FSU men's basketball picked to finish 11th in the ACC
It's safe to say that the Florida State men's basketball program is back in the role of the underdog.
It was announced Friday that the Seminoles were picked to finish 11th in the ACC standings by a panel of media members at this week's ACC Tipoff in Charlotte.
This snaps a four straight years that the Seminoles were picked to finish in the top five of the ACC in the preseason conference poll. They were picked fifth last year, second in 2021-22, third in 2020-21 and fifth in 2019-20.
Duke, which begins the season as the No. 2 team in the AP poll, was picked to win the ACC in a landslide, receiving 44 of the 51 first-place votes. Miami was picked to finish second, North Carolina third, Virginia fourth and Clemson fifth.
No FSU players were named to the All-ACC first or second team or received any votes for ACC Preseason Player of the Year or Preseason Rookie of the Year.
The Seminoles missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight time last season after making four straight March Madness appearances between 2017 and 2021.
They return nine scholarship players off last year's team including UCF transfer guard Darin Green Jr., European draft prospect Baba Miller and a number of rising sophomores who showed improvement last year as the season progressed.
They added three transfers in former VCU forward Jamir Watkins, La Salle guard transfer Josh Nickelberry and Georgetown point guard transfer Primo Spears. FSU has expressed confidence that Spears will receive his waiver as a two-time transfer, but that hasn't yet been confirmed a few weeks out from the start of the season.
FSU hosts preseason exhibitions the next two Sundays at the Tucker Civic Center. The Seminoles play Flagler College Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. and Valdosta State Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. FSU's regular-season opener will be played at home against Kennesaw State on Friday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
Here's the full ACC projected order of finish and the preseason conference teams/players:
2023 ACC Preseason Poll (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Duke (44), 757
2. Miami (5), 693
3. North Carolina (1), 670
4. Virginia (1), 593
5. Clemson, 570
6. Wake Forest, 440
7. NC State, 420
8. Virginia Tech, 390
9. Pitt, 380
10. Syracuse, 321
11. Florida State, 294
12. Boston College, 227
13. Georgia Tech, 157
14. Louisville, 108
15. Notre Dame, 100
Preseason All-ACCFirst Team
Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 51
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 50
PJ Hall, Clemson, 48
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 44
Norchad Omier, Miami, 42
Second Team
Judah Mintz, Syracuse, 39
Nijel Pack, Miami, 34
Blake Hinson, Pitt, 33
Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 24
Quinten Post, Boston College, 23
ACC Preseason Player of the Year
Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 35 votes
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 13
PJ Hall, Clemson, 2
Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 1
ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year
Elliot Cadeau, North Carolina, 40 votes
Jared McCain, Duke, 6
Caleb Foster, Duke, 3
Donald Hand Jr., Boston College, 1
Carlton Carrington, Pitt, 1
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