Duke Blue Devils and ACC Standings for the 2013-14 Season

This is a new year for the ACC, and some would say a new era because of the new teams joining the ACC.  This year Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh will be joining the ACC.  It will be hard to know exactly how they will do against ACC opponents instead of Big East.  While you might assume that playing in the Big East would make them ready to take on the challenge of playing in the ACC, you never know how things will turn out with new teams.   1. Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils should be one of the best teams in the ACC, with one of the best starting five in the ACC.  If they can compete on the boards, they should win the ACC this coming season. 2. Syracuse Orange Their first year in the ACC should be a successful transition as they compete for a title.  They lost a key player to last season’s team in Michael Carter Williams, but should have a replacement for him in incoming freshman Tyler Ennis. 3. North Carolina Tar Heels This team is hard to place because of everything that has happened in the offseason.  However, it is still North Carolina, and they have great recruits coming in and should be a threat to win the ACC again this year. 4. Pittsburgh Panthers They didn’t lose much from last year and are bringing almost everyone back.  This team should improve from last year, and being a team that always plays hard can help them get back to the NCAA tournament. 5. Maryland Terrapins They lost one of their biggest parts to last season’s team in center Alex Len, but getting Des Wells back should help them take a step forward this season.  They will have more experience, which will benefit them coming into the 2013-14 season. 6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish The last of the teams coming over from the Big East should do fine in their first year in the ACC.  Their playing style and their coach, Mike Brey, could make them an interesting team in the ACC and put them on the bubble at the end of the year. 7. Virginia Cavaliers This is another bubble team in the ACC, one who barely missed the tournament last season.  They should have a better chance of getting in this season because of more tournament teams in the ACC.  8. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Georgia Tech is bringing everyone back from last season’s team that struggled a year ago, but with almost everyone coming back should make a run at the tournament this season.  This will be the first team outside of the bubble talk and looking for an NIT bid. 9. Florida State Seminoles An NIT team a year ago and a team bringing back almost everyone a season ago should have an improved team.  However, the player they lost is Michael Snaer a crucial part of their team last year and will be hard to replace. 10. N.C. State Wolfpack The Wolfpack is one of the teams that will move the most, as they were one of the best teams in the ACC a season ago.  This team could have been a NCAA tournament team, but with the key players they lost from a season ago such as C.J. Leslie they will be lucky to make the NIT this year. 11.  Clemson Tigers A team that didn’t lose much from last season however, lost their best player in Devon Booker and he won’t be easy to replace.  He helped space the floor by giving them a great post player and still a very young team. 12. Boston College Eagles These last few teams are teams getting almost everyone back but are still very young teams without much experience.  Boston College should do better than these other two teams because they were better a season ago. 13. Miami Hurricanes The team that will move the most from a season ago, a potential Final Four team to the bottom of the ACC.  This team lost an immense number of players from the team a season ago and it will show this year.  They will go from a team that players were scarred to play to a team they can’t wait to play. 14. Wake Forest Demon Deacons Another young team, but should be improved.  They lack the experience that most of the other teams have.  This should be another long year for Demon Deacon fans. 15. Virginia Tech Hokies This is another young team like all of them at the bottom of the ACC but they lost some players this season.  This team is losing a major piece from a season ago in Erick Green who will be hard to replace and should leave them at the bottom of the ACC.   This is a big year for the ACC because of the new teams coming in to the conference.  They should be able to get more teams in the tournament then a year ago and become a deeper conference.  This should be an interesting and fun year for ACC fans and they will get to watch more than their fair share of great games.