Syracuse women’s basketball projected fourth at ACC Media Day

Today’s Media Day for ACC women’s basketball, which means predictions and polling for the league’s coaches and their Blue Ribbon panel. All 15 league coaches and player representatives are in Greensboro, N.C. today to introduce what should be yet another strong season for the conference.

In separate coaches and Blue Ribbon polls, the Syracuse Orange women’s team was projected fourth in the conference. Coming off the program’s first Final Four berth, expectations are much higher for coach Quentin Hillsman’s Orange. Notre Dame, Louisville and Florida State finished ahead of SU in that order, and those three were the only schools to receive some first-place votes. Full coaches poll below (you can follow the link above for the Blue Ribbon polling):

1. Notre Dame, 221 points (13 first place votes)

2. Louisville, 209 (1 first place vote)

3. Florida State, 194 (1 first place vote)

4. Syracuse, 178

5. Miami, 162

6. Duke, 144

7. NC State, 132

8. Georgia Tech, 110

9. North Carolina, 108

10. Virginia, 85

11. Wake Forest, 74

12. Virginia Tech, 72

13. Boston College, 48

14. Pittsburgh, 47

15. Clemson, 16

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Both the coaches and Blue Ribbon media panels also chose Player of the Year candidates and an All-ACC team. Louisville junior Myisha Hines-Allen got the POY nod from both. Senior Orange guard Alexis Peterson was the only Syracuse player included on either All-ACC squad. The full coach’s team is below:

Rebecca Greenwell, R-Jr., G, Duke

Leticia Romero, Sr., G, Florida State

Shakayla Thomas Jr., G, Florida State

Myisha Hines-Allen, Jr., F, Louisville

Mariya Moore, Jr., F, Louisville

Asia Durr, So., G Louisville

Adrienne Motley, Sr., G Miami

Brianna Turner, Jr., F, Notre Dame

Lindsay Allen, Sr., G, Notre Dame

Alexis Peterson, Sr., G, Syracuse

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The conference also announced the new location of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament this coming March. Like many ACC postseason tournaments, it was originally slated to be in North Carolina (Greensboro), but was relocated due to the conference’s opposition to HB2. The tournament will now take place on March 1-5 in Conway, S.C., home of Coastal Carolina University. It’s the first time the event will be held in South Carolina since 1992-96, when it was in Rock Hill.

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Thoughts around SU’s projected finish? Think the Orange are going to make a return trip to the Final Four? Share your thoughts below.