Syracuse Basketball: ACC has decent AP poll representation, Rutgers in

Syracuse basketball did not receive any votes in the pre-season AP top-25 poll.

No one should feel all that surprised Syracuse basketball isn’t ranked in the pre-season Associated Press top-25 poll, however, for the Orange to not even receive a vote is a tad surprising.

Yes, the ‘Cuse has to replace former star forward Elijah Hughes, who should get picked in the 2020 NBA Draft later this month, but the team returns four of five starters, has a deep bench, and brings in a solid recruiting class. Additionally, Alan Griffin, a junior wing who transferred in from Illinois, is able to immediately compete after securing an NCAA waiver.

Scoring shouldn’t prove an issue for this year’s squad, but defense and rebounding have to vastly improve. Still, national pundits for the most part aren’t forecasting the Orange as a top-25 team, and that’s fine. Syracuse basketball often fares well when it’s flying under the radar.

Four Atlantic Coast Conference squads are in the pre-season AP top-25 ballot. They are No. 4 Virginia, No. 9 Duke, No. 16 North Carolina and No. 21 Florida State.

In the “others receiving votes” category, Louisville is the sole ACC unit included. Other notable squads in this department are LSU, Alabama, Indiana, Richmond, Providence, Connecticut and Seton Hall.

Syracuse basketball is expected to face multiple nationally ranked crews in 2020-21.

Besides ACC teams that are in the pre-season AP top-25 poll, Rutgers checks in at No. 24. We published a piece on the Scarlet Knights a few days ago, as the Orange will travel to Rutgers on Tuesday, Dec. 8, as part of the 2020 ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

The Scarlet Knights would have made the NCAA Tournament a season ago, before March Madness got canceled by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In 2020-21, Rutgers is anticipated to finish in the Big Ten’s top tier and significantly contend for a berth in the Big Dance. The Big Ten is loaded this coming campaign, and the league consequently has a slew of teams in the pre-season AP top-25 poll.

Other conferences with multiple squads in the pre-season AP top-25 ballot, besides the ACC and the Big Ten, include the Big 12, the Big East and the Pac-12.

Heading into 2020-21, I’ve got the ‘Cuse at No. 6 in the ACC, behind the four conference teams in the pre-season AP top-25 poll – the Cavaliers, the Blue Devils, the Tar Heels and the Seminoles – as well as Louisville.