Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
The ACC will look a little different in the 2013-14 college basketball season, with Notre Dame, Syracuse and Pittsburgh joining. As for the Panthers, life in the conference will not be easy for them in the upcoming season.
The Big East was dismantled, even though the name will still be there. With that said, the ACC will likely be the best conference in college hoops next season.
Pittsburgh is coming off of an NCAA tournament appearance and was only two games back in the Big East standings this past season. With that said, some talented players will be gone. The Panthers are usually a good team, but who knows how they will be next year, especially when they will have to play teams like Duke, North Carolina and Syracuse (like usual). Virginia should also have a great season and Notre Dame could very well be one of the best teams in the conference.
Still, Pittsburgh will be able to hold its own, but this new look ACC should be as competitive as the old Big East.
If the Panthers can somehow win 24 games again this season, they could very well compete for a conference title, but both Duke and North Carolina will be stacked, which seems to always be the case.
It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh will do in the ACC. For what its worth, the Panthers were 1-1 against Syracuse last season and 0-1 against the Fighting Irish. Making the tournament field will be in their plans once again, but winning a conference title is likely a stretch at this point.
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