ACC Basketball: Early reactions to 2024-25 preseason top 25 rankings
Who was snubbed?
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are one team who should consider the early AP Top 25 Rankings "bulletin board" material as the beginning of the regular season approaches. It's worth noting the Demon Deacons did receive 37 votes from Associated Press, finishing 30th overall behind Illinois, St. John's, Xavier and Texas Tech.
The trio of Efton Reid III, Hunter Sallis and Cameron Hildreth return as they add Ty-Laur Johnson (Louisville) and TreVon Spillers (Appalachian State) as well as some frontcourt help from portal in Omaha Biliew (Iowa State) and Churchill Abass (DePaul). They're set to turn a corner in a big way with Sallis leading the way as a potential ACC Player of the Year candidate.
Miami Hurricanes
It's not all that surprising the Miami Hurricanes didn't make the initial Top 25 Rankings, they did receive 11 votes from the AP. Miami returns Matthew Cleveland and Nijel Pack but they've pressed the reset button on their roster with just one other returner and six new additions out of the transfer portal.
Lynn Kidd (Virginia Tech) and Brandon Johnson (East Carolina) should comprise their frontcourt while Jalen Blackmon (Stetson) should be quite the presence on the perimeter for the Hurricanes offense in 2024-25. He shot 38.1 percent from deep this past season while 289 3-pointers in 2023-24 to lead the AAC and 10th overall in college basketball. They're a group on paper with good potential for success as they look to make up for last season's underwhelming performance.
Pittsburgh Panthers
The Pittsburgh Panthers didn't receive any votes from the Associated Press in the preseason Top 25 rankings. That's rather surprising given the Panther fourth place finish in the ACC regular season last year. It surprised some critics when Pittsburgh declined their invitation to last year's NIT field, so consider the early lack of attention as a bit of payback.
The Panthers return Ish Leggett, last year's ACC Sixth Man of the Year as well as sophomore Jaland Lowe, the Diaz Graham twins and Zack Austin. With the bulk of last year's production returning and the additions of Cam Corhen (Florida State) and Damian Dunn (Houston) from the transfer portal, look for the Panther to turn some heads in the early stages of the regular season.