NCAA Basketball: Evaluating bold predictions from 2019-20 season
By Brian Rauf
ACC
1) Pitt challenges for an NCAA Tournament bid but settles for the NIT
I expected the ACC to have a down year and, as a result, I thought it would be inevitable for an off-the-radar team to shoot up the standings and surprisingly challenge for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Georgia Tech ended up being that team as they finished fifth with an 11-9 conference record, though an NCAA Tournament ban kept any postseason conversations from happening.
Pitt looked strong enough into early February when, after beating the Yellow Jackets, were 15-9 overall with wins over Florida State, Rutgers, and a sweep of North Carolina (which ended up not meaning anything significant). Then the wheels fell off as they finished the regular season with seven straight losses and were bounced from the ACC Tournament in the second round by NC State. This prediction went down the tubes in a hurry.
2) Syracuse finishes in the bottom third of the conference
Did I say Syracuse? I meant UNC!
In all seriousness, I didn’t like the roster the Orange had coming into the season. It looked like Elijah Hughes and everyone else. And they really struggled through the first two months of the season before figuring things out and went a solid 10-10 in ACC play. Hughes was as reliable as expected, but Buddy Boeheim also became more than just a spot-up shooter and Joe Girard III contributed in a big way much sooner than expected.
3) Duke wins the ACC regular season for the first time since 2010
It’s still crazy to think that Duke has gone over a full decade without a regular-season ACC championship, but this team couldn’t get it done. I sort of flipped on this as the year went on, as I wrote a number of times about their lackluster half-court offense and inconsistent defense.
0-3 in the ACC. Not great!