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The ACC men's basketball coaches released their first-ever preseason poll on Monday, pegging Boston College to finish last in the conference. N.C. State is the favorite to win the ACC Regular Season title followed by Duke and North Carolina. Here is the full poll.
Team Predictions (first-place votes)
1. N.C. State Wolfpack (8) 139
2. Duke Blue Devils (3) 130
3. North Carolina Tar Heels (1) 124
4. Miami Hurricanes 104
5. Florida St. Seminoles 103
6. Maryland Terrapins 78
7. Virginia Cavaliers 68
8. Clemson Tigers 61
9. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 40
T10. Virginia Tech Hokies 32
T10. Wake Forest Demon Deacons 32
12. Boston College Eagles 25
I can't say I'm surprised that BC was picked to finish last. This year's ACC race seems to break down into three separate tiers with N.C. State, Duke and North Carolina at the top, Miami, Florida State, Maryland, Virginia somewhere in the middle and Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and BC the group of teams most likely to finish towards the bottom of the league table. If I were to split hairs, I'd have Boston College well ahead of Virginia Tech and possibly tied with the Deacons. Clemson and Georgia Tech are also in that near indistinguishable group of programs likely to finish towards the bottom of the ACC in 2012-13.
No matter. On the bright side, BC can't fall short of the coaches' preseason expectations this season and will almost surely beat them.
In addition to predicting the regular season finish, the coaches also selected an All-ACC team, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.
Preseason All-ACC
Lorenzo Brown, Jr., NC State
C.J. Leslie, Jr., NC State
James Michael McAdoo, So., North Carolina
Mason Plumlee, Sr., Duke
Michael Snaer, Sr., Florida State
Preseason ACC Player of the Year
C.J. Leslie, Jr., NC State
Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year
Rodney Purvis, Fr., NC State
Predictably, the coaches top pick in the preseason dominated the All-ACC, POY and ROY selections. In fact, the only player selected beyond Tobacco Road was Florida State senior guard Michael Snaer. Not surprised to see BC get shut out of the preseason All-ACC team. Give it a year or two.