Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/200019
in each of his first two seasons, but lost five of his top six scorers from last year. This will be a season of transition for North Carolina State with just four scholarship players returning. nosticators expected last year. Boston College was expected to finish last in the conference, but a late-season surge led to an eighth-place finish. ACC Rookie of the Year Olivier Hanlan returns to highlight the Eagles' roster. 12. Boston College Eagles (16-17, 7-11 ACC, in 2012-13) 13. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (13-18, 6-12 ACC, in 2012-13) The Eagles haven't reached the Big Dance since the 2008-09 season, but finished much better than the prog- 2013-14 ACC Predictions As selected by the league's media Predicted Order Of Finish Rk. School (First-Place Votes)Points 1. Duke (50) 805 2. Syracuse (3) 753 3. North Carolina (1) 668 4. Virginia 612 5. Notre Dame 608 6. Pitt 477 7. Maryland 473 8. Boston College 457 9. Florida State 334 10. NC State 332 11. Georgia Tech 311 12. Miami 224 13. Wake Forest 220 14. Clemson 141 15. Virginia Tech 65 Preseason All-ACC C.J. Fair, Syracuse Joe Harris, Virginia Rodney Hood, Duke Jerian Grant, Notre Dame Jabari Parker, Duke Preseason ACC Player of the Year C.J. Fair, Syracuse Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year Jabari Parker, Duke Head coach Jeff Bzdelik needs a strong season to save his job. By the end of last year, fans were even taking out newspaper ads calling for his firing. After reaching postseason play in 18 of 20 years, the Demon Deacons have posted losing records in each of the past three seasons. 14. Clemson Tigers (13-18, 5-13 ACC, in 2012-13) Add head coach Brad Brownell to the hot seat shared by Bzdelik. He hasn't continued Oliver Purnell's success with the program, and it reached a new low for the Tigers last year when they lost 10 of their last 11 games. Junior forward K.J. McDaniels (10.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last year) is the headline performer. 15. Virginia Tech Hokies (13-19, 4-14 ACC, in 2012-13) Second-year head coach James Johnson wants to push his high-speed system and should be able to do so as long as junior Marquis Rankin can handle starting point guard duties for the Hokies. A trio of freshmen will push him at the position, so Johnson should have options as he looks to turn around last year's last-place finish. ✦