6. ACC Preseason Power Rankings – Louisville Cardinals
It wasn’t a good year for Louisville in 2020, which was the last team left out of the field. A pair of lengthy COVID pauses hurt the Cardinals, who played just 20 games and didn’t have enough of a resume to justify automatic inclusion in the NCAA Tournament.
Chris Mack has proven he’s a credible head coach, however, and should be able to withstand the losses of Carlik Jones and David Johnson. Louisville did hit the transfer portal to land four impact players, headlined by El Ellis, the top juco prospect in this year’s recruiting class, which should help the Cardinals reload on the fly.
5. ACC Preseason Power Rankings – Virginia Cavaliers
The Pack Line defense will always make Virginia a difficult team to play, as evidenced by the fact that the Cavaliers have secured at least a share of five of the past eight ACC regular-season titles. Virginia dealt with a COVID outbreak prior to its lone NCAA Tournament game which likely played a part in the Cavaliers’ upset loss to Ohio since Tony Bennett’s team had very limited practice time.
Six of the Cavaliers’ top eight scorers from a year ago are gone, putting a lot more pressure on returning starter Kihei Clark to carry the load on the offensive end. Bennett has gotten a lot out of his rosters in the past but this season’s team could slip a bit thanks to all of the turnover.
4. ACC Preseason Power Rankings – Virginia Tech Hokies
If you’re looking for a sleeper in the ACC the Hokies are the team to watch. Virginia Tech returns five of its top six scorers from last year’s NCAA Tournament team, headlined by forward Keve Aluma, who led the team in scoring, rebounding and blocks a year ago.
Head coach Mike Young also pulled off a recruiting coup by landing one of his former players, Wofford grad transfer Storm Murphy, to supercharge the Hokies’ backcourt. Murphy averaged 17.8 points per game as a senior for the Terriers and knocked down 40 percent of his three-point attempts, adding a dangerous weapon to a team that was already very talented to begin with.