Florida State is a Threat for the ACC Championship

Everyone knows the usual suspects when it comes to the ACC Championship conversation.

Mike Krzyzewski and Duke are going to be in the fold once again. Roy Williams is going to have a nice mix of upperclassmen and talented freshmen at North Carolina. Tony Bennett and Virginia are going to defend their opponents to death and make another run at 30 wins.

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But at the same time, there is always a team that gets slightly overlooked during the preseason hype. Think about how Notre Dame was not even ranked before the 2014-15 season tipped off only to break into the top 10, win the ACC Tournament, and advance to the Elite Eight before losing by a bucket to the Kentucky Wildcats.

This season is no different. There is another team that is getting lost in the preseason hype. They are seen as a possible tournament team, but people are sleeping on how formidable they are going to be in ACC play.

That team is the Florida State Seminoles, and honestly they are a legitimate threat to win the ACC Conference Championship.

You see prognostications that FSU is going to finish no better than sixth or seventh in the conference.

Athlonsports.com even has the Noles’ outside of their early Top 25, with Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Virginia, and Louisville all holding positions ahead of FSU.

The skepticism is understandable given the fact that Florida State finished 17-16 overall and 8-10 in conference last season.

Feb 14, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Florida State Seminoles guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes (22) shoots the ball against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the first half at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

However, when you look at the turnover that teams like Louisville, Notre Dame, NC State, and even Duke had, as compared to Florida State adding two top 50 recruits to a veteran roster, people are truly undervaluing the Seminoles in the preseason.

Louisville for example was able to bring in a couple of transfers in Damion Lee from Drexel and Trey Lewis from Cleveland State while adding a pretty decent recruiting class that features Deng Adel and Donovan Mitchell.

However, it is not crazy to expect some kind of fall off from the Cardinals after losing the bulk of their scoring from last season.

Wayne Blackshear (11.6 points and 4.3 rebounds), Montrezl Harrell (15.7 points and 9.2 rebounds), and Terry Rozier (17.1 points and 5.6 rebounds) are all in the NBA.

It is going to take Louisville some time to get their new pieces meshed together, but in the meantime with all the questions surrounding this new club, there is really no saying for certain that Rick Pitino’s bunch is even a Top 25 squad. They could be merely ranked based on reputation.

Notre Dame is going to be a formidable squad also in ACC play. But losing Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton from the team could hurt more than everyone suspects.

Even with Zach Auguste, Demetrius Jackson, and Steve Vasturia returning, the Fighting Irish need to replace 29 points per game that went on to the NBA.

NC State lost a lot of scoring also with Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner both moving on to the NBA. That is 28.5 points and 7.9 rebounds that need to be replaced.

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Mark Gottfried knows what he is going to be getting from Anthony “Cat” Barber, but he is going to be looking for quite a few players to pretty much double or triple their output from last season in order to give support to Barber.

Even with Duke having the No.1 or No. 2 recruiting class in the nation depending on if you are looking at ESPN’s recruiting class rankings or 247Sports rankings, it does not guarantee them an ACC regular season or tournament title.

Mike Krzyzewski’s squad is a legitimate threat to win the National Championship just the same as last year. But did people notice that Virginia was the regular season ACC champ and Notre Dame won the ACC Tournament last year? That says that top recruiting classes do not guarantee ACC championships.

We can talk about North Carolina’s track record of underachieving, or Virginia’s lack of offense if we want to, but that would simply speak to the fact that all of the teams ahead of Florida State have glaring flaws.

The fact of the matter is that Leonard Hamilton’s team is actually built to be a force in the ACC conference this season.

The Seminoles are going to have a lot of versatility and flexibility with their lineup going into 2015-16.

On top of the fact that Florida State will have Devon Bookert (10.1 points, 39.3% three-point) and Montay Brandon (11.8 points, 54.1% field goal pct.) coming back for their senior season, leading scorer Xavier Rathan-Mayes returns after leading the Seminoles in scoring by averaging 14.9 points per contest last season, as well as 7-footers Boris Bojanovsky and Michael Ojo, who can make things difficult on any frontcourt in the ACC conference with their size.

Florida State Seminoles /

Florida State Seminoles

The additions of Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley who are both Top 50 recruits nationally, adds to the depth of the team also. Dwayne Bacon is currently projected to be an NBA first-round draft pick for 2016 by NBAdraft.net.

Florida State is going to bring a lot of length, athleticism, and added firepower to the floor this season and should be a matchup problem for a lot of teams in conference play.

Frankly, Florida State should be ranked no lower than the fourth in the conference in these preseason prognostications, and not being ranked in the Top 25 is only temporary, in fact they will be ranked in the Top 20 before they hit ACC play in January.

Sleeping on the Seminoles is going to be a huge mistake for the people who are underestimating what Leonard Hamilton has going on in Tallahassee.

Last season should have taught everyone who follows the ACC that this is not a chalk league.

It is easy to spout out Duke or North Carolina as preseason frontrunners, but it should not come as a shock if they do not snatch a banner at the end of the day.

Don’t be surprised again this season when the Florida State Seminoles come out of virtually nowhere and end up winning the ACC, and the chalk does not.

Next: Can Shaka Smart Reek Havoc with the Texas Longhorns' Frontcourt?

Florida State Basketball: Seminoles are a Legitimate Threat for the ACC Championship

By James Fitzgerald | Sep 16, 2015

Florida State Seminoles

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