ESPN releases updated 2013-2014 predictions

[Orange2389]

Syracuse is ranked #8 going into the preseason.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...25-2013-14-season-ncaa-men-college-basketball


Three of our players are in their final ESPN top 100.
#20 5 star Ennis
#31 4 star Roberson
#82 4 star Johnson
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/order/true

Syracuse has the #6 recruiting class, moving up one slot.
http://insider.espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/classrankings

C.J Fair is left off of all three of their All-American teams. He is an honerable mention.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...arly-all-americans-2013-14-college-basketball

 

[sutomcat]

Syracuse is ranked #8 going into the preseason.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...25-2013-14-season-ncaa-men-college-basketball


Three of our players are in their final ESPN top 100.
#20 5 star Ennis
#31 4 star Roberson
#82 4 star Johnson
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/order/true

Syracuse has the #6 recruiting class, moving up one slot.
http://insider.espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/classrankings

C.J Fair is left off of all three of their All-American teams. He is an honerable mention.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...arly-all-americans-2013-14-college-basketball

It is going to be strange playing in such a weak conference. The ACC has Duke at #5 and UNC at #11, that is fine. But no other ACC schools are ranked and only one (Virginia) merits an 'on the cusp' mention. Even Pitt has dropped off the face of the earth of college basketball just in time for the ACC.

I haven't watched the ACC almost at all in recent years. Is the conference really this bad?

 

[slidingdown]

It is going to be strange playing in such a weak conference. The ACC has Duke at #5 and UNC at #11, that is fine. But no other ACC schools are ranked and only one (Virginia) merits an 'on the cusp' mention. Even Pitt has dropped off the face of the earth of college basketball just in time for the ACC.

I haven't watched the ACC almost at all in recent years. Is the conference really this bad?

Notre Dame accompanies UVA in the also-rans.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

CJ only a mention as honorable mention; that is totally egregious. It seems to me that we will have quite a few players next year that will be playing with a chip on their shoulders and will have something to prove to these non-believers.

 

[Knicks411]

I think UVA is going to be a pretty good team next year, I would bet they are a solid top 25 team for most of the season.

The league is usually pretty meh behind Duke and UNC though. State lost a bunch of talent, (Leslie and Brown went pro, right? And one of the frosh transferred, plus 2 senior starters) Miami has lot pretty much everyone. FSU was usually the #3 team, but they have been down the last year or so. If they get Wiggins that could change.

ND is always a solid team, so I figre they'll be pretty good next year. But there's been a lot of fluff in the league for a few years. That is going to change to an extent with SU, Louisville, Pitt, and ND.

CJ only a mention as honorable mention; that is totally egregious.

I can't get too worked up about that; you can only name what, 6 forwards on 3 AA teams? (I guess 9 if you want to include C).

 

[dasher]

It is going to be strange playing in such a weak conference. The ACC has Duke at #5 and UNC at #11, that is fine. But no other ACC schools are ranked and only one (Virginia) merits an 'on the cusp' mention. Even Pitt has dropped off the face of the earth of college basketball just in time for the ACC.

I haven't watched the ACC almost at all in recent years. Is the conference really this bad?

UNC, Duke and a mystery guest. We are in for a surprise as the league was much weaker than the Big East. In their favor however, is that we will be playing on college home courts rather than in NBA buildings.

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

It is going to be strange playing in such a weak conference. The ACC has Duke at #5 and UNC at #11, that is fine. But no other ACC schools are ranked and only one (Virginia) merits an 'on the cusp' mention. Even Pitt has dropped off the face of the earth of college basketball just in time for the ACC.

I haven't watched the ACC almost at all in recent years. Is the conference really this bad?

Yep, pretty much. As usual, the ACC will be very top heavy, but unless Notre Dame and Pitt avoid a downyear, it looks like there will just be four teams competing at the top of the ACC - Duke, UNC, UVa and us. (UVa will likely be much better than an "on the cusp" team, assuming either their 4 star or 3 star PG recruit pans out. Otherwise they are loaded at every other position.) But that's pretty much it. NC State and Miami are losing everyone. Maryland will also likely drop off a little bit losing their best player, Len. Some people are saying that BC and Ga Tech will be much improved this year, but I still can't see them challenging for any of the top 5 or 6 spots. Va Tech and Clemson and Wake will all be terrible - at least as bad as the 2 or 3 bottom feeders we're used to playing in the Big East - possibly worse!

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

i should probably add, though, that if Wiggins ends up going to Florida State, then it's probably safe to add a 5th team to the league's upper tier. But of course that seems a little unlikely.

 

[AlaskaSU]

I think UVA is going to be a pretty good team next year, I would bet they are a solid top 25 team for most of the season.

The league is usually pretty meh behind Duke and UNC though. State lost a bunch of talent, (Leslie and Brown went pro, right? And one of the frosh transferred, plus 2 senior starters) Miami has lot pretty much everyone. FSU was usually the #3 team, but they have been down the last year or so. If they get Wiggins that could change.

ND is always a solid team, so I figre they'll be pretty good next year. But there's been a lot of fluff in the league for a few years. That is going to change to an extent with SU, Louisville, Pitt, and ND.



I can't get too worked up about that; you can only name what, 6 forwards on 3 AA teams? (I guess 9 if you want to include C).

Miami lost their PG.

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

Miami lost their PG.

Yep, Miami lost Shane Larkin, and Durand Scott, and big man Kenny Kadji, and bigger man Reggie Johnson, and McKinney-Jones and Gamble - which is to say they lost their 6 top scorers. They'll be fighting to stay out of the cellar.

 

[bballbeadle]

Why oh why do they always predict Arizona is going to be so great, when Arizona ultimately always fizzles?

 

[NKR1978]

BC has a chance to be decent. Not a top 25 team, but they should be on the bubble. Maryland wont suck either. I think Pitt will be better than people think they're going to be. Virginia should be a top 25 team as should Notre Dame. If FSU gets Wiggins, they'll be solid as well probably.

Duke has a really tough schedule with home and home's against us and UNC. For once we actually seem to be lucking out a bit with our conference scheduling. We've had some brutal home and home's along with our away schedule in recent years in the BE. Our schedule this year could help us win the ACC.

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

yeah BC has two rising sophomores who look like they could be really good - especially i think anderson, if that's that forward's name. i'd still be really surprised though to see them ranked at any point this year, though that could just be my anti-BC bias coming out! I really hate those guys!

Pitt and Notre Dame are hard to gauge. Pitt lost their best two players - Tray Woodall and Steven Adams - to graduation and the draft, and are losing two more in Ziegler and JJ Moore who are transferring. Something weird is going on in Oakland. They still have a couple of really good pieces in Robinson and Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna, but they are really, really thin beyond that. Notre Dame will probably be in better shape since they're returning a great backcourt and have some talented players on the wing, but losing Jack Cooley and Scott Martin is going to hurt. Garrett Sherman is a solid backup C, but if he's the main guy you got in the low post, that could be trouble.

 

[Alsacs]

That would put us in Buffalo and if we could be the top ACC team we would be in play for the MSG regional in the NCAA tournament.

 

[cuseincincy]

Not a fan at all of incoming freshman being named to a pre-season AA team. Too many of them don't live up to the hype as freshman.

 

[OttoMets]

yeah BC has two rising sophomores who look like they could be really good - especially i think anderson, if that's that forward's name. i'd still be really surprised though to see them ranked at any point this year, though that could just be my anti-BC bias coming out! I really hate those guys!

Pitt and Notre Dame are hard to gauge. Pitt lost their best two players - Tray Woodall and Steven Adams - to graduation and the draft, and are losing two more in Ziegler and JJ Moore who are transferring. Something weird is going on in Oakland. They still have a couple of really good pieces in Robinson and Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna, but they are really, really thin beyond that. Notre Dame will probably be in better shape since they're returning a great backcourt and have some talented players on the wing, but losing Jack Cooley and Scott Martin is going to hurt. Garrett Sherman is a solid backup C, but if he's the main guy you got in the low post, that could be trouble.

If ACC officiating is anything like it's been for the past few decades, guys like Patterson and Zanna suddenly don't look like such good pieces.

Other than preventing our athletic programs from spiralling into irrelevance, only two aspects of the ACC move have interested me (but they are very interesting):

1.) Consistently exciting football schedules;
2.) What happens to Pittsburgh's basketball team in a finesse league.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Yep, Miami lost Shane Larkin, and Durand Scott, and big man Kenny Kadji, and bigger man Reggie Johnson, and McKinney-Jones and Gamble - which is to say they lost their 6 top scorers. They'll be fighting to stay out of the cellar.

Miami has some good players coming in. They won't be in the cellar with Larranaga.

I've said it before but I think the ACC will be a step up in competition. From a road venue standpoint there won't be any empty/sleepy arenas like DePaul and USF or arenas we can take over easily (Seton Hall). I think the bottom of the ACC is better than the Big East. The middle of the Big East was probably better but going to Florida St and Maryland won't be easy. Those arenas get crazy and are big like how Bud Walton was. As mentioned before, UVA is good as well.

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

yeah, I was referring just to this upcoming year where I think the ACC will be easier than the Big East. Once Louisville comes in and Pitt and Notre Dame get back to full strength the ACC will be as tough as the Big East at its height. it's also rare that this year we'll see nc state and Maryland and florida state and Miami all having down years - anywhere from mediocre to poor seasons the same year, too. I suspect this upcoming year will be the weakest the ACC will be for some time and then will quickly rebound.

 

[sutomcat]

Miami has some good players coming in. They won't be in the cellar with Larranaga.

I've said it before but I think the ACC will be a step up in competition. From a road venue standpoint there won't be any empty/sleepy arenas like DePaul and USF or arenas we can take over easily (Seton Hall). I think the bottom of the ACC is better than the Big East. The middle of the Big East was probably better but going to Florida St and Maryland won't be easy. Those arenas get crazy and are big like how Bud Walton was. As mentioned before, UVA is good as well.

Much respect SoBeCuse but I disagree about the ACC being a step up in competition. The Big East has been really dominant in recent years. When the ACC gets 7 teams in the top 25 at the same time, or 11 bids to the Big Dance, I am a believer.

Recent Big East NCAA Bid History

2013 8
2012 9
2011 11

Recent ACC NCAA Bid History

2013 4
2012 5
2011 4

That being said, I think that in 2014-15, when UL joins the fold, the ACC will probably become the best league in the country. But that is more because the Big East got blown up than because of the greatness of the ACC. Hopefully the newcomers will turn around this troubled league ASAP.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Tomcat, I definitely get the NCAA Tourney success evidence pointing to the Big East. Definitely. Fewer teams of course in the ACC. I will still stick to my guns about the bottom of the ACC being stronger and it's more about my point how those teams will be MUCH tougher road tests/atmospheres than in the bottom of the Big East. We'll see!

 

[tee1222]

Just a nice, respectful back and forth. Refreshing, really.
I think both points are valid, and that although the bottom of the ACC might be stronger but BE recent tourney success is a bit better, this whole dynamic is going to change in a heartbeat and we'll never look back after this season.

ACC is going to stomp.

 

[OttoMets]

Tomcat, I definitely get the NCAA Tourney success evidence pointing to the Big East. Definitely. Fewer teams of course in the ACC. I will still stick to my guns about the bottom of the ACC being stronger and it's more about my point how those teams will be MUCH tougher road tests/atmospheres than in the bottom of the Big East. We'll see!

The idea that the ACC has -- top to bottom -- tougher environments probably makes sense (though it's been a couple seasons since I've watched a Wake or Clemson home game - do they get raucous crowds?). Apart from Boston College, maybe Wake or Clemson, you don't get the DePaul or USF experience (not for a big-name opponent, at least).

But if you've played and won at Marquette, UConn, Louisville, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh (well, not yet this decade), are you going to notice any real difference at ACC venues? Only Carolina has a bigger building than Marquette and Louisville and I doubt anyone (OK, maybe Maryland) has fans more vile than those in Storrs, Morgantown, and Pittsburgh.

Not sure it'll be tougher, but it'll be fun to find out.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I think Pitt will be better than people think they're going to be.

Pitt could lose in overtime against an earthworm with a learning disability and that would still make them better than I think they're going to be.

 

[Col. Bleep]

It is going to be strange playing in such a weak conference. The ACC has Duke at #5 and UNC at #11, that is fine. But no other ACC schools are ranked and only one (Virginia) merits an 'on the cusp' mention. Even Pitt has dropped off the face of the earth of college basketball just in time for the ACC.

I haven't watched the ACC almost at all in recent years. Is the conference really this bad?

"Mediocre" might be the best word for the conference.

 

[orangefan13]

Once teams upset teams like Cuse, UNC, Duke, ND, and Louisville they will start getting ranked just like the nbe.