ACC Basketball: UNC is preseason favorite, with Duke second, UVA third, Virginia Tech seventh

North Carolina was on the NCAA Tournament bubble last March. A run to the national-title game has the Tar Heels the AP preseason #1, and the prohibitive favorite in the ACC.

UNC is the preseason ACC favorite for the first time since 2015 after receiving 90 of the 101 first-place votes by media members who attended the 2022 ACC Tipoff last week.

Duke, ranked seventh in the preseason AP Top 25, picked up two first-place votes and totaled 1,339 points to finish second in the poll, while UVA, ranked 18th in the AP Top 25, racked up six first-place votes and 1,310 points to take third.

Miami received a pair of first-place votes and 1,138 points for fourth place, while Florida State totaled 1,064 points for fifth place.

Notre Dame (971) was sixth in the poll, while reigning ACC champion Virginia Tech (921) picked up the final first-place vote and was seventh. Syracuse, Wake Forest, NC State, Clemson, Louisville, Boston College, Pitt and Georgia Tech comprised eighth through 15th, respectively.

The media voters selected North Carolina’s Armando Bacot as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year.

Bacot, the runner-up in the 2022 Player of the Year voting, led North Carolina in scoring (16.3), rebounding (13.1), field goal percentage (.569) and blocked shots (65) in 2021-22, becoming the first Tar Heel ever to lead the team in those categories in consecutive seasons.

The 6’11” senior was the first player in college basketball history to record six double-doubles in one NCAA Tournament in March and into April. Bacot earned All-NCAA Tournament honors in both the Final Four and East Regional, where he was also the Most Outstanding Player.

The 70th season of ACC men’s basketball begins on Monday, Nov. 7. League play starts Friday, Dec. 2.

2022 ACC Preseason Poll

1. North Carolina (90), 1504
2. Duke (2), 1339
3. Virginia (6), 1310
4. Miami (2), 1138
5. Florida State, 1064
6. Notre Dame, 971
7. Virginia Tech (1), 921
8. Syracuse, 700
9. Wake Forest, 672
10. NC State, 548
11. Clemson, 528
12. Louisville, 477
13. Boston College, 368
14. Pitt, 320
15. Georgia Tech, 260

First-place votes in parentheses. Total votes: 101.

Preseason All-ACC

First Team

• Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 100
• Isaiah Wong, Miami, 81
• Caleb Love, North Carolina, 58
• Terquavion Smith, NC State, 46
• Jeremy Roach, Duke, 35

Second Team

• Jayden Gardner, Virginia, 32
• Dereck Lively II, Duke, 19
• Justyn Mutts, Virginia Tech, 18
• PJ Hall, Clemson, 17
• RJ Davis, North Carolina, 14

Preseason Player of the Year

• Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 82
• Isaiah Wong, Miami, 5
• Caleb Love, North Carolina, 4
• Jeremy Roach, Duke, 3
• PJ Hall, Clemson, 2
• RJ Davis, North Carolina, 2
• Terquavion Smith, NC State, 1
• Hunter Cattoor, Virginia Tech, 1
• Dariq Whitehead, Duke, 1

Preseason Rookie of the Year

• Dereck Lively II, Duke, 57
• Dariq Whitehead, Duke, 25
• Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 5
• Mark Mitchell, Duke, 3
• Tyler Nickel, North Carolina, 2
• Jalen Washington, North Carolina, 2
• JJ Starling, Notre Dame, 2
• Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 2
• Prince Aligbe, Boston College, 1
• Isaac McKneely, Virginia, 1
• Seth Trimble, North Carolina, 1