On Tuesday, the ACC released its annual preseason polls for college basketball. The polls include the Blue Ribbon Panel, consisting of media and team broadcast personnel, and the head coaches. The two differed greatly on a few teams, but agreed on Duke’s tier. The Blue Zone gives you the biggest takeaways from the polls:
Where does Duke land?
The Blue Devils sit eight in both polls, with a points total placing them firmly in a tier with No. 7 North Carolina, a notable distance from both No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 9 Miami. And it’s easy to see what the Tobacco Road rivals have in common: Duke brings in a wealth of talent, but how they fit together is a complete unknown; the Tar Heels boast a lot of undergraduate talent, but that talent is unproven.
It’s clear from both polls that voters preferred proven adequacy over promising talent. No. 5 Florida State and Notre Dame both return most of their disappointing 2020-21 rosters, while adding a quality transfer and some impact freshmen. To expect such finishes from the teams that finished ninth and 11th in net rating in the conference last season requires quite a bit of faith for in-house improvement and their few additions.
It does seem odd that those schools are lent that amount of faith, while Duke isn’t lent the same. The Blue Devils have added an All-Big 10 selection in Imani Lewis, one All-Big 12 honorable mention and an ACC Freshman of the Year, in addition to an elite catch-and-shoot threat and a mystery of a former top-20 recruit.
Of course they’re unproven. But at least they haven’t proven that they’re bad.
Celeste Taylor a newcomer to watch
Duke nominated off-ball wing Celeste Taylor and big Imani Lewis, transfers from Texas and Wisconsin, respectively, for the Newcomer Watch List. Though the Blue Ribbon Panel declined to rank either, the conference’s head coaches had Taylor within their top five.
Taylor is joined on the coaches’ list by a fellow transfer—point guard Diamond Johnson, who joins NC State after spending her freshman year starring at Rutgers—and three top-20 freshmen—Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles, Notre Dame wing Sonia Citron and Louisville off-ball guard Payton Verhulst.
The Blue Devil are going to be relying on Taylor on both ends of the court, and the rest of the ACC’s staffs appear optimistic about the results.
Front-loaded schedule
The Blue Devils’ first conference game comes in Coral Gables, Fla. After that they’ve got one more nonconference before Christmas, then return to face this conference slate: at No. 4 Virginia Tech, vs. No. 6 Notre Dame, vs. No. 3 Georgia Tech, at No. 13 Syracuse, vs. Virginia Tech, at No. 1 N.C. State, vs. No. 15 Virginia, vs. No. 7 North Carolina, at No. 2 Louisville.
Duke’s first nine conference games after Christmas include the top four teams in the conference, and only two teams ranked below it. That’s an average rank of sixth in the ACC, plus those opponents include eight of the 10 preseason All-ACC selections.
We’ll know how the Blue Devils shape up sooner rather than later.
Complete rankings
Blue Ribbon Panel
- NC State (50)
- Louisville (7)
- Georgia Tech
- Virginia Tech
- Florida State
- Notre Dame
- North Carolina
- Duke
- Miami
- Clemson
- Boston College
- Wake Forest
- Syracuse
- Pitt
- Virginia
Head coaches
- NC State (14)
- Louisville (1)
- Georgia Tech
- Virginia Tech
- Florida State
- Notre Dame
- North Carolina
- Duke
- Miami
- Clemson
- Boston College
- Syracuse
- Wake Forest
- Pitt
- Virginia
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