College Basketball Predictions: 10 Bold Predictions for UNC, Duke and the ACC

After making headlines in the offseason, North Carolina, Duke and the rest of the ACC are ready for the 2011-12 college basketball season to begin.

ACC teams always challenge each other, and because of that they make up one of the best conferences in college basketball.  It is true that this is a weak year in the ACC, but there is no doubting that we will still see some great basketball.

This "weak" conference will still have an interesting season, and these are my bold predictions for the upcoming season

Photo Credit: ACC Basketball

Most Surprising Team: Miami

The Miami Hurricanes had a chance to be great this season, but injuries and eligibility problems have derailed them.  However, they still have new coach Jim Larranaga.

The team has lost F/C Julian Johnson for the season and C Reggie Johnson indefinitely with knee injuries.  They have also lost G Shane Larkin and swingman DeQuan Jones indefinitely because of eligibility problems.

Because of losing all of these guys, the Canes have fallen quite a ways in most ACC rankings.  However, this team is centered around incredible guard Malcolm Grant.

Grant has not let this team down.  He always picks up his game, averaging around 15 points and three-and-a-half assists per game when he had to share the spotlight.  Now that he is the focus of the team he is going to be putting up some ridiculous numbers.

I see Grant averaging around 23 or 24 points-per-game and carrying this team.  Once they get Johnson back they will be in a good position to challenge most ACC schools.

The ACC is still pretty weak as most schools are in rebuilding years, but Miami is going to be able to top most teams and take fourth in the conference behind UNC, Duke and Florida State.

Not bad for a team that finished ninth in the conference because of their underachieving during their ACC schedule.

Most Disappointing Team: Maryland

Gary Williams is now gone, and Maryland also suffers heavy losses on the court with little backup.

This team loses four of its five leading scorers from last season, with those four making up 44.4 points per game.  Their only top five scorer is Terrell Stoglin, who averaged 11.4 points per game.

Stoglin is going to be the center-piece of this team, but he has next to no help.

Sean Mosely was the sixth-highest scorer on this team, but he has to step up into a much bigger role.  Pe'Shon Howard was seventh on the team in scoring, but he will miss up to three months because of a foot injury.

The team brings in one Top 100 recruit in SG Nick Faust, yet he does not address their real need of a big man.  This team only has four players who are 6'9" or taller, none of whom have done much, and one of their big men, Alex Len, is not going to play for 10 games because he is ineligible.

No matter how you shape it, this team is going to suck.  While this used to be a feared program, they have declined into a state where they missed out on the NCAA tournament last season, and they will be near the bottom of the conference this season.

Conference Game of the Year: North Carolina at Duke

It seems like the game of the year in the ACC is usually the game of the year for college basketball too.  Every year we watch as the greatest rivalry in college basketball gives us two new chapters.

When North Carolina and Duke play this season it could be a top five matchup.  UNC will clearly be favored, but the game in Cameron Indoor Stadium will even the playing field.

The Cameron Crazies will cheer Duke on in this one, and that will lead to a close game, resulting in the Game of the Year in the ACC.

Freshman of the Year: Austin Rivers, Duke

The Duke Blue Devils will be joined by shooting guard Austin Rivers.  Rivers is a cold-blooded assassin who has given himself the nickname Sub-Zero.

Rivers has an NBA-level runner, range out to 30 feet, a great first step and the ability to put up highlight-reel dunks.  He is going to be the leading scorer for the Blue Devils this season, and he will be the one taking big shots late in games.  After all, he's got ice in his veins.

His only competition will be James McAdoo and P.J. Hairston of North Carolina, but because UNC already has so many NBA-ready players they will not get enough playing time to overtake Rivers.

Defensive Player of the Year: John Henson, North Carolina

John Henson is a 6'10" monster in the paint for the North Carolina Tar Heels.  He makes up one-third of the best frontcourt in the country consisting of Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller and Henson and James McAdoo coming off the bench.

Henson is the defensive expert on the team, and he puts up 11.4 points per game to boot.

Henson is a shot-eraser, averaging 3.2 blocks per game.  He also grabs 10.1 rebounds per game and his mere presence is enough to stop opponents from driving the lane.

Henson is easily the best defensive player in the conference, and he could compete for national recognition.

Player of the Year: Harrison Barnes, North Carolina

Harrison Barnes could have been the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft if he had come out of college, but he decided to stay and will instead be dominating the NCAA.

Barnes is a small forward for the North Carolina Tar Heels.  He averaged over 15 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.  Barnes is an exceptional player who can take over a game.

While opponents to this (and there are very few) say that he will get lost among UNC's other six stars, Barnes will actually be helped by them.

Point guard Kendall Marshall is a great passer who distributes well.  Also, other teams cannot focus solely on Barnes, but must defend his teammates as well, leaving him open to score a lot more points.

Barnes is going to be a force this season, and he is going to show why he's NBA-ready.

Regular Season Conference Winner: North Carolina

The North Carolina Tar Heels are the best team in the nation, and there are no teams in the ACC who can compete with them.

In a weak ACC, the Tar Heels should be able to go undefeated in the ACC, but even if they lose a game or two they will still win the conference.  Their only competition is arch-rival Duke, who will surely lose at least one game to UNC, and then a couple of other conference games.

North Carolina can waltz through their conference schedule and win the ACC outright.

Conference Tournament Winner: North Carolina

Like I said, North Carolina will dominate the weak ACC, and while they will be tested by the Duke Blue Devils in the finals of the ACC tournament, they can beat them easily.

UNC is not as deep as Duke, but they are more talented, and their 5-7 future NBA first rounders will be able to outplay any combination of Blue Devils.

Roy Williams gets to cut down the nets after the ACC tournament again, and probably in blowout fashion.

Teams That Make the NCAA Tournament: 5

The ACC is pretty weak this season, and they will only get five teams into the NCAA tournament.

The ACC will obviously have North Carolina and Duke because they are ranked No. 1 and No. 6 in the country respectively.  They will also have unranked Florida State, Virginia and Miami.

Florida State is just outside the Top 25, but they will soon show that they belong with the big boys.  Virginia and Miami are well outside the Top 25, but they are both good enough to make it into the field of 68.

As I said before Miami will be a sleeper, and they will certainly make the tournament and then have a good run because of senior guard Malcolm Grant.

Look for the ACC to have five teams come mid-March.

Team with the Best Chance of Winning It All: North Carolina

The North Carolina Tar Heels are ranked No. 1 in the nation, and they are the only team in the ACC with a chance of winning the NCAA tournament.

Sure, Duke is ranked No. 6, but they don't have enough star-power to win it all, as they are a deeper team with more options.

The Tar Heels have four NBA-ready big men, a future NBA point guard, a recruit who compares favorably to Ray Allen and a solid shooting guard in Dexter Strickland.

They are absolutely loaded with talent, and most people find it plausible that they cut down the nets in April.

Josh Schoch is an aspiring sportswriter dedicated to bringing you everything related to the Pacquiao vs. Marquez fight, college basketball, the NFL, MLB, NBA, college football and much more.  Follow him on Twitter.

More Predictions

This is only part one of a six-part series.  I'm bringing you 10 bold predictions for the six major conferences over the next week.  This is the schedule:

Saturday 11/12- Big 12

Sunday 11/13- Pac-12

Monday 11/14- Big East

Wednesday 11/16- SEC

Friday 11/18- Big Ten