ACC 2020-21 College Basketball Preview

The ACC is one conference that has a lot of talent coming to the season, but it depends on how well the teams step up with their talent if they will win or lose. What could really help the teams out is the teams that are coming back relatively intact from last year. Even if those teams are not coming back at the same level of play as projected.

Virginia is one team that has an amazing defense and proved they are able to shut down almost any teams offense. The downside is the shooting is still questionable at best and that could lead to some upsets for the Cavaliers, but with a great defense the Virginia team has a good chance of having a deep run.

Duke is coming in relying on the incoming class of freshman yet again. The Blue Devils are going to have to have a big loss to fill as Tre Jones has moved on, but still the coaching of Duke will help out but still they are full of questions.

North Carolina is bringing back a great front court player in Garrison Brooks. The downside is the Tar Heels will not have a lot of improvement on the back court and that will definitely call into question anything that North Carolina can do.

Florida State has to replace a strong backcourt player in Trent Forrest. The Seminoles, though, do have Leonard Hamilton and Scottie Barnes coming back with star potential, but they are lacking backcourt leadership.

The Yellow Jackets are one team that has some talent in the backcourt, but the front court is missing the punch that is needed. If the younger talent is able to step up in the front court, though, Georgia Tech could be good.

Louisville is one team that has to pull out a winning year soon. The back court is decent and ready for a breakout year, but the front court is going to rely only on Malik Williams. Outside of Williams the front court is missing on the year.

Miami is one team that has a lot of potential on the year. The Hurricanes have all their top scorers coming back this season. The main concern that the Hurricanes may have is the lack of big men to help in kicking the ball back out or driving the lane to keep the pressure off the shooters.

The Orange have to replace Elijah Hughes this year who left for the pros. Hughes is one of the best players in the ACC and now the Orange will struggle to replace him. The bright spot is Joe Girard and Buddy Boeheim is coming back.

NC State is looking like a team that can improve on the year with quite a few contributors coming back, including the guards. However, the Wolfpack have to replace Markell Johnson who was the leader for the team.

Clemson has a great big guy in Aamir Simms who could help the team. However, unlike the great recruiting classes the football team the basketball club is lacking and did not really address any of the teams issues.

Virginia Tech is coming to the game here with a good roster, but it is a young roster. Look for the Hokies to play good in the game, but still have some issues this year as the younger roster needs to gel before they start to win big.

Boston College is a team that has way too many issues. The Eagles have a lot of players coming in this year and without the big practices it will make it impossible to see Boston College winning much this year.

Notre Dame is coming to this game with a loss of 3 players that had a lot of influence on the team due to graduation. That type of loss makes it hard for the Irish to be seen as a serious team and will continue to be problematic on the year.

Pittsburgh is a young team and could improve as the year moves on. However, the lack of serious preseason practices and run up games will make it hard for the Panthers to be a serious threat.

Wake Forest is a team that has more question marks than positives this year. Look for those question marks to come to the front here as the Demon Deacons are good, but the question marks are too much.