ACC Basketball: Expectations for each program for 2019-20 season

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 15: Teammates Zion Williamson #1 and Cam Reddish #2 of the Duke Blue Devils await a free throw with Luke Maye #32 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game in the semifinals of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 15, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

2 of 5

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 14: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals and teammates huddle before their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Men’s ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Florida State

Coming off of a great run in the last two seasons Florida State enters the season as a hard team to predict. This is a team that is stuck in the middle of the ACC this season with expectations being a finish anywhere from 4th through 8th. Florida State loses a lot from last years roster with the graduation of Terance Mann, Christ Koumadji, David Nichols, PJ Savoy, and Phil Cofer.

They also lose Mfiondu Kabengele to the NBA but Leonard Hamilton has done a tremendous job reloading. He’s added transfers that bring in experience and some freshmen who are very promising. None more promising than 5-star freshman wing Patrick Williams who could play himself into an NBA draft pick after one season in Tallahassee.

Georgia Tech

This could have been one of the best Georgia Tech teams under Josh Pastner. A team that had a realistic shot of fighting for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament despite the national media saying it was laughable for them to make the NCAA tournament. They have solid guard play and Josh Banks might be one of the most under-appreciated bigs in the country. However, all of this is null since they are ruled out of postseason play after the NCAA dropped the hammer for something very minute when compared to what is going on around the country in college basketball.

For obvious reasons, Georgia Tech is appealing the NCAA’s decision which can drastically change this team’s outlook. If the appeal works in Georgia Tech’s favor then this is a scary team in the middle of the ACC but if the appeal doesn’t go in their favor the wheels might start to fall off as the season progresses due to players playing more for themselves than the team.

Louisville

Coming off of a disappointing end to the 2018-2019 season Louisville has high expectations coming into the 2019-2020 season. Jordan Dwora is a big key to these expectations, as he is a preseason 1st team All-American and the preseason ACC player of the year. Louisville is expected to be a top-3 ACC team and could be competing for a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Louisville loses just three players that played more than six minutes per game from last year and brings in six highly ranked recruits, so there’s a clear reason for optimism for the Cardinals.