ACC Basketball Predictions – Preseason Power Poll

ACC Basketball Predictions

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Jim Quist, Will Ojanen, Mike Lewis, Jim Bresnahan and Chris Bond @accnation –

It’s that time of the year. The site’s search engine is being overrun by fans looking for ‘ACC Basketball Predictions’. Earlier this year Will Ojanen shared his thoughts on the upcoming season in ‘Very Early Preview 2021-22 ACC Men’s Basketball‘. So we started the planning process of putting together a panel that would absorb as much information as possible about all 15 ACC men’s basketball teams. Then, each member was tasked with processing it all and casting their votes for 1 through 15. The end result? The 2021-2022 ACC Nation Preseason Power Poll.

We can assure you there was no ‘over-thinking’, ‘hand-wringing’ and we went out of our way to avoid ‘homers’ or ‘sentimentalists’. It was as simple as looking at the past five years of play within the conference and balancing out the rosters and coaches. In this case, stability counts and in a very big way. In the end, not a single team pulled in the same score across the board. The closest that we came was in picking our No. 1 team where four out of the five voted the same.

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ACC Basketball Predictions

RANKTEAMPOINTS
1FLORIDA STATE71
2DUKE65
3VIRGINIA64
4NORTH CAROLINA60
5VIRGINIA TECH59
6LOUISVILLE52
7SYRACUSE43
8NOTRE DAME39
9NC STATE38
10GEORGIA TECH31
11MIAMI24
12CLEMSON20
13WAKE FOREST17
14PITT10
15BOSTON COLLEGE7

In the view of the majority of voters Florida State is the best put together team (roster and coaching) in the conference this season. There’s another factor that impacts teams 2-8. Questions. With Duke through Notre Dame there are just enough questions (take your pick) to make it harder to rank these teams. The point totals are a good place to start. The Seminoles have a lead. It’s up to you whether it’s called ‘significant’ in this case but it’s enough to separate them from the rest of the teams.

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Over the years we’ve heard how Duke will dominate the conference only to come up short and have Virginia take the title. What’s different this year? Coach K is taking his victory lap and has a couple of gems in his pocket. Are they polished? Will they become polished? Are we focusing too much on what Virginia lost rather than what they’ve gained? Can Tony Bennett adjust his game plan sufficiently to work with the offensive talent he’ll put on the floor? We’ve got questions and so should you.

What about North Carolina? Well, we’ve got a new (old) coach who understands the Carolina way. Can he make that old magic reappear? Does he have the roster to make it happen this season? Have things changed at Virginia Tech? Sure but how much? It’s a solid roster but again, there are questions.

Does anybody know what time it is? Does anybody really care? Chris Mack and Louisville knows what time it is but is this the year? Jim Boeheim and Syracuse. The proverbial enigma wrapped in a riddle. Can Cuse come bursting through this seemingly invisible barrier that keeps them on the edge of the Field of 68 every year? And, finally, what about Mike Brey and Notre Dame. Brey was feeling his oats at media day so maybe he knows the Irish are about to re-emerge in the ACC.

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How about teams 9 through 13 in our ACC Basketball Predictions? Steady as she goes and don’t take your eye off of them for a second. Miami has the potential to emerge from this group but then again so does NC State and Georgia Tech. We’ve seen it before. Wake Forest still isn’t done re-building but don’t expect the same out of the Deacs this season. Sleep on them at your own peril.

Pitt and Boston College are works in progress. Steady hands are at the tiller and time will tell just what these two teams are all about.

ACC Basketball Predictions