ACC Basketball: Updated preseason rankings for 2018-19

It’s hard to believe that a team may be in for a better season after losing two program icons like Joel Berry and Theo Pinson were for UNC, but the Tar Heels enter 2018-19 as a consensus top-10 team with an excellent chance to win their second national title in three years.

First-team All-ACC performer Luke Maye returns along with fellow starters Cam Johnson and Kenny Williams, giving head coach Roy Williams’ squad a reliable core of talented veterans. Incoming freshman Nassir Little, the nation’s No. 3 overall recruit, has the makings of a superstar on both ends of the court, giving the Heels a high-level elite talent they haven’t have in recent years. Little should be a top-five pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

However, the real success of this team may come down to point guard play. Berry provided a steady hand for four years and now the Heels will be replacing him with five-star combo guard Coby White or Seventh Woods, last year’s backup.

White is a dynamic scorer but is unproven as a playmaker while Woods has experience in the system but is a terrible shooter. I expect White to win the job and excel overall during his freshman campaign, but there will be growing pains.

Those inevitable growing pains are why I have UNC in third but they have all of the tools to win another national championship – it will just depend on the quality of point guard play they get.