Let's start with the bad news. We lose a lot of potential points due to various reasons:
1) Jacory Patterson, who won both the 200 and 400 last year, transferred to Florida. He was also the anchor for our 4x4 relay team.
2) Bashir Mosalev-Lo, who won the 800 last year, transferred to ND.
3) Our best young sprinter, Cameron Rose, transferred to Clemson where he is currently ranked third in the 200.
4) Antonio Lopez Segura, who won the 5K last year, is not running in the event this year. We don't have anyone even entered in the event.
5) We also lost Miles Green, a past points contributor in the 400 to Florida. Miles was also on our 4x4 relay team.
6) Thierry Siewe-Yanga, who finished 5th in the 800 last year did not come back for an additional year. He is no longer running track.
7) Ben Nibbelink, who finished 2nd last year in the 3K, is not in the last (fast) heat in the event. It is hard to do score from the slower heat.
In total, the above athletes could have amassed about 60 points in the meet.

Now, on to the good news:
1) Last year we smashed the competition, beating UNC by 55 points, FSU by 60 points and everyone else by at least 88 points.
2) It is a safe assumption that the departing athletes freed up money for some newcomers. The most notable newcomers are:
a) Jacob Spotswood, a transfer from Alabama, who is ranked 2nd in the heptathlon as well as sixth in the pole vault.
b) Connor McClure, a true freshman, who is ranked third in the pole vault.
c) Khalil Bedoui, a transfer from Eastern Michigan, who is ranked 2nd in the weight throw.
d) Kennedy Harrison, a true freshman, who is ranked first in the 200 and third in the 400. He should be part of the 4x4 relay team. A star in the making ala Jacory Patterson.
e) Seb Anthony, a transfer from a D-2 school, who should score in the 800 and is also a member of our second ranked distance medley relay.
f) KJ Tillmon, a true freshman, who could score in the 200 and is part of the 4x4 relay.
3) Based upon performances during the current season, we should win the meet with room to spare. If things stay true to chalk, which they never do, we will finish with 134 points, trailed by Clemson-74, FSU=70, Miami-57, ND-52, UNC-52, Duke-51, UVa-43 and the rest.
4) I do expect FSU to score higher. They have some athletes, especially in the long jump, who did far better last year. They will score heavily in the sprints and jumps but lack the overall depth that we have.
5) There are 17 events and FSU and Clemson are each only projected to score in 8 of them. meanwhile, we are projected to score in 15 events with the long jump and 5K being the only exceptions.
6) No school in the ACC develops their track and field athletes as well as our coaching staff does.
7) Our win this year will be the 6th since we joined the ACC in 2004. UVa, like football, has no outright championships (or shared titles either in track and field).
8) We have the home field advantage; the meet is in Blacksburg. If you are nearby, come out and support the team that gave us our last ACC championship and will give us our next one.