NCAA Basketball: Most overhyped power conference teams for 2020-21

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 22: A view of the NCAA logo during a game between the Albany Great Danes and the Duke Blue Devils during the second round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Wells Fargo Center on March 22, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /

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SUNRISE, FL – DECEMBER 22: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Florida State Seminoles

This is a first for me. You just don’t call a Leonard Hamilton coached team over-hyped, but he’s losing a lot from last year’s ACC Championship campaign.

The loss of Devin Vassell (12.7 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 1.6 Ast), Patrick Williams, and Trent Forrest are devastating because they were three of their four top scorers as well as being extremely efficient players on offense and defense. Forrest and Vassell ranked #5 and #11 in the ACC in steals and Vassell and Williams were both top 15 in blocked shots.

MJ Walker is back which is big (10.6 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 1.5 Ast) but thus far in his career, he’s been singularly focused on scoring and has one of the lower BPM (Box Score Plus/Minus) measurements on the roster. A trio of junior forwards returns as well in Malik Osborne (6.0 Pts, 4.9 Reb, 0.5 Ast), Anthony Polite (5.8 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 1.1 Ast) and Raiquan Gray (6.0 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 1.4 Ast), which will keep the Seminoles strong upfront. The real reason the Noles are being added to the top 25 of most way too early preseason lists is the addition of two of the top recruits in the country, Scottie Barnes and JUCO phenom Sardaar Calhoun.

Look, these are awesome gets by Hamilton. This is not his recruiting MO though, as he usually loads up with deeper recruiting classes and projects (Vassell was the 200th ranked prospect in 2018 and is now off early to the NBA) that he can mold into NBA draft picks, not ready-made ones. There is no way to know how it works out as he is going to have to place two almost sure “one and dones” into a lineup with guys who are well ingrained within the Florida State culture for the first time. These are slightly uncharted waters in Tallahassee and it’s not going to be easy to replace the seven combined seasons of Vassell, Forrest, and Williams even with two of the best recruits in the country.

Hamilton is going to have this team in the NCAA tournament, but they will be hard-pressed to be in the hunt for another ACC title, something they have consistently competed for the last few seasons. The loss of Trent Forrest (11.6 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 4.0 Ast), a four-year contributor, is low key one of the biggest losses for any team in the country moving into the 2020-21 season.

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