ACC Basketball

In years past, the ACC has slipped in the eyes of some basketball experts and has been overtaken by the Big East as the best basketball conference in the nation. But this season the ACC will return to national prominence with great teams and star players. Here is the official Danger Zone ACC Preview.

1. North Carolina (2010-11 record: 26-7, 14-2 ACC)- The #1 ranked Tar Heels are led by all-everything sophomore forward Harrison Barnes (15.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and look to advance farther in this year's postseason thanks to added experience in the starting lineup. Junior forward John Henson (11.7 ppg, 10.1 rpg) and junior guard Dexter Strickland (7.5 ppg) look to put together another strong season and help the Tar Heels raise another banner to the rafters of the Dean Dome.

2. Duke (30-4, 13-3)- Junior forward Mason Plumlee (7.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg) leads the less-experienced Blue Devils who finished last season with 30 wins thanks to guards Nolan Smith, Kyrie Irving, and forward Kyle Singler. If Coach K can get as much out of his players as he is known to do, specifically guard Seth Curry (9.0 ppg) and stud freshman Austin Rivers (son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers), then the Blue Devils could be cutting down the nets as ACC champions yet again.

3. Maryland (19-14, 7-9)- First year coach Mark Turgeon replaced legendary coach Gary Williams this summer and Turgeon takes over a Maryland program that missed the NCAA tournament last year and lost their best post player Jordan Williams to the NBA Draft. But all is not lost in College Park; sophomore guard Terrel Stoglin (11.4 ppg, 3.3 apg) will embrace a larger role in the offense this season as will top-25 recruit Nick Faust, who will start right away for the Terps. Ukranian transfer center Alex Len (he's 7'1) will be a huge component in the Maryland frontcourt when he returns from his 10 game suspension, for accepting payments while playing in Europe.


4. Clemson (21-11, 9-7)- Clemson finished last season in the second round of the NCAA tournament as they went down to West Virginia 84-76. This season the Tigers will look to return to the tournament and to do so they will need senior point guard Andre Young (11.1 ppg, 3.0 apg) to continue to lead the team on the offensive end and Devin Booker (5.5 rpg) will be needed to anchor the Tigers in the post.

5. Florida State (21-10, 11-5)- The Seminoles had a great year last season thanks to Chris Singleton (13.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Derwin Kitchen (10.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg), the problem for the Semionles however, is that both Singleton and Kitchen graduated. Carrying the Seminoles this season will be Michael Snear (8.8 ppg) who will take over the role as team leader. Other players that will factor in for Florida State will be senior guard Deividas Dulkys and senior forward Xavier Gibson, both of whom will be expected to play more minutes for coach Leonard Hamilton's squad.

6. Virginia Tech (21-11, 9-7)- The Hokies once again missed out on the NCAA tournament last year and it will be a greater task to make this year without standouts Malcom Delaney and Jeff Allen who combined for 32.1 ppg and 13.2 rpg last season.  Freshman Dorian Finney-Smith (who played 36 minutes and had 10 points, 1  6 rebounds and 5 assists in his college debut on November 12) will look to continue the trend of strong ACC freshman and lead the Hokies into the promised land of the NCAA Tournament.


7. Miami (19-14, 6-10)- Miami finished in the middle of the pack last season, and look to finish in roughly the same spot this season. Guard Durand Scott (13.6 ppg) and forward Erik Swoope (11 points in the season opener) will be the top scoring options for the Hurricanes and must step up if the Hurricanes want any chance of avoiding the NIT.

8. Boston College (20-12, 9-7)- The Boston College Eagles graduated their top 5 scorers from a season ago and to accomplish any semblance of success this season, some of the squad's 9 freshman must step up to complement this year's top returner sophomore guard Danny Rubin (4.4 ppg, .434 FG% from 3). Don't expect the Eagles to do too much this year, but with a team full of freshman, there is a lot of untapped potential, both good and bad.

9. Georgia Tech (13-18, 5-11)-The Yellow Jackets had a disappointing campaign last season and look to rebound in 2011-12. Brandon Reed (who missed all of the 2010-11 season) will look to regain his 2009-10 form in which he scored 15.1 points per game. Alongside Reed will be guard Mfon Udofia who has increased his role in the offense every year he has been at Georgia Tech. Udofia is the top returner in both points and minutes and will steady the Jackets with his veteran presence.

10. North Carolina State (15-16, 5-11)- After last year's disappointing season, the Wolfpack made a change and fired head coach Sidney Lowe. New coach Mark Gottfried will rely on guard CJ Williams, who played 38 minutes in the Wolfpack's first game and scored 18 points; a far cry from the 17.6 minutes and 4.7 points he averaged last season. The Wolfpack will need more than Williams to achieve the success they had in the glory days under Coach Jim Valvano.

11. Virginia (16-15, 7-9)- Virginia basketball is not known for being a strong program, but they made great strides last year, but the Cavilers lost their two top scorers from last year's squad and must try to replace the scoring with new faces. One holdover from last season, guard Joe Harris (10.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg), will be the go to option this year and the Hoos will need him to be a top player to achieve the heights of last year's team

12. Wake Forest (8-24. 1-15)- In a word, last year's team was atrocious. They managed one ACC win against UVA and couldn't score for anything (67.2 ppg, 222nd in the nation). This year's team is looking up though, junior guard C.J. Harris (11.3 ppg, 3.5 apg) is an emerging star and his talent should carry the Demon Deacons to a few more wins.