Experts predicting FSU basketball to do NOTHING under Luke Loucks in year one

There's no question new FSU basketball coach Luke Loucks has a lot of work to do in his first year at his alma mater after replacing FSU's all-time winningest coach, Leonard Hamilton.

Experts and oddsmakers at Caesar's Palace Sportsbook believe Loucks has even more work to do than I expected.

I never expected FSU to compete for the ACC regular-season title in year one under Loucks, but I can't believe the odds they gave them to win the ACC.

They have FSU at +10000 (bet $100 and win $10,000), which is only above the Stanford Cardinals and the Boston College Eagles. They have FSU at 16 of 18 schools. Duke is the betting favorite, followed by Louisville and North Carolina.

Loucks made some solid moves in the transfer portal and won over most of the FSU fans who pay attention to basketball. Admittedly, the expectations to win are nowhere near what they are in football. However, FSU fans don't like losing, no matter the sport, but it's something they became familiar with in the latter years under Leonard Hamilton.

Admittedly, Luke Loucks has never coached in college or been a head coach at any level close to Division I college basketball. However, he was well-respected in the NBA and ascended the ranks quickly after his playing days concluded.

The Noles finished ninth in the ACC under Leonard Hamilton but lost all of their top players to the transfer portal or the NBA Draft.

That fact, coupled with Louck's inexperience, is probably enough to press pause on expectations. However, Louck acquired some talent that fits his style of play, and the team has already started offseason workouts.

The ACC isn't close to the superpower conference it was a decade ago or longer, and teams must finish near the top of the conference if they want any shot at having a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament. I don't expect FSU to be near the top, but it will be a huge disappointment if these projections come to fruition in year one under Luke Loucks.