Keeping It Heel
Fansided

ACC Media Day: Preseason polls released for 2016-17 season

By Zack Pearson

Jan 4, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Joel Berry II (2) in the second half against the Florida State Seminoles at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The North Carolina Tar Heels won 106-90. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 4, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Joel Berry II (2) in the second half against the Florida State Seminoles at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The North Carolina Tar Heels won 106-90. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The ACC preseason poll has been released. Find out where the Tar Heels are predicted to finish in the conference

Another ACC Media day has come and gone which means the college basketball season is just a few weeks away.

Teams from the conference spent the day meeting with the media to deliver insight on the upcoming season. The eight-plus hour day also provided a ton of content from the coaches, as well as players.

At the end of the day the preseason polls were released, which is usually one of the highlights for the fans. After UNC won the ACC in 2015-16, the media has voted them as the second-best team in the conference behind hated rival Duke.

The Blue Devils were voted the number one team as they had 85 first place votes and a total of 1,359 total points. UNC received 6 first place votes and a total of 1,239 points.

Following Duke and North Carolina is Virginia who finished with 1,125 points and zero first place votes.

Take a look at the full poll:

Duke welcomed back Grayson Allen, Luke Kennard, Amile Jefferson, Matt Jones and Chase Jeter all while bringing in the top recruiting class in the country. There’s really no surprise that they are considered the favorites to win the ACC.

But UNC getting five first place votes is interesting.

The Tar Heels bring back some key players from a squad that made it to the National Championship Game last season. They bring back seniors Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks and Nate Britt, so the leadership is there.

Also back is Joel Berry, Justin Jackson and Theo Pinson who were all key role players in 2016. The wing Pinson will miss some time with a broken foot however.

Then there is the freshman class which was ranked as a top 10 class. Those two meetings between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils really could decide the conference.

All-ACC Team headlined by Joel Berry

As a freshman, point guard Joel Berry was seeking his role on the team as he started playing behind Marcus Paige and Nate Britt.

But Berry emerged as the starting point guard his senior year and put together one hell of a season for the Tar Heels.

Now he enters the year as arguably UNC’s best player and one of the best in the conference.

Berry was named to the All-ACC First Team on Wednesday, which is stacked with upperclassmen.

Grayson Allen, Duke (87)
Jaron Blossomgame, Clemson (70)
Joel Berry II, North Carolina (45)
London Perrantes, Virginia (36)
Dennis Smith, Jr., NC State (34)

Smith is the lone freshman to make the First Team and Allen was voted as the Preseason Player of the Year in the conference. Berry received five votes for Player of the Year.

Junior Justin Jackson highlights the Second Team in the conference:

Justin Jackson, North Carolina (22)
Jayson Tatum, Duke (21)
Tyler Lydon, Syracuse (20)
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State (16)
Michael Young, Pitt (14)

The Tar Heels will open the 2016-17 regular season on Nov. 11 when they travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for more on the Tar Heels basketball team.

Home/UNC Basketball