teams are. They should be the early favorite to win the ACC regular season title.
We would love to see Notre Dame jump up the rankings this season and get back into the tournament this season. The ACC should be really interesting to follow this year. Follow us on twitter @NDbballanalysis for more Notre Dame and ACC coverage.
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