Conference Picks: ACC

[BYUfan1]

ACC

1. North Carolina-Tyler Hansbrough is the ACC's premier post player and the freshman class is stocked with great talent.

2. Florida State--Losing Alexander Johnson makes them small, having Al Thornton and Jason Rich makes them good.

3. Duke-Point guard play is key on a team that does have good depth.

4. Boston College-Still physical and tough to defend without Craig Smith. Jared Dudley is Smith's clone.

5. Maryland-Taking D.J. Strawberry off the point will help in utilizing all of his skills.

6. Virginia-Backcourt is strong, but team needs more scoring up front to compete with the upper teams in the ACC.

7. Clemson-Needs to show it can score in conference play in the halfcourt, but early results are impressive.

8. Georgia Tech- Needs to handle the ball better than last year and must play defense.

9. N.C. State-Talented starting five, but almost no bench to speak of.

10. Wake Forest-Basically a new team, but Ishmael Smith is the answer at point guard.

11. Virginia Tech-Veteran team but just does not play inspired basketball and doesn't rebound.

12. Miami-Anthony King being injured doesn't help a team inconsistent at point guard and not loaded with good shooters.

[Eric]

I think Georgia Tech is going to win. They'll finish in the middle of the pack, but I think they will make a run in the conference tournament.

[..fanatic]

Wow. When you wrote your opinion of the ACC on December 17, I probably would have agreed with you on picking Virginia Tech 11th (though 9th would have been more realistic). Never in a million years would I have believed this team was capable of beating Duke and North Carolina in the same week.

[Eric]

Virginia Tech will be in the tournament. If they finish .500 in a tough ACC, they'd still go. Unless there is a total collapse, VT will be part of the Big Dance.

At this point, I'd probably give VT a 6 or 7 seed.