College Hoops

North Carolina Picked as Preseason ACC Men’s Basketball Favorite

North Carolina Picked as Preseason ACC Men’s Basketball Favorite


GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina was voted the preseason favorite to win the 2022-23 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, following a vote of media members at the 2022 ACC Tipoff. Also ranked No. 1 nationally in the preseason Associated Press poll, the Tar Heels are the preseason ACC favorites for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
 
North Carolina received 90 of the 101 first-place votes and piled up 1,504 total points. Duke picked up two first-place votes and totaled 1,339 points to finish second in the poll, while Virginia 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.
 
In addition, the media voters selected North Carolina’s Armando Bacot as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, while Duke’s Dereck Lively II received the nod as ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year.
 
A first-team All-ACC honoree last season, Bacot 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 forward/center from Richmond, Virginia, was the first player in college basketball history to record six double-doubles in one NCAA Tournament, as he led UNC on a run to the national championship game. Bacot earned All-NCAA Tournament honors in both the Final Four and East Regional, where he was also the Most Outstanding Player. He is averaging 13.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in 100 career games and has 1,300 points, 1,001 rebounds and 127 blocks in three seasons.
 
A 7-1 center from Philadelphia, Lively II was a five-star recruit who was rated as the No. 1 overall player in ESPN 100’s rankings for the class of 2022. He also was ranked No. 1 at his position and No. 1 in the state of Pennsylvania by ESPN. Lively II played for Team Final on the Nike EYBL circuit during the summer of 2021, helping them to…

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