Daily rants and opinions...because we're THAT bored.
by Skinner - Saturday, November 26
So I'm going to do the only reasonable thing, and create my own predictions!
I'll go through each conference, talk about each team, and break down what I think of them. I won't do the national championship, final four, or player of the year, because that's just stupid. It's far too early for something like that. I'll basically just say what I think of each team.
I'll start with the Atlantic Coast Conference. (Oh, this is so exciting!)
ACC
Year in and year out, the Atlantic Coast Conference is always one of the best. This year I don't expect to see much of a change.
Duke
The Blue Devils look strong and appear to be title contenders. Coach Krzyzewski (Krzyzewski. S-H-U-S-H-E-S-K-E-Y. Krzyzewski. Whew! Did I spell it right?) has a solid group once again, including sharp-shooter J.J. Redick and dominant post player Shelden Williams. Throw in key players like Sean Dockery, Lee Melchionni, and DeMarcus Nelson and Duke is great top to bottom. They always have a strong recruiting class, and Coach K has signed a few All-Americans this season. (It almost becomes second nature to Duke basketball.) You can expect Duke to do great things every year, and they usually do just that: Great things. I see no reason why the Blue Devils can't be one of the best teams in college basketball.
Maryland
The Terps have fallen off a little bit since their title run in 2002. I think Gary Williams has a good team back this year, and they should be able to go on a run. (That wasn't a prediction. I swear it wasn't a prediction!) Returning almost every player, Maryland should be a high-scoring team. Nik Caner-Medley, Chris McCray, and Travis Garrison are a pretty good slew of basketball players. Throw in some other players I've casually not talked about and Maryland should be back to ACC contenders.
Wake Forest
The Deamon Deacons (I think I'll start out each team summary with "The and then the team mascot.") are going to have to overcome some key losses. I think they have enough talent and a good coach (Skip Prosser) to get them through that though. Quick guard Justin Gray and bruiser Eric Williams should team up well for an inside-outside combo. The other players...they're good too. (You can tell I know a lot about this team.) Wake Forest should have a pretty good year with the potential to be really good.
Boston College
After a disappointing end to last year's season, the Eagles will look to forget about that and contend for the ACC title. Craig Smith is one of the better players in the ACC and should have a good senior campaign. Jared Dudley, Sean Marshall, and Louis Hinnant will return to help aid the Eagles. Plus they have a good coach. (Al Skinner: Who's name somehow sounds familiar?)
North Carolina
Sucks to be Roy Williams. That's all I got to say. But no, Ol' Roy is one of the best coaches in the country, and will probably have this team being competitive. Yea, the loss of almost the entire Draft Lottery hurts the Tar Heels, but they're a tradition rich program, and teams like that just don't fold away. David Noel should be the leader for all the young guys. The rest will have to prove themselves.
Miami (FL)
The Hurricanes are looking to end a three-year absense from the big dance, and this looks like the year Miami has something special. Second year coach Frank Haith has a strong backcourt which should attribute to the team's success. Guilermo Diaz, Anthony Harris, and Robert Hite are some of the better guards in the ACC. The post play will be the question. I think they'll be strong in the backcourt and the frontcourt, though. How good they'll be I don't know, but so far they seem likely to win.
North Carolina State
Will the Wolfpack survive without Julius Hodge and is Luke ever going to tell Loreli about his new found kid? These are the two questions for North Carolina State (Uhh, maybe no the second one I guess.) But this year will be the first in four that NC State doesn't have their main man. What's going to have to happen is other plyaers stepping up. NC State is a good team with a good coach in Herb Sendeck, and now guys like Engin Atsur, C. Bennerman, Tony Bethel, Andrew Brackman, and Ilian Evitmov are going to have to up their level of play. Uhh, yea, I guess just about everyone will have to.
Georgia Tech
Paul Hewitt turned the program around, and now where is it going to go? The other way around? Probably not...wait...I'm confused? The loss of a lot of good players will definitely hurt the Yellow Jackets. A lot of players for this team are unproven, but if they can step up this will be a good team. A young inexperienced team, that could shake things up a bit.
Virginia Tech / Clemson / Florida State / Virginia
Don't matter.
Eight teams is enough for me to type out. (I'm also very tired at the moment.) Maybe I'll do those four teams later. Oh, no, wait. I won't. If you're a Hokie, Tiger, Seminole, or Cavalier fan, go read a preview at some other site and basically get the same thing.
The ACC is looking good, and so is college basketball. I can tell already this will be a tremendous season.