Hokies Picked Sixth in the ACC for 2008-09 Hoops

ACC men's basketball players and coaches met with the media on Sunday in
Atlanta. During the meetings, the media revealed their 2008-09 preseason ACC
selections and predictions. As expected, North Carolina is picked to win the
league.

In fact, the Tar Heels were a unanimous selection to win the ACC. All 40
media voters had UNC at the top. Here is how the voting shook out.

As usual, UNC and Duke are at the top, with the Tar Heels receiving all 40 first
place votes. The Tar Heels return star players such as Tyler Hansbrough, Ty
Lawson and Wayne Ellington, as well as almost every other contributing member of
last year's Final Four team. Duke lost DeMarcus Nelson, but they return Kyle
Singler, Gerald Henderson, Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Greg Paulus.

Wake Forest came in at #3. The Demon Deacons bring back all their key
contributors, as well as Preseason Rookie of the Year Al-Farouq Aminu. They are
the only team in the ACC preseason top five who did not make the NCAA tournament
last season.

Miami, Clemson and Virginia Tech occupy the next three spots behind Wake
Forest. The Hurricanes finished close behind the Demon Deacons, with Clemson and
Virginia Tech lagging just a little behind them both.

There is quite a dropoff in points between #6 Virginia Tech and #7 Maryland.
The ACC media apparently see six teams in the league that are going to fight for
an NCAA tournament berth.

The media also announced their Preseason All-Conference Team. That can be
found in the table below.

Tyler Hansbrough and Tyrese Rice were unanimous selections, and Hansbrough was
voted the ACC Preseason Player of the Year.