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Media picks UVA to finish 4th in ACC, Joe Harris for First Team All-ACC

The Hoos were picked to finish 4th by the media at the league's "Operation Basketball"

By Brian Schwartz
Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

The 2012-2013 ACC Media poll has been released after today's "ACC Operation Basketball" in Charlotte, NC.  After finishing 4th in each of the last two seasons, the Hoos have been picked to finish in the #4 slot yet again.  Duke holds the top spot in the poll, receiving 50 of 54 first place votes, followed by Syracuse and UNC.

Joe Harris, the ACC's only returning First Team All-ACC player, was predicted to make the team again, finishing second in the voting.  He joins C.J. Fair, Rodney Hood, Jerian Grant, and Jabari Parker.

Since 2006, the following schools have owned the top spot: UNC, UNC, UNC, Duke/UNC (tie), Duke, UNC, NCSU and now Duke again.  The winners of the ACC regular season have been; UVA/UNC (tie), UNC, UNC, Duke/UMD (tie), UNC, UNC, Miami.  That's a pretty decent record of picking a winner, missing just UNC in 2010-2011 and Miami last year.  However, the rest of the standings have been significantly more unpredictable.

Here's the full result of the voting, from TheACC.com

Team     Points
1. Duke (50)        805
2. Syracuse (3)   753
3. North Carolina (1)        668
4. Virginia            612
5. Notre Dame 608
6. Pitt    477
7. Maryland   473
8. Boston College             457
9. Florida State  334
10. NC State     332
11. Georgia Tech              311
12. Miami        224
13. Wake Forest               220
14. Clemson       141
15. Virginia Tech               65

2013-14 Preseason All-ACC Team
C.J. Fair, Syracuse
Joe Harris, Virginia
Rodney Hood, Duke
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame
Jabari Parker, Duke

ACC Preseason Player of the Year
C.J. Fair, Syracuse

ACC Rookie of the Year
Jabari Parker, Duke

Overall, a number 4 finish for Virginia seems reasonable.  Many Wahoo fans would probably slot UVA in ahead of UNC, but it's tough to ask much from the Carolina-centric ACC media.  I hate to devote any time to this, or seem like I am whining, but I can't help myself (on either count).  Check out some of these ballots:

This guy, Mark Thomas, has Virginia at 8th, and leaves Joe Harris completely off his first team.

Mike Maniscalco, of WRAL (Raleigh), had similar thoughts, picking UVA 6th, and leaving off Harris.  I asked him about his motivation, and he explained that he wished to throw Travis McKie "kudos"

This isn't some malicious plot against Virginia.  It's simply a lack of knowledge from Carolina-centered media about the rest of the conference, as well as poor logic about methods of predicting this season's performance.  Josh Goodson, of 620 AM Durham, tweeted: "Virginia being picked in the top 4 is the most silliest of silly things in the history of all that is good. You people," then went on to explain that UVA's poor performance in March the past two seasons is the source of his reasoning.  Performance in 5 games over the past two seasons is about as poor a predictor as I can imagine.

What say you, Wahoo fans?  How would your ACC ballots look?

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