The Coach K Farewell Tour Hasn't Even Officially Started Yet And It's Already Nauseating
Oh shut the fuck up. We're just starting preseason stuff and I'm already sick of the Coach K farewell tour. I'm sick of seeing every single tweet relating to Duke be about him. Not shocking, he makes everything about him. Everyone is hyping Duke's season up like it's Jerome Bettis and the Bus stopping in Detroit again. That sucked too. Every single story this year is going to be about K's last year. I've said it countless times. If everyone could just agree that he's a great coach while being a hypocritical asshole, the world would be better off. Two things can be true. Just like you can say he failed with Zion's team in the NCAA Tournament, you can say he overachieved with the 2010 title team.
But this brings me to a different point. The ACC.
I'm not surprised Duke is the preseason favorite. They are always the preseason favorite. But let's remember one thing here. Duke hasn't won the ACC regular season since 2010 when they split it with Maryland. RIPIP to one of the best rivalries out there. I miss that game. Since then? UNC has won it 5 times. Virginia has won 5 times. (UVa and UNC split it one year). Miami and FSU each have gotten it once. So when I look at this at the Barstool Sportsbook my ears perked up a bit.
FSU at +575? Yes please. I will make that my ACC pick this year because that doesn't make too much sense. People sleep on FSU every year because they seem to be the same team every year. Leonard Hamilton goes out and gets a bunch of 7-footers, plays 10 guys and his best player tends to play like 20-25 minutes a game. It's balanced, deep and talented. That doesn't change this year. Gone are Scottie Barnes, MJ Walker, RaiQuan Gray and Balsa Koprivca. Big losses, sure. But here comes Caleb Mills (Houston), Cam'Ron Fletcher (FSU), Matthew Cleveland and Jalen Warley. Cleveland and Warley are top-30 recruits that will likely come right in and start if not they'll play serious minutes. Mills, if his ankles hold up, is one of the better shooters in the conference. Everything is breaking right for FSU.
Speaking of breaking right. Look at their schedule. They get Duke twice. But they only play Virginia and UNC once. They get Miami twice, NC State twice and Wake twice. In a league where there's an unbalanced schedule that's something I want to look at. Talent + the way the schedule breaks. Yes both games are on the road but if you snatch one you're in a good spot.
FSU is a top-20 team in the preseason if not a little bit higher and closer to top-15. It just makes no sense to lay +250 for a Duke team that hasn't won the title in over a decade. UNC has a first year coach and we'll have to see how his change in offense looks. Virginia is fine, but I'm not in love with them. FSU went 11-4 last year in the ACC, 16-4 the year before that and 13-5 before that. They know how to win. They've finished 4th, 2nd (based on wins) and 1st the last 3 years. +575 all day.