Miami basketball showing progress picked 7th for 2020-21 season
The Miami basketball program is showing progress after two straight losing seasons being picked seventh in the ACC for the 2020-21 season
After a 15-16 season in 2019-20, the Miami basketball team is showing signs of rebounding from two straight losing seasons being picked seventh in the ACC for the 2020-21 season. A seventh-place ACC finish would almost assuredly put the Hurricanes into the NCAA Tournament. Miami has not reached the NCAA since 2018.
Miami received 1,223 points in the ACC Poll. The Hurricanes were 11 points behind Syracuse for sixth. Virginia was picked first in the poll with a league-leading 97 first-place votes and 2,214 points. The remainder of the top five who all received first-place votes were Florida State, North Carolina and Louisville.
Florida State won the ACC last season with a 16-4 record. Miami will begin ACC play on December 16 hosting Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes play home-and-homes with Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech twice and the remainder of the ACC schedule will be against teams Miami plays once.
Miami finished 7-13 in the ACC, tied for 10th with Virginia Tech and Boston College. The Hurricanes lost their ACC Tournament opener to Clemson 69-65 ending their season a day before the announcement of the end of the college basketball season for everyone because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Predicted Order of Finish is here! @UVAMensHoops opens as the preseason favorite for the first time since 1982.
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) November 11, 2020
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Clemson is picked 10th, Virginia Tech 11th and Notre Dame 12th. Miami has an excellent opportunity to live up to and potentially even exceed their projection of seventh with three of the five teams they play twice picked below them. Miami hosts Louisville January 16, Duke February 1 and plays at Virginia March 2 or 3.
The Hurricanes will be led by Senior guard Chris Lykes who was named preseason first-team All-ACC after being selected preseason second-team All-ACC last season. Lykes missed five games with injuries in 2019-20. The scheduled season opener against Stetson on November 25 has been postponed.
UM hoops schedule highlighted by FSU, UNC twice. dark. Next
The Hatters and Hurricanes are looking are working on rescheduling the game. Miami is scheduled to play North Florida on November 29 at the Watsco Center. The Hurricanes game against the Ospreys could become the season opener.