O'Brien wary of preseason picks

Some yahoo already picked N.C. State to win the Atlantic Division, which Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien found amusing.

"If you guys knew what the heck you were doing, you would be doing something else," O'Brien said. "As I told the team, nobody picked Boston College last year."

The Eagles, picked to finish fourth in the division by the media, repeated as division champs in '08. O'Brien, who coached at BC from 1996 to 2006, recruited the bulk of the players on the BC roster that won the division in '07 and '08.

O'Brien told his current team that he doesn't think they're as good as the team he left in Boston College.

"It doesn't mean we can't be that good," O'Brien said. "Today, we're not that good, let's see if we can get to be that good. That's the challenge."

One aspect working in O'Brien's favor — State doesn't play an ACC game until October. Given the way O'Brien's first two teams started — 1-5 and 2-5 — a four-game prep for the conference schedule can only help.

-- J.P. Giglio