Season Primer


It's getting to be close to late October, and that means the start of the basketball season isn't far away.  So what's been going on and what can we expect to see on the court this year?  Here are a few things to look out for:


What's New:


-Expansion


The big topic over the last month or so has been expansion.  It looks like we are moving more and more toward superconferences (which, for the record, I hate).  For the ACC, that means the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh.  There will almost certainly be more to come.  The Orange and Panthers won't be in the ACC this season, but there certainly will be plenty of talk about expansion and what the future of the ACC will look like for the months to come.  Across the college basketball landscape, you will see some changes this year, with the Pac 10 expanding to include Colorado and Utah, and the Big Ten expanding to include Nebraska.


-Coaches


There has been a ton of coach turnover in the ACC over the past two years.  Last year we saw new head coaches at Boston College, Clemson and Wake Forest.  This year we have some more.  Mark Turgeon takes over for legend Gary Williams at Maryland, the first time someone other than Gary will be on the sidelines for the Terps since the 80s.  Mark Gottfried is the new head man at NC State, looking to restore the team to at least what it was under Herb Sendek.
Georgia Tech has a new head coach in Brian Gregory, coming over from Dayton.  The Jackets have the added obstacle of splitting their time between two arenas while their home is renovated.  And Miami will be looking to grow under Jim Larranaga, who did wonders at George Mason.


-Departing Players


A lot of terrific players graduated or left for the NBA.  Among them: Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Kyrie Irving, Tracy Smith, Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen, Jordan Williams, Chris Singleton and Reggie Jackson.  Those are players that are tough to replace.  However, there are some players that chose to remain in school (most of them are at UNC), and should be stars to watch this coming year.


Preseason Thoughts


There has been a lot of chatter recently about how the ACC has lost some of its luster in recent years and needed a boost with Pitt and Syracuse.  The conference has had some down years, sure, but has a chance to prove itself.  There are two ways you can earn respect as a league: win your non-conference games and win in the NCAA Tournament.  It will be up to the teams not named Duke and Carolina to prove that they belong as upper echelon teams in college basketball.  Whether that can happen this year with so much coaching turnover remains to be seen.  But I am looking forward to another season.


Preseason Poll


ACC media week was earlier this week, and here's how the pundits see this season shaping out:


1. UNC
2. Duke
3. Florida State
4. Virginia
5. Miami
6. Virginia Tech
7. Clemson
8. NC State
9. Maryland
10. Georgia Tech
11. Wake Forest
12. Boston College


I'll have my list as the next couple weeks go on, with a breakdown of each team.