- From the Rumble Seat: Here’s a solid look at Georgia Tech‘s less-publicized backcourt. The Yellow Jackets are known for their strong front line, but the backcourt should get better thanks to the transfer of Trae Golden onto the squad. The backcourt questions hinge on whether Chris Bolden can live up to his big performances last year. His overall stats are pretty hideous, but Bolden torched Duke and Miami for big games. If he can tap into that potential, Brian Gregory’s team may be a lot better than many expect.
- Fayetteville Observer: Considering Duke‘s recent success, it’s pretty surprising the Blue Devils haven’t won the ACC regular season outright since 2006 (and haven’t even shared the title since 2010). To be fair, the Blue Devils only finished worse than second once (2007), and injuries to starters in 2011 (Kyrie Irving) and 2013 (Ryan Kelly) hurt the team’s chances. But Tyler Thornton and Josh Hairston are dangerously close to becoming the first four-year players under Mike Krzyzewski to not win the regular season since 1990.
- Washington Post: In the not-shocking headline of the day, Virginia will continue to play Tony Bennett‘s pack-line defense this season. The Cavaliers bring back a lot of talent from last season, which is a new condition for Bennett. This season will actually be very telling in my eyes. If Bennett’s team can make the leap to a top-20 or higher team, all my reservations about his low-tempo system will go on the back burner (mostly, that keeping the score low allows lesser opponents to hang in longer than they should and increases the chance for random events to occur).
- Winston-Salem Journal: North Carolina has a ton of talent this season, but plenty of questions to go along with it. The question that no one can answer (at least until they see top competition) is how the hodgepodge frontcourt will fare, or who will wind up playing five this season for the Tar Heels. If North Carolina is going to be the top 10 team that many analysts project, someone has to fill that void at center. Roy Williams needs a competent big man for his secondary break to be at its peak. If one of the bigs doesn’t step up, North Carolina could face a relatively disappointing season this year.
- Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician: If you’re looking for very circumstantial evidence that suggests Syracuse has a good chance at getting back to the Final Four this year, this post is for you. The one buzzkill to note is that while about one team a year is a repeat in the national semifinals, that means three others are not. Regardless the (peripherally related) stats make for a good short read.