Preseason Polls.\u00a0 Who can resist? \u00a0Pick your favorite sport and the day after the previous championship is decided we\u2019re neck deep in \u201cway too early\u201d top 25s for the next year.<\/p>\n
Conference polls? You betcha! The preseason ACC men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball rankings and all conference teams dropped this week.\u00a0 And not that the polls have any effect on the upcoming season, they used to be a good appetite whetter and generally pretty accurate.<\/p>\n
Full disclosure, I\u2019m a long time voter for the ACC women\u2019s basketball awards.\u00a0 They call it a \u201cBlue Ribbon Panel.\u201d\u00a0 Clearly it\u2019s very distinguished as am I.\u00a0 In fact I\u2019m wearing the blue ribbon right now, but I digress.<\/p>\n
Before we get all excited and\/or bent out of shape about this year\u2019s preseason polls, know this.\u00a0 Sunday night I got ready to dive in and pick the ACC women\u2019s basketball preseason all league team.\u00a0 And I was lost at sea.<\/p>\n
The assignment seemed simple.\u00a0Pick the 10 best players in the league. I clicked and suddenly was confronted with a list of mysterious names.\u00a0Who were these people?\u00a0Where the heck were all the players I\u2019d heard of before? Now I need to rank 10? Is there a hat I can pick out of?<\/p>\n
I tell you this for one reason.\u00a0 In this era of college sports and college basketball in particular, nobody knows what the heck they\u2019re talking about in October. Between NIL, the transfer portal and eligibility limits becoming fictional, we need to see teams play to have any clue who\u2019s actually on them much less if they\u2019re good or not.<\/p>\n
I can tell you that Duke <\/a>will be good at men\u2019s basketball and Notre Dame will be good at women\u2019s.\u00a0 I can tell you the Blue Devil men will have several freshman stars and their women will make me angry with their unwatchable offense.\u00a0 I can also tell you that 1 + 1 = 2 and red + yellow = orange. Some things just are.<\/p>\n Beyond that? Hope is a beautiful thing.\u00a0 Where is Syracuse going to finish in the ACC this year?\u00a0 I haven\u2019t the foggiest.\u00a0 And that\u2018s what I hang my hat on as we rapidly approach Red Autry\u2019s third year and Felisha Legette-Jack\u2019s fourth.<\/p>\n Last season both teams finished in the bottom third of the ACC and didn\u2019t need to locate the remote on Selection Sunday.\u00a0 This year the men<\/a> were picked to finish 9th and the women<\/a> 13th. But none of that matters.<\/p>\n In the past it would be beyond head scratching to be projected near the bottom of a league like the ACC and finish towards the top.\u00a0 Those teams stuck out like a sore thumb.\u00a0 But when everyone\u2019s starting from close to scratch on an annual basis, presuming to know what those groups will be is a fool\u2019s errand.<\/p>\n Now, does this mean we shouldn\u2019t look at preseason polls anymore?\u00a0 Of course not! \u00a0We need to know if we\u2019re supposed to be excited or pissed off! \u00a0This is sports!\u00a0 We need something to yell about!<\/p>\n But it does mean, don\u2019t be shocked if the prognosticators are comically wrong.\u00a0 Because in college basketball 2025 no one knows anything in October.\u00a0 <\/p>\n