ACC Media Days is coming to a close, which means that the 62 members of the media who are there have cast their ballots for ACC preseason picks. Without surprise, Duke has been selected as the media's choice to win it all, getting all but one of the first-place votes. It was another year of low expectations for Virginia, a team that went 15-16 last season. The Cavaliers have been picked to finish 11th in the conference, with only Wake Forest picked lower.
The Hoos only return six lettermen, while bringing on seven true freshmen. One of those six, Sammy Zeglinski, will be out for approximately eight weeks if all goes according to plan, due to his knee surgery yesterday. Zeglinski is expected not just to be a major contributor to the 2010-11 team, but also a leader, alongside Mike Scott and Mustapha Farrakhan. Bub Evans, who started eleven games last season and led the ACC in steals-to-turnover ratio (+7), is also expected to be a common household name, especially with Zeglinski out to start the season.
Duke's Kyle Singler was named the preseason player of the year, while North Carolina's Harrison Barnes was named preseason rookie of the year. North Carolina received the only other first-place vote.
The preseason expected order of finish is:
Team (First Place Votes) Points
1. Duke (61) 7432. Virginia Tech 632
3. North Carolina (1) 622
4. N.C. State 526
5. Florida State 496
6. Maryland 432
7. Clemson 335
8. Miami 305
9. Georgia Tech 274
10. Boston College 173
11. Virginia 164
12. Wake Forest 134